Micro Drilling -- Stop Breaking Small Drills !! 

An excellent tip, I have done much the same thing myself with a home-made device. I see a few negative comments which are totally uncalled-for, Joe is kind enough to share some good workshop tips, if you don't have a use personally there are plenty who do, don't knock it.

Thanks very much. I've been in engineering for 50 years and have never seen this trick, not done that much small drilling but enough to know I appreciate your video!

I ordered 10 x 0.3mm microbits! After breaking 6 of them I came across this video and built the adapter. I now have two 0.3 mm holes in my project. Thank you for making this video! Greetings from the Netherlands

As someone else mentioned "There are small chucks that can be bought ready made with a sliding shank and a knurled grip to hold onto so you have feel.". I have one and that certainly has been a life saver - that type does do good in the mill due to its contstruction. Your approach is essentially very similar and a great solution for sure - it is essential to have that 'feel'. I'm sure a good many folks will find that super useful.

Thanks Joe.I'm an old guy (72) but still learning,.It never stops until your sucking dirt.,thanks to people like you and the magic of the internet

With small drills like that, I usually buy 3: One to lose on the floor, the second to break, and the third to do the job. I now feel confident enough to buy only two, and hopefully not drop either!

I thought of this, two seconds after I saw that adapter ... near 80 years old and still learning ... thanks!

You've helped me meet my goal of learning something new every day. Thanks Peter Walker

One of my old bosses had a sign in the shop that said "If you don't know what lever A is then leaver B". I learned "the feel" from that guy after he stood behind and watched me try to burn a 3/8" drill bit through a stainless plate at high speed and I do mean Glowing Red with all the force I had in me at the time. Talk about work hardening Hahaaa!! Thankfully, "finesse" as he called it or "the feel" as you say is a skill I was capable of acquiring with a little bit of proper coaching. Cool trick man. Rock on Joe, with your 2017 post I somehow missed? Wtf

On the subject of Tiny Drills, if your bit is too small for the chuck to clamp down on, spiral wrap the drill shank with fine copper wire then put it in the chuck and snug it down tight. Works in a pinch.👍🏻

GREAT video, been an "old school" machinist for 50+ years and just learned something new......gonna make that adapter today, love it. Thanks

Thank You Joe ! I really do appreciate all the videos you do . I am hobby machinist , I’ve been a Heavy Equipment mechanic for over 40 years I work for Caterpillar Warrencat . I learn something new everyday . Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and wisdom . Looking forward to learning more from your videos. Sincerely, Steve W Black - Anadarko., Oklahoma

Thank you Thank you Thank you Joe. I make small brass parts with small holes drilled deep. No matter how light my touch is on the tailstock crank, the "feel" is zero. From your great vidoe I can see how much quicker and easier it will be with the free sliding chuck. Indeed a "light bulb" moment for this amateur!

That is genius ! But now damn it, its 10:30 at night and I have to go to the shop to make this and play with it !!

Another great video. I just completed a wing rack gear out of .375 square X 7" long aluminum. Cross milling with .061 end mill @ .160 intervals, .100 deep over the 7" length. I didn't have the 'feel' and broke three .061 end mills during the process. That FEEL doesn't come cheap. I will be making one of these for my lathe. Thank you.

I see someone else calls that a sensitive chuck. Had mine given to me by an old machinist who retired and passed many great tools to me. That sensitive chuck adapter saved my goose many times over. I never realized till now how expensive that thing is. A treasured tool because a craftsman gave it to me who I highly respected. I bet those who build your design will have no less a tressured tool. Nothing is more frustrating than fighting and breaking tiny drill bits, unless it's a tiny dull center drill, lol... Another great tip Joe and your right feel is everything for doing good work.

Joe, great trick. If you clamp a small V-block on the OD of that female mandrel, you can magnet mount a dial indicator depth.

Joe; talking about "feel" on a larger scale, I read an acticle about building the Alcan highway to Alaska. They interviewed this old bulldozer operator who was operating on a very steep slope. When asked how he knew when he thought his Cat was about to tip over he replied "You got to feel it in your ass". The human body is an amazing thing when it comes to our senses.

Reminds me of the japanese "more than a human" show, where an old turnwright drilled a 0.35 mm hole on a normal lathe through a 0.5 mm diameter pencil lead, which was about 50 mm in length. All he said "it is about the feel". My hats off to that guy.

You're a life saver Joe. I need to drill some 1.2mm holes in 304 stainless and I've been dreading it until I saw this video. Though I'll be doing it on a mill, your comments below to use a micro drill adapter have shown me the way. Thanks!

Oh MAN!....you did it again,...I had to stop what I was doing to write this...Sorry for repeating my self mate, but to the likes of me (and I am sure many thousands of others...) this type of generous guidance is so amazingly selfless, and I for one am so grateful for these gems.....I am frustrated that I can't give anything comparable back...Agggh!....Nice one Joe!!!...:-). please keep up this great content; you are some guy:-)

Joe I made the tool to drill .040 holes in 2 orifice I made of brass. It worked great. 👍🏻. Thanks!

Hi Joe, I'm a freelance engineer working in the medical device space and over the years and out of necessity I've become something of a hack 'machinist'. I took machining classes in college but they were only good enough for me to know the basics of how to operate a lathe and mill. The rest of what I've learned has come from OJT. I've been fortunate to pick up some very useful techniques from machinists at places I've worked, but when I started my own company, I often had to develop my own methods because there was no one around to ask and at the time, youtube had more cat videos than useful content. Since youtube has matured, the world is fortunate to have several content providers who've made the rest of us homeshoppers and hacks into much better 'machinists'. As I've surfed youtube, I've run across a handful of content providers that I've found useful, but your content is top-notch. Your videos stand out because you provide tips and techniques that are clearly driven by a real pro who needs dead-nuts reliable techniques that don't break tools, make setup straightforward and easy, and make money. I admit that you can be a little tough for me to follow the first (or second!) time through, but nothing I can't eventually figure out. Thanks for all the content you provide. I'll be working my way through your catalog of videos to see what new and useful things I can add to my 'toolbox' of techniques.

There's showing a trick (new technique), and there's showing how and why it works. Without the how and why, it's just a one off thing, and hit or miss technique. The explanation of why it works makes all the difference. Thanks!

I'm a turner,miller but before that worked as an engineers storeman. While I was there I perused a tap and die catologue and saw that as regular stock they could supply a 4 thousandths of an inch (one tenth of a millimetre) tap with 318 teeth per inch. I would have crapped myself if I was told to use one. It's another world.

Awesome, I always have that problem of breaking the tiny brill. Thank you.

Genius!!!. I used to say, "Let the material, and the bit TELL YA WHAT TO DO." My machinist boss just shook his head, incredulous. Yet it worked. Thanks for REPROVING IT!

My Dad used exactly that method for scratch building small scale model compressed air-driven engines, for longer than I can remember. I never saw him break a drill bit in over 50 years. Thanks for highlighting it.

Joe, simple yet brilliant. Thank you sir.

New here, the micro drill title caught our attention because well we are micro machinists so your 26 thousands just under 6.5 mm for us as watchmakers we do millimeter more often. I hope my micro drill press does not begin to stall out here at 6.5 mm as that is really large for us. Just funin, you are good.

I have one of the commercial ones but I like your's as well. Mine is keyed for use on a mill with a free spinning collar to push on. Your design is better on the lathe because you also get feedback on how much bite the bit has. I've snapped several bits on mine. Looks like I'll be making a new tool. Thanks for sharing.

Absolute Great Video Joe!!!! I'm into Clock Repair and I think You Just solved a huge problem. Some guys hold the bit freehand in a pin vice because they're afraid of snapping it. I can't see how that can give you any kind of close tolerance. Your method eliminates that freehand wobble. Thanks Again!!

How clever is that? - Brilliant trick. Thank you for sharing...

I always buy cobalt micro drill bits. They work good in a pin vice also

Joe, I made the same type of adapter sleeve as you when I was working as a journeyman machinist for a 2 piece D&I sanitary steel food can plant. The D&I bodymakers worked on hydrostatic principles and required small jets made from 1/4 -20 x 1/4 stainless cup point set screws at the various pressure points on the machine. The holes varied in size anywhere from .014 to .036 to control the static and dynamic pressures required at that point. Long story short, the sleeve does a great job of being able to allow you to feel what the drill is doing in the material. I'm 57, and I remember being told when I was a green apprentice about learning to develop" a good feel". Another good video Joe.And I hope the younger guys appreciate these tips because you pay for this experience with your life.

Brother, I watched this 4 times because I love the ingenuity. Awesome.

...."...all I got"...this is excellent!!!

Thanks Joe, For an excellent suggestion. Would it also help to put the bit further into the chuck and then gradually draw it out as you progress with the drilling

Hey this is something I needed yesterday! I was putting an oil pass on a rifle! I am an gunsmith hobby wise!! Both of my grandfathers were machinist and I learned a lot from my dads father I didn’t get to meet the other!! This is a valuable trade and I have loved it for 40 years!!! Thanks

A mill/drill version of this micro drill does exist. Years ago I made one for our tool room before we found out we could buy one. The micro drill chuck in this video can be upgraded fairly easily. 1. cut a key slot in the shank. 2.drill and tap the outer sleeve, the female part or adapter, on center and near the open end and install 'dog' tip set screw. The dog end set screw is used to drive the chuck but still allow the shank to extend and retract. 3. Cut a small groove for a snap ring about 1/4 inch rom the back of the chuck. this will hold a 'finger ring', basically just a washer, that you hold to control the depth. Here is a store bought adapter that uses a key and slot. Hopefully there is enough info between my quick explanation and the pic to make your own!

Not in a million years would I have thought of that!

Genious method! Thanks

this little trick is quite useful. made one of these in tradeschool. all my class mates thought i was a fool for wasting so much time getting the fit just right. ...and then they had to drill a wire size hole. boy did they all come to me!

Really a super video again Joe!!! I’ve always been super fortunate to have use of Hardinge HLVH SUPER PRECISION lathes.wherever I was employed. Not much of a machine for medium to large parts, but for small to micro parts nothing could compare! The tail stock was a monster to remove from the lathe, but for small hole drilling in most materials I think anyone could be a master machinist in no time. I had one of the precision drill chucks you mentioned and the smallest hole I ever drilled was .005” and only .020” deep in aluminum. Luckily the lathe spindle speed was 3,000 rpm. The surprising thing to me was I actually preferred to drill 304 stainless. Every time when drilling, I’d get the most beautiful two chips coming out of the hole. I was surprised how much force I was putting on the drill without it breaking! Thanks so much Joe for your always interesting machining videos.

Sherline has a “sensitive drilling attachment for doing this with THEIR MINIATURE HOBBYIST MILLING MACHINE. (The drill spins, but you feed manually in a similar manner). I think the Sherline unit cost around a hundred bucks....

Cool, never seen that before

I have a customer I have had to disappoint because the job involved drilling a 2mm hole 170mm deep in steel (for a special firing pin to slide through). Now I have your technique and will build the adapter and try it. It would be a victory for me to be able to do this job. It has bothered me for a year now. Thanks for the super videos you produce, and this one not least!

When I was in the Air Force in the early 80's my shop chief taught me how to do this. Great to see it's making the rounds again!

So, if you can't afford a lathe you can't drill tiny holes, is that it? Brilliant idea though. Thanks for sharing.

Nice trick. I work with stainless every day. Sure does test my patience

It is a wasted day when you don't learn something new. Thank you. I must have broken many small drills in my life without realising it was an easy fix.

I just used your technique and it worked great. Thanks, I didn't know what I was going to do, my drill was a .040" so bigger than yours but I couldn't have done it without you.

Super method. Wow, that is a great solution; much appreciate your sharing it. Thank you. Just curious; what's the tolerance between the drill chuck shank and the cylinder holding it? Thanks

being a swiss apprentice micromecanician i can understand why you would have some difficulties with drilling that small of a hole with such a lathe so good job but if you take the good machine for the good job you'd have no problem drilling this hole, for example the smallest hole i ever drilled with a lathe was 0.2mm on a schaublin 70 lathe the hole ended up being 0.215mm in diameter but i was in my tolerance so the job was done

Thanks Joe. I trained as a machinist yet have never been shown this. You’re up there with the best mate and I appreciate your time. Cheers mate.

Thank you, from the UK. So many micro drills I've broken over the years, and had no idea about this setup!

That is clever, I don’t have a lathe for metal. but still interesting.

Stick a small digital caliper along the adapter and have a accurate depth gauge.

Looks like a great tool and technique. The idea of rotating the work while holding the drill bit still is great. It solves much of the complication of making a sensitive drilling attachment. Of course it does limit you to drilling holes on parts that can be held in the lathe chuck. I followed a link to this video from a question on the PM board about using a 0.004" drill bit. I have used a 1/64" bit (0.0156") in my Unimat lathe and in the drill press configuration of that machine with NO problems. So 0.026" does not worry me in the least unless it is a cheap, poorly made bit. I have even used a pin vise for drilling 1/32" holes (0.0312") holes in softer materials by hand with no problems. The pin vise allows me to rotate the drill bit using my thumb and forefinger, without moving my hand. That eliminates the movement that other hand held methods will allow and which causes the drill bits to break. The 1/32" and 1/64" bits in my shop are both around 40+ years old and have at least a dozen holes behind each of them. I haven't broken them yet. Now that 0.004" bit does make me pause a bit but I will make a note to get one and try that using this technique some time soon. As an additional note, I would not try this with my SB-9 even though it has very little runout. The Unimat can run at 7,500 and perhaps even 10,000 RPM while the SB is limited to about 3,000.

You're the best. Cut to the chase and explain it out in a way another mechanic can understand. Best to you and your's for the Holiday Season.

You're absolutely right about the 'feel' of the drilling/cutting. Once you've lost the feel, you've lost your drill bit!

I didn't remember watching . My only complaint is I can't leave a 2nd LIKE ;)

Thank you very much Joe, bloody life saver, I’m sick of breaking small drills and more sick having to go to the shops and spend the money to keep replacing them, thanks again mate 👌🏼

I use the same technique in a milling machine and lathe to tap small holes. It keeps the tap lined up while allowing you to feel when the chips are building up or bind so you don't snap the fragile small taps. I have never used it to drill small holes on a lathe, but now I will. Thanks.

Genius! I do work on musical instruments and use these sizes all the time. Do you have any tips regarding small drills straight into the sides of curved steel? Usually working with steel cylinders OD .085, drilling holes at right angles with a .020-.035 drill and reaming after. I would love to hear your thoughts on reducing walk, getting perfectly centered holes, and getting precise distance measurements between holes.

Great video. Can you tell me what material the drill was made of, seemed to have no problem cutting

Always a pleasure Joe. I could have bet you while you in the office at the beginning of your video, exactly what it was that you showed us here. It is kind of you to share, I recall how selfish 'some' of those crotchety old timers could be back when I was an an apprentice. However in '78, I took a job in a tool room at a stamping company, and I was lucky enough to work for a journeyman that was a lot like you. Thanks.

I think "the feel" is different for everyone and mostly gets learned from many many mistakes and remembering what things felt like right before they happened. Ive been a mechanic for 15 years and through all the experience I can tighten a bolt to within a reasonable torque and can tell when a bolts going to snap (usually) long before it does. I definitely agree that kind of thing can't be taught.

Mmm, What about drilling a .5mm hole 3" long on brass rod..What type of bit would you use?

I'm a Watchmaker. That drill bit is fairly large to me.

As you said, a very old trick, but one of which many today seem unaware..... During WW2 my mother used to make welding tips in a factory in London using a similar method. She got extra wages because her production rate was high and she never broke drills.

That is a Springleaf great idea. I'm tired of breaking small bits I'm going to make one of these thanks

Brilliant!!

This video is 10 times longer than it needs to be.

so simple, yet brilliant!

Un freaking believable , my dad would have really liked you. Unfortunately he passed in 1992. His favorite saying or nick name for me was POWDER PUFF. Lol. Unfortunately I bared that nick name for years as a young lad. He would always tell me I could take a powder puff and beat a anvil to death. I'm ding laughing as I type this. He would always tell me it isn't how quick you could get there it's how gracious you can arrive. If a job is worth doing it's worth doing right the first time or don't do it at all. Keep the videos coming you always seem to amaze me with your way of overcoming a problem. I now have another new tool to make.

i drill very small holes in tool steel alot at my job and I just rest my finger on the drill so i can feel it cutting and if it bows at all , say today 12 hole bolt circle thru a2 with a 1/16 drill thru 1.500 of material 12 times 1 drill no breaks ,I have been a tool maker for 40 years and my supervisor who is not a tool maker today tells me not to let him see me doing this again it is a safety hazzard I have been doing this over 30 plus yrs. Broke alot of drills before I found what works and it works for me never an injury .I keep my rpms at between 700 800 and it cuts like butter everyone else is breaking drills running way high rpms and ,like you said no feel..I got angry being told how to do my job by someone that doesn,t know my Job, and this man thinks it,s ok for a toolmaker to try to drill thru steel at 900 rpm,s with a 5/8 drill it was screaming I backed way off waiting for it to grab and shatter the drill sending fragments like bullets thru the air ,,,,wow I was told people have different ways of doing things ,hello yes sir right and wrong. thanks for letting me vent and I hope you answer to this as you said the drill is so small my finger is like leather after 40 yrs. doing this ,would I rest it on a 1/4 drill at 600 700 rpms hell know it would tear my skin off ,,,please reply Sir.

This reminds me of the old joke about a drilling competition between the USA and Soviet Russia back before laser drilling was a thing: It goes that the USA sent a drill bit, measure in microns, to their Russian counterparts that was "the smallest possible dill bit in the World". Days later the Russians returned it with a hole drilled through the centre of it along with the bit used still a sliding fit in the hole!

Thank you Joe. I bought that lathe and that Mill. Bolt the Bolton lathe and the Grizzly g705 drill Mill. I gave 1700 for both of them. They're like new I'll be doing a video on them, they're still sitting on a pallets, because he had moved and the shipping company put them on pallets before you moved so they are still on pallets in my garage. I'm trying to figure out where to put them. Thank you for all your help in purchasing them.

So fabulous. I have struggled to make 0.6 mm clearance holes for copper mig welding tips due to breaking drills. The tips are not that expensive to buy, but I have several times needed one when the shops were shut & could not make one. Next time I will try your super useful method. Thank you for sharing!

You can do this with a mill. You need a sensitive drill attachment. It's roughly the same setup, but the drill is spinning and you grab the chuck by a ring that spins on bearings.www.msdiscounttool.com/catalog/product_info.php?csv=gg&products_id=105401&gclid=Cj0KCQjww7HsBRDkARIsAARsIT4gMT3c3RQA5VMN7I1kuGrmW6OWlKt2JMeE8GzT1CvNAgU5r--PNXwaAlbvEALw_wcB

So, the secret to not break your little drill bits is to buy a lathe...

There are small chucks that can be bought ready made with a sliding shank and a knurled grip to hold onto so you have felt. I had a customer that did micro drilling in the .003 range. He drilled a human hair Aand ran a wire thru it to prove that he did it. His comment was always "Figure out how I fixtured it."

I made my own by chucking a piece of brass in the tailstock and drilling and reaming to match the straight shank chuck with the drill and reamer in the headstock. It has been in my toolbox for 55 years.

Broke 3 tiny bits before looking. Bring on the names - just want to make TINY holes in 1/4” vintage OAK... Uh oh. Did he say lathe. WELL *P00P* !! I’m talkin hand drill and Wood, so I can put in fine brass nail. darn it.

"feel"=trigger time...nothing replaces time in the seat

Don't even know how I ended up here but that was brill! Such a simple idea but I would never have given it a second thought. Thanks for sharing

I have a similar tool made by Rutland that utilizes a Jacobs #0 chuck that closes to 0 on a spring-loaded shaft. I'm in the carburetor business and use it frequently on my miniature Sherline lathe which is smaller than your tailstock. Thank you for your video

I guarantee that twist bit didnt come from harbor freight

Excellent tip! I wonder if mosquitoes find this pornographic? ;-)

Great idea. I have an application for this at the present time. It will save me purchasing many 1/16 ths drills.

Love your videos Joe. I tell all the new guys I work with in the directional drilling business you can't teach experience. You showing us all techniques and the why make your videos priceless. Thank you for all you do (even with the Hookem Horns) from an Okie.

A bigger problem is if your tailstock center is not online with the headstock axis, a drill will break off. Our secondary operation lathe has no adjustments for setting the height and position of the tail stock. I had to drill a bunch of .007' holes To me, .026 is HUGE.

So, you used digital control for the drill... :-)

Thanks as a 71 year old newbie what a pleasure watching your Chanel.

WoW! Such a simple idea but oh so very useful!!

Too bad we don't all have lathes !

If you have a lathe you could make this tool out of scrap. Cost would be almost zero.

I made one like that some time ago. I bought one those $150 jobbies, but it had too much runout. I took the chuck off and made a sliding adapter like yours. Works great.

Joe Pie at it again, never seen this before. You bet I'll be using it when the time comes.