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Lookng for a pin vice for 0.3mm drills


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  • RMweb Gold

Good afternoon :)

 

My set of pin vices are great - apart from the smallest one will only grip down to 0.5mm. I have a LOT of hinge slots to open out and want to use 0.3mm drills to do it (probably quite a few as I have no doubt they break VEY easily!). But can anyone recommend a pin vice that can grip that small a diameter?

 

Thanks :)

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  • RMweb Gold

I wouldn't use 0.3mm twist drills for the reasons you mention. Depending what material you are drilling into,  I would take a piece of 0.3mm wire and cut it with pliers. The squashed cut end then resembles a spade and can be used for drilling, particularly if you are just opening up holes in etched material.

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19 minutes ago, ikcdab said:

I wouldn't use 0.3mm twist drills for the reasons you mention. Depending what material you are drilling into,  I would take a piece of 0.3mm wire and cut it with pliers. The squashed cut end then resembles a spade and can be used for drilling, particularly if you are just opening up holes in etched material.

 

Interesting idea - what kind of wire would you suggest for opening brass etch? 

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1 hour ago, Wuggie Norple said:

Eclipse 121 pin vice has a 0-1mm capacity.  Available from Squires and many other sources.  Excellent quality, but not cheap.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Oh - I don't know; a set of 121, 122, 123 & 124 for £9.99, with free P&P, is an absolute bargain in my book!

 

John Isherwood.

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The latest Elipse 121's (the smallest) are considerably heavier than the original Elipse 121 pin vice. I wore my original out and found out the hard way by ordering a new set. I found the latest 121 too heavy when using a 0.3mm drill.

 

For 0.3 & 0.2 mm bits I use a considerably smaller pin chuck. Something like the Squires 090-832.  Mine is different to the Squires job as it has a blackened collar and I've had it going on forty years. Far lighter so less likelihood of drill breakage if you loose your grip on the chuck and you can rotate it between the fingers at a higher speed due to the small diameter shaft.

 

P

 

 

Edited by Porcy Mane
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  • RMweb Gold

 

Having got somewhat pee'd off with 4 jaw pin vices and forever changing the jaws, I invested in 4 to cover all eventualities, but having since found a decent 3 jaw which now covers all eventualities, I'm in for the simple life!

ISTR it was an Expo Tools variety, it's concentric and goes down to 0.2mm at least.

 

Mike.

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Was going to post on this very subject, thanks everyone.  Any chance of some links and or images please? I have a "Citadel" brand twist drill and a Maplin Archimedes Drill - both are good but don't really hold anything finer than 1mm.

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8 hours ago, Bucoops said:

 

 

Interesting idea - what kind of wire would you suggest for opening brass etch? 

I just use ordinary nickel silver. It won't do heavy duty, but drilling holes in platicard or opening up holes in thin etches is fine.

Ian

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16 hours ago, ikcdab said:

I wouldn't use 0.3mm twist drills for the reasons you mention. Depending what material you are drilling into,  I would take a piece of 0.3mm wire and cut it with pliers. The squashed cut end then resembles a spade and can be used for drilling, particularly if you are just opening up holes in etched material.

 

If you squash 0.3mm wire you will have a spade ended bit considerably larger?

 

Mike.

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19 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

If you squash 0.3mm wire you will have a spade ended bit considerably larger?

 

Mike.

 

I believe Ian means where the wire cutters cut it leaves a sort of chisel point - it will make the wire slightly wider at that point but not much. Squashing the end in pliers or a vice would indeed make it a lot wider.

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15 hours ago, Porcy Mane said:

The latest Elipse 121's (the smallest) are considerably heavier than the original Elipse 121 pin vice. I wore my original out and found out the hard way by ordering a new set. I found the latest 121 too heavy when using a 0.3mm drill.

 

For 0.3 & 0.2 mm bits I use a considerably smaller pin chuck. Something like the Squires 090-832.  Mine is different to the Squires job as it has a blackened collar and I've had it going on forty years. Far lighter so less likelihood of drill breakage if you loose your grip on the chuck and you can rotate it between the fingers at a higher speed due to the small diameter shaft.

 

P

 

 

I think you may be confusing Eclipse with Kennedy. Kennedy have always been lighter than Eclipse.

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When I've had the problem of pin vices not gripping very small bits I've got round it by first putting the bit into a piece of wire insulation and the gripping it in the pin vice.  It's a bit bodgy but seems to work if you're careful, and if you've used a bright coloured piece of insulation it makes it easier to find the bit when you drop it!

 

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2 hours ago, meil said:

I think you may be confusing Eclipse with Kennedy.

 

Not when it has "Eclipse" stamped into the neck.  :smile_mini2:

 

Still have the original Eclipse alloy tube it was packed in along with the original sales receipt  (Thos. Proctor Tools Ltd  1972).

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19 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

Oh - I don't know; a set of 121, 122, 123 & 124 for £9.99, with free P&P, is an absolute bargain in my book!

 

John Isherwood.

John, this is interesting - in the 2011 edition of the Squires catalogue (found by googling for 'Eclipse 121 pin vice Squires'), a 121 pin vice is listed at £10.85 and the set of four at £45.99.  Hence my comment.  However, by going to Squires home page and finding the April 2020 update to the catalogue page, a 121 pin vice is now £4.79 and a set of four is £18.99.  And on Amazon the same set of four is £11.88.  Not sure where you found them for £9.99 though.

 

This suggests to me that over time the design, sourcing and quality of these pin vices has changed, and not necessarily in a good way.  I think this view is supported by Porcy Mane's findings. 

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1 hour ago, Wuggie Norple said:

Thanks for the link John.

 

As an alternative, to have one of the original design stamped 'Made in England', there is this listing:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ECLIPSE-No-121-Engineers-PIN-VICE-CHUCK-clamp-tool-Chromed-finish-New-Old-Stock/363090977538?hash=item5489e8a302:g:qdYAAOSwyNJfIZV0

 

Duly purchase - thanks.

 

John Isherwood.

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1 hour ago, Wuggie Norple said:

Thanks for the link John.

 

As an alternative, to have one of the original design stamped 'Made in England', there is this listing:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ECLIPSE-No-121-Engineers-PIN-VICE-CHUCK-clamp-tool-Chromed-finish-New-Old-Stock/363090977538?hash=item5489e8a302:g:qdYAAOSwyNJfIZV0

 

I've already ordered one of the more modern ones (will feedback on here when it arrives) - but that one states will take drills from 1.3 to 1.39mm. I'm assuming that's a maximum, not a range. 

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22 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

 

I've already ordered one of the more modern ones (will feedback on here when it arrives) - but that one states will take drills from 1.3 to 1.39mm. I'm assuming that's a maximum, not a range. 

As far as I am aware, the Eclipse 121 has a range of 0-1mm.  My old 'Made in England' Eclipse 121 holds a 0.3mm drill very nicely.

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I've got loads of pin vices, several are Eclipse of a fair vintage and others a set of (probably) Chinese ones. All the smallest ones close up to nothing so will hold a 0.3mm drill.  When drilling this small I make a small indent with a fine scriber (old gramophone needle held in another old pin vice) to prevent the small drill wandering.  What I also do is use a large drawing pin in the open end which acts as a bearing when turning the vice and stops you wearing a hole in your palm or finger end.

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  • RMweb Gold
14 hours ago, Bucoops said:

 

I believe Ian means where the wire cutters cut it leaves a sort of chisel point - it will make the wire slightly wider at that point but not much. Squashing the end in pliers or a vice would indeed make it a lot wider.

Quite, just snip it off with pliers and you're away. Light duties.

Ian

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On 01/09/2020 at 12:58, Wuggie Norple said:

Thanks for the link John.

 

As an alternative, to have one of the original design stamped 'Made in England', there is this listing:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ECLIPSE-No-121-Engineers-PIN-VICE-CHUCK-clamp-tool-Chromed-finish-New-Old-Stock/363090977538?hash=item5489e8a302:g:qdYAAOSwyNJfIZV0

 

I ordered one of these and it has now arrived.

 

I can confirm that is is smaller and lighter than the Eclipse blackened pin vices that I have used for years, and is of excellent construction, closing right down to zero.

 

If you need a small pin vice for those tiny drills - this is the one to get!

 

John Isherwood.

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