Mini Rotary Tool (Dremmel like)

[havanaholly]

Harbor Freight is my go-to "toy" store.  Watch their sales, they're super good for clamps and I got my loupe there that clips to my glasses for mini stitching.

[Mid-life madness]

2 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

Harbor Freight is my go-to "toy" store.  Watch their sales, they're super good for clamps and I got my loupe there that clips to my glasses for mini stitching.

I agree! I like to just snoop around and see what is used for what.

[Whereforart]

On 7/24/2016 at 7:55 AM, cloudbound said:

I want to share one of the neatest tools I have ever owned with everyone.  It's called a 'Rotary Tool' and I found it at Harbor Freight Tools for just $9.99.  I expected it to break quickly but it wasn't that expensive and I thought I'd give it a try.  Its like a Dremmel Tool.  But its small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.  The Rotary Tool comes with some drill bits, a few sanding wheels and a few different sized 'colets' for changing if you're using regular drill bits.  I don't know what half of the things are for but I DO know a drill bit and sanding wheel.  They also sell a set of 'Precision Drill Bits' that drill really tiny holes.  A set of about 16 cost me an extra $12 I think.  They're so tiny that they can break and over the past 3 months that I've owned the Rotary Tool I think I've broken about 3 of the bits.  But I've still got lots to use before I need to buy another set.  I even went back last week and bought an extra Rotary Tool because I figure for my $9.99 investment it has been more than worth that price.  If it breaks it was still a great deal.  You can find it online at Harbor Freight Tools (we have one just down the street though).  It is light as a feather too.  I absolutely LOVE this thing and I wish I'd known about it back when I was building my first dollhouse last year! 

Thank you!  It's now over 5 years later and I found that Harbor Freight is still selling this for $9.99!  I'm heading over there today to pick on up!

[cloudbound]

  Well it HAS been a few years since I sung the praises of Harbor Freight's tiny rotary tool.  But I am still using one just about every day.  My first one did eventually give up the ghost, and my second one did too.  But considering I use them ALL THE TIME, going through three of them in six years at $10 a pop is pretty good.  I find that the tiny 'precision drill bits' can be just held with my fingers and twisted around to make some really perfect tiny holes.  Its easy to get the holes exactly where you want them when the drill bit is right in your hand instead of the tool.  Now I work with 1:48-scale mostly so that's why the holes need to be REALLY tiny.  This is still my favorite mini tool.

[havanaholly]

Pat, a pin vise is nice to have, it will hold your itty drill bit and put holes precisely where you want them when your fingers no longer want to hold & twist the bit.

[BigKahunaFL]

I've found the following two items to be of great help when drilling very small holes. I've used them on my 1:200 scale Titanic build for drilling 2000+ portholes through .063 thick polystyrene. they help reduce the finger fatigue from the twisting motion.

https://www.micromark.com/Spiral-Push-Drill

https://www.micromark.com/Micro-Hand-Drill

If you've got more than 10 or 15 holes to drill, I highly recommend something like these.

 

[Island-Shack]

On 12/31/2021 at 9:51 AM, BigKahunaFL said:

I've found the following two items to be of great help when drilling very small holes. I've used them on my 1:200 scale Titanic build for drilling 2000+ portholes through .063 thick polystyrene. they help reduce the finger fatigue from the twisting motion.

https://www.micromark.com/Spiral-Push-Drill

https://www.micromark.com/Micro-Hand-Drill

If you've got more than 10 or 15 holes to drill, I highly recommend something like these.

 

Thanks for posting this, I didn't know such a thing existed. I bought a set of micro drill bits for my Dremel and then had to go buy a smaller chuck, and still get nervous when I use it to drill holes - this thing looks so much better.