Drills for pinning?

[Mat Lambert]

Hi all,

I got 4 excellent figures from LaTorre and Hornet this Christmas and I would like to get a drill suitable for drilling into the legs of 54mm & 1/35 scale figures (both metal and plastic) so I can insert metal pins into them for support.

I was wondering what people out there on PF are using and what size drill bits to use?

All the books and SBSs talk about pinning but none really describe what tool to get. Should I get a Dremel multi tool or something more specialist? Any help is useful - brands, model, power, functions, techniques etc.

cheers
Mat

 

[megroot]

I use a simple handdrill and a Proxxon ( kind of a Dremel) when it has to go deeper.
For pinning 54 i use small paperclip wire and for larger figures the large paperclip wire.
I use always a drill that is a thinny bit thicker then the wire to get glue into the hole and to center the parts easely.
Because the drill gets stuck frequently i use talcum powder on the drill. Did it before with cuttingoil, but then the glue didn't hold.
The Proxxon has a variable rpm i use it more often then i thought. It saved me alot drills.

Hope you have enough info.

marc

 

[housecarl]

Mat, these do bits from 0.2 mm upwards. http://www.expotools.com/ I use a pin vice as this allows more control. If your Dremel has a variable speed, your not too bad. But I have had a problem of the bit wandering, unless you can start it in some way. As for the dowel I use paper clips, like Marc. Or in larger scale I cut the head off panel pins.
Carl.

 

[John Bowery]

Mat,
I always start the hole with an exact knife blade by rotating the tip at the spot I want to drill. This makes an indent similar to a center punch to start the drill in the right spot.
Cheers
John

 

[Steve]

To answer your question concerning the necessity of a Dremel or Dremel-like tool, for simply drilling out the pin holes on the figures you describe, no. A simple hand twist drill with whatever diameter bits you choose is good enough. A Dremel is handy but must be mastered lest the torque rip off a foot.--

 

[gordy]

Mat,
I always start the hole with an exact knife blade by rotating the tip at the spot I want to drill. This makes an indent similar to a center punch to start the drill in the right spot.
Cheers
John

good call John, a pilot hole helps tons!

 

[Einion]

All the books and SBSs talk about pinning but none really describe what tool to get. Should I get a Dremel multi tool or something more specialist? Any help is useful - brands, model, power, functions, techniques etc.

Well the basics are very small bits and a pin-vice or similar. But it gets very tedious to drill deeply into metal by hand so it's well worth getting a variable-speed motor tool to help (plus it has a ton of other uses for the hobby anyway).

If you might want to use your motor tool on plastic get one where the speed control will go down to zero. Plus it's good when drilling into many metal casting alloys to be able to go quite slow, to prevent the drill 'melting' the alloy and locking up.

I was wondering what people out there on PF are using and what size drill bits to use?

Not sure what size the smallest ones I have are, but less than 1mm obviously - if you use paperclip wire for pinning then measure it as best you can and buy a bit or two to match.

Like John I make a small mark where I want to drill, either by rotating the tip of a craft-knife blade in place or by pressing hard with a sharp tool (I use a sharpened nail but even a needle will do).

Then I usually start the drilling by hand, before going on to the motor tool to go deeper, in resin or metal. I drill plastic by hand only.

Einion

 

[John Long]

Be extremely careful using these tiny bits in white metal. Remove the bit from the hole frequently and clean out the flutes. If using any kind of power drill, go very slowly. Try to keep from creating too much heat. The bits can snap off inside the figure and are nearly impossible to get out.

 

[Tecumsea]

Matt,
Dremel do a drill pack with 5 different sizes for about £11 in the UK the drills are of excellent quality. Avoid cheap drills. A mini drill is not essential but go for a variable speed. I have a mini drill which I picked up from B&Q a couple of months ago for around £20 it even has an extension chuck on a flexible lead. Johns advice is sound, use something pointed to mark the spot before you start drilling this will prevent the bit from wandering off line. The mini drill will also be useful for cleaning up white metal kits if you can get hold of some dental burrs and mini brushes (but remember to wear goggles if you are using the brushes)
Keith

 

[kansas kid]

Hello Matt

The tips and background informatin that has been given is really very good;
one of the definite advantages of being a Planeteer, of course. And I will
mention here one point, re drilling holes in general either with a pin vice,
also called a twist drill, or a electric Dremel kind of power tool, that has been
more or less inferred but perhaps you did not pick up on it, since it wasn't
mentioned specifically.

What ever size in diameter I want to final drilled hole to be, I always
start with a drill bit that is much smaller in diameter. I use several
other drill bits that get progressively larger in diameter, working my
way up to the size of hole in diameter that I want in the final size.

If you think about this for a minute, you realize that this method
gives you complete control. And haste makes waste. . . Ah, the
discipline required to be a good modeler.

Also, you can use a pin vice to hold the figure in, while you're painting it,
just by inserting the end of the wire/paper clip, etc. into the end of the pin
vice and tightening the chuck. I have several pin vices with different sized
openings for the chucks. That way I can mount several figures in the pin
vices, say if I'm doing a diorama and am working on multipal figures.

Good luck, and have fun,

Jayhawk

 

[socko47]

Drilling soft metal can be difficult as the drill tends to get stuck. Traditionally one uses oil as a lubricant, but as noted your glue won't hold. Everyone finds there own solution: small hole first, slower speeds rotationally and vertically( ie. lighter application of pressure on drill), and lubricant. You could try a couple of machinist tricks. Cold water, a cold soap solution (used for plastic drilling) with dishwashing liquid - you maybe able to use straight soap - at least it will wash out, or you could try chilling your piece in the freezer before drilling. As noted, it is a bear to bypass broken drill bits in the soft metal.

 

[gordy]

Another good drill bit lubricant is wax, i take mine a poke it into the side of one of those scented candles the wife keeps about the house.. those "votive" thingies

 

[Mike Stevens]

Hi,

I use a hand drill exclusively. I use paper clips (large) for 54MM. I bought hardend steel drill bits from the Local Hardware store. The bits I bought with the hand drill broke quickly.

Some quick advice I recived on pinning from a buddy (Steve), my mentor, on this site:

" Drill--the heavier the figure the larger and deeper the pin goes into both base and figure, including the painting base. For that one-ounce resin 54mm a 3/4 inch-long piece of standard paper clip is enough, quarter inch in the figure and half inch in the wood. Try to match the diameter of the bit as closely as possible to the diameter of the paper clip wire. For resin figures larger than 54-65mm, and all resin horses regardless of scale, use the heavy-duty size clip. For metal foot figures up to about 90mm, an inch of heavy duty paper clip wire will do the trick. Anything bigger (there are not a lot of metal figures in large scale) requires additional lengths of wire, but you have to judge this for yourself. Caution on drilling metal in particular, lube your bit and use the lowest speed you can to avoid torque ripping a foot off. GLUE: Unless your painting block is also the display block (I do this a lot)
it is a good idea to NOT fix the figure permanently to the block as getting it off when finished can be difficult to do without damaging the figure. I fix the pin inside the figure with epoxy glue and the pin in the block end with superglue. As the superglue has no lateral strength you can wiggle the pin a little and loosen the figure from the work base. I use JB Weld Kwik for the epoxy but if you know a good one already that is fine. For additional stability on the display base I glue down whatever portion of the feet that touch the ground in addition to the pin, with the epoxy. Pinning both feet is also an option if both touch the ground. A knee or butt cheek can be drilled just like a foot. Sometime you may paint something that is just too big or too awkward to pin to paint. Big scale horses, whatever; I use disposable plastic gloves. The plastic has no "tooth" to mar the painted surgaces and you can handle the figure as you paint. This would also work for any scale figure but in my opinion the working block is best for me. The hobby supply stores sell vices with handles on them that will accept whatever diameter pin you put into the figure and secure it with screws. I know a bunch of very good painters who do this. "

There is a lot of trial and error and you have have to decide what works best for you. I'm sure everyone knows this from personal experience.



Steve, I hope you don't mind me passing this great advice along.

M

 

[Mat Lambert]

Hi everyone

Just wanted to say thanks for all the superb advice (again!).

I've got myself a pin vice/hand drill to experiment with now - and will be looking for a variable speed mini tool sometime in the future. It seems like half the solution is getting good qaulity drill bits that you know can be trusted

Also liked the idea of using the pin vice to hold the figures when painting - think I will try that one too.

cheers and happy New Year
Mat

 

[housecarl]

Mat, those bits form Expo are excellent for their price.
Carl.

 

[Jeff]

I can not tell you haw many figures I have that are pined to their bases with the micro drill bit that got stuck in their leg.

 

[Guy]

I use a variable speed dremel mounted into a drill press designed for the Dremel. I use 1/16th drill bit with the same size brass rod for the pin. With the Dremel even at low speed you have to be careful. On resin I use the same size drill bit only I use a hand drill I keep here in my desk drawer. On the small 54mm figures I may only peg one leg.

Many people go to the extreme of pegging all parts to the figure. I only peg the legs (bottom of feet) and do no other pegging as I have found, over the 38 years I have been in figure painting, to be unneccessary.

 

[chippy]

I have 2 types of dremel drills , an electric type with speed control and a battery type with speed control , but I still mostly use my normal Makita drill I use every day at work . For pinning I use veneer pins on 54mm and 3/4inch panel pins cut down for larger kits , after you cut the heads of you can use the pin as a drill (this is an old carpenters trick to get the right size hole) .One trick I find useful (I can't rememder were I saw this but it's not a new one) is to drill the arm or leg then but a small piece of blue tack on the corresponding piece then press together , you will then have a mark in the right place were to drill the corresonding piece . I also use 1&1/2 inch panel pins for the attaching the figure to the base sa this can be tapped into the wooden base allowing the ground work to be built up around a , then cut to lenght when the fgure is ready to be mounted
chippy

 

[Ray]

A pin vice will suffice for this task, and is perhaps the best choice for plastic figures. However, because of the tedium of drilling deeply into a metal figure I'd have to recommend a motor tool of some description. The best of course would be a variable speed tool with a very low, low RPM, but you can use a battery tool with low torque and regulate the speed with your finger pressed lightly to the side of the chuck. I'd also recommend purchasing a tool capable of taking a three jaw chuck and not just collets. A three jaw chuck will save a lot of time and frustration when changing drills, or dental burs, being capable of holding a larger range of sizes than any single Collet.

When drill into soft metal it is best to use some kind of lubricant to keep the drill from galling. For this bee's wax works well, Vaseline does also. The trick is to withdraw the drill from the hole frequently, clean the flutes apply new lube and make another shallow plunge into the part, never going too deep at one time before cleaning and lubing.

Micro-Mark has a large selection of drills and motor tools in their line so it is probably worth while to check them out. I would certainly consider a small wire gauge drill index because the range of sizes is so great. And here is their site link;

http://www.micromark.com/

This is a good useful set of wire gauge drills.

http://www.micromark.com/20-PIECE-DRILL-BIT-SET-WITH-PLASTIC-INDEX-61-80,7050.html

Wire gauge drills are fantastically useful for drilling holes to accept wire because the sizes correlate directly to that of the wire.

This three jaw chuck threads straight onto most Dremel rotary tools.

http://www.micromark.com/SCREW-ON-3...-ROTARY-TOOLS-1and64-1and8-CAPACITY,7649.html


Ray

 

[Einion]

Also liked the idea of using the pin vice to hold the figures when painting - think I will try that one too.

This is a good way to start, and continues to be useful for holding smaller parts for painting, or sculpting, prior to assembly. But the narrowness of the handle and any fluting can make it tiring (even painful!) to hold a whole piece over a long period, particularly a bulky 54 figure much less a larger scale or a mounted.

So eventually I'd recommend making a holder of some kind using a large-diameter wooden dowel as the handle and some gubbins to hold the rod projecting from the figure. Here's a link to a CMON thread with pics of mine, with a link on to another thread on the same subject; the original idea for mine came from Peter Mertens's posts in this thread here on pF.

Einion