Pinvise L2

A pin vise for modeling drill bits

A pin vise is a simple tool: a holder with a collet at one end and a swiveling cap at the other. You drill by turning the body with your fingers while the cap stays resting against your palm. Its advantage over an electric drill is feel. Plastic and resin are drilled slowly, the bit does not heat up in the material and it has no tendency to tear the hole out. With bits thinner than a millimeter this is the safest way to work, because your hand tells you at once when the tool starts to bind. The manufacturer is the Japanese firm Mineshima and the tool is made of stainless steel.

Use

• Clamp the bit so that only as much as necessary protrudes, as a longer overhang bends.
• Rest the cap against your palm and turn the body with your fingers smoothly, without jerking.
• Do not press; in soft material the bit makes its own way.
• Clear the swarf as you go, as a blocked flute is the commonest cause of breakage.
• Keep the collet clean, as clogged jaws will not grip the bit on axis.

Who it is for

It suits anyone who drills holes in a model for wire, pins, aerials or gun muzzles. It is one of the tools that move the work from out-of-the-box building to modifications of your own. You buy drill bits as you need them; the holder will last for years.

The bits are sharp and fragile. Keep the tool and the bits out of the reach of children and protect your airways when drilling resin.