Dremel collets and tiny drills

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Tools
1

I use a collet based watch makers lathe. Collet chucks will only accurately hold

drill sizes identical with the collet they are designed for, outside this size the jaws are

not concentric with the drill and the the drill will run out of true and will break.

Proops Bros in Leicestershire UK sell a range of microdrills with a 0.125 shaft that

can be relied upon to run true in a standard Dremel collet.

Speed control on my lathe has been achieved by use of a standard high wattage

light dimmer switch in circuit with the (brush) motor.

I also have one built into a electrical twin socket plug box so the controller is one side

and the output socket is along side with the controller plugged into the supply with

a length of 13 amp cable and plug.

Another source of “stepped” drills is from Banggood who supply tungsten carbide

drills with 0.125 shafts for drilling printed circuit (fibre-glass) boards, very sharp

totally resistant to overheating and VERY brittle

Have (accurate) fun!

2

Dremel makes a tiny 3 jaw chuck for their tools. I have had no problems gripping bits down to #79 with it. Maybe you can use one on your lathe . I hope this helps.

3

I have a modeler’s lathe (Sherline). I use one of those chucks with the eighth inch shaft frequently for the small drills and very small metal stock.