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Drill bits for brass


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HI

I need to drill some holes in a kit i am building,But the drill bits i have will not work on brass.

Can anyone tell me where i can get som small drill bits for brass from , looking for 0.3-0.6mm

Thanks

All the best

Darren

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Good hobby shops should have them. You'll need a pin vice as well. Try: https://www.eileensemporium.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=38&Itemid=9 I have some sets of reamers that let you widen existing holes with precision. Make sure to get lots of the smaller sizes - they get dull and frequently snap. Dip the tip in oil to make drilling the hole easier.

 

John

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Any tool, be it a drill, reamer, file or lathe tool used for brass must be very sharp and have zero rake and not too much clearance angle. Straight flute drills and reamers are ideal for brass.

 

The problem with drills made for steel is that they are inclined to snatch and screw themselves into the hole when drilling brass or gunmetal.

 

The remedy is to remove the rake on a drill which is the helix angle. On larger drills used in engineering it is usual to grind a small flat on the front lip at zero degrees. With model engineering sizes a touch with a diamond file will do the trick.

 

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Spade drills can be cheaper than twist drills and less likely to snatch. The standard drill point is 118 degrees included angle. When drilling thin sheet, making the drill point 90 degrees included can make it less likely to buckle the sheet.

 

post-13188-0-40117400-1354010867.jpg

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I buy these 251065529388 (note I very rarely drill Brass)

Anything under 0.7mm in those sets is too poor quality to drill brass. I've had a couple and they normally break as you try to put more pressure on the bit to compensate for a poor cutting edge. I did have one where the fluting had unravelled.

 

I'd recommend UK Drills on eBay as a supplier and also Hong Kong supplied ones such as 140548875658

 

There used to be sellers doing "German made" 10 packs for about £2.10 inc postage a lot on ebay but I cant find as many of those now.

 

eBay is much cheaper than Eileens for HSS 10 packs and the German/Hong Kong ones last really well even when I do a lot of drilling with the 0.3mm ones in brass or nickel silver kits.

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An alternative way of making holes in brass sheet is to use a rivetting tool (either a pukka one or your favourite scriber, map tack or WHY) to create a rivet where you want the hole to be. Then turn the sheet over and file off the rivet. Turn the sheet over again and impress the rivet again in the same position. Now turn over and file it off again. Hold the piece up to the light and you will probably see a pinhole has formed. Now carefully repeat the rivetting and filing untl the hole is the size you require.

 

This is a bit long winded compared to drilling, but with a bit of practice you can achieve very precise holes. It's handy when you don't have the correct drill size (normally when I've just broken the last one in the packet), or you want a close fit of an irregularly sized rod into a hole.

 

It's best to start the 'rivet' on the unseen side of the work.

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An alternative way of making holes in brass sheet is to use a rivetting tool (either a pukka one or your favourite scriber, map tack or WHY) to create a rivet where you want the hole to be. Then turn the sheet over and file off the rivet. Turn the sheet over again and impress the rivet again in the same position. Now turn over and file it off again. Hold the piece up to the light and you will probably see a pinhole has formed. Now carefully repeat the rivetting and filing untl the hole is the size you require.

 

This is a bit long winded compared to drilling, but with a bit of practice you can achieve very precise holes. It's handy when you don't have the correct drill size (normally when I've just broken the last one in the packet), or you want a close fit of an irregularly sized rod into a hole.

 

It's best to start the 'rivet' on the unseen side of the work.

Works well, I have used same technequie many times. Mick.

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