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Using a battery operated screwdriver as a drill...


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B&D Power screwdriver (useful as a lowspeed drill for drilling holes in plastic????) yes, or no?

Thinking of buying one as a temporary stop-gap measure till I can afford to drop $60-90 on a Dremel.

Stupid idea, or plausible?

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Habu, it's about $23.00 at Wal-Mart as opposed to a Dremel which is about $90.00+ speed control. :cheers:

And I'm in a bit of a cash-bind right now, until I get re-employed. (on medication, suffering from social anxiety disorder/depression/and passive/aggressive tendencies, and aggression (with cause) towards my parents-re: emotional abuse) which basically means that I won't be job-ready for a while, while I get counselling and treatment...and yes, model-building is my way of cooling off). So, don't mind me, if I go off the wall sometimes. It's a habit of mine and sometimes, it's a little hard to break. (~evil laugh~ but the medication is doing me fine, REEEEALLY. ~evil, sinister chuckle~) ~hmmm, 101 uses for an X-acto knife...hmmmmm...

1. scraping model kit's edges...

2. taking parts off the trees when I can't find the damned parts snipper.

3. D-i-s-s-e-c-t-i-o...OK...I won't go there. :)

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I think a better investment might be a pin vise. I just did a quick google and see they are available mail order for less than 10 bucks. Some will take bits up to 3/32".

Heat buildup is the big problem with a power drill used on plastic so a pin vise might be the way to go anyway. The material is soft and a manual tool will give excellent control.

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While a Dremel can be an invaluable tool many times, if I just need a hole drilled in a plastic part, a hand tool - pin vise or similar works fine. In fact the power drill just means you get a hole in the wrong spot faster. Now, if you were drilling out all the holes in a SBD dive brake ...

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The_animal;

I have one I use for exactly that purpose (as well as driving screws, no really dear, I promise I will use it about the house too... not just on my models....)

I bought mine here a couple of years ago for about IR£20 (€27-€30 approx) and it was one of the best investments I ever made. I managed to get 2 chucks for micro drill bits, but I had to go online to Micro-Mark to get them. Any tool shop around here said they had heard of them but 'we never stocked them'. Its really useful if you are drilling multiple holes, (for me that means more than 2) and it's slow enough NOT to cause mistakes. Buy it. And when you have to put together that flat-pack TV/video unit from Argos you will be glad you did.

Cheers,

Roy (in Ireland)

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While we're on the subject, where can one buy a pin vise online?

A pin vise should be pretty easy to find at most hobby shops. Choose a size based on your drill bits (probably the smallest one available for most hobby-related tasks). I own the pair made by Tamiya (available at Hobblylinc) but you can find similar items at Micro Mark.

Cheers.

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  • 6 months later...

Sorry to dig this out of the archives, but managed to finally get myself a Black and Decker Cordless Screwdriver. Eventually, I will get a Dremel/Mastercraft however at this point in time, I've essentially used it to bore out the @$$ end of a MiG 29's missile (just a test run to see how the RPMs were), it was pretty low.

Gave it two tasks.

1. put together my wife's new computer desk,

2. fix the door knob...

Lots of fun with this thing. Looking forward to seeing what it can really do on plastic.

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Now, if you were drilling out all the holes in a SBD dive brake ...

Been there, done that and with a pin vise to boot. :o

:cheers:

Jerry :banana:

OUCH...wrist twinges in pain... :o You know, in that case, I'd just ransack a cheese grater and use cut pieces from that.

Edited by The_Animal
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