Drill chuck adaptor?

[slashandburn]

So I graduated to aluminium enclosures, and after etching them with ferric I realised I had all I needed to jump to PCBs from stripboard, except a way to drill the holes in the boards.

I nearly got one of those dremel stands/presses but I also want to drill holes in the enclosures. Somewhat stupidly  bought a big pillar drill thinking it'd cover all bases. Feckin Chuck won't hold smaller than a 1.5mm bit. Doh!

So I've tried a few things and had moderate success using a sawn-off pin vice to hold the bit and sticking the pin vice in the chuck. I've only drilled a few test holes.  I need to inspect it closer but after every few holes the pin vice seems to slacken slightly and the bit disappears up inside. It's an absolute pain in the arse to take it all out and put it together again. 50 holes will take me hours. So far it's my best option besides shelling out for a bloody dremel stand after all.

Any other options? A better pin vice? (I just a thought there, check tonight, maybe the piece of wood I had taped the copper board to is too hard?! I'll report back on that. I'm still interested to hear any other methods for getting a 1.5mm Chuck to drill straight with a .8mm bit.

I squashed a fair few of those dremel collets thinking I could get it in solid that way. No way am I resetting the bit in the pin vice after every 3 holes.

Ideas please. And opinions on whether I was foolish in thinking I could use the same cheap ass pillar drill to drill both eddystone enclosures and PCBs effectively.

I'm gonna end up with another press soon, aren't I?

[SuzukiScottie]

Get a small chuck. The big chuck will hold this one easily.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=161537221693&globalID=EBAY-AU

[slashandburn]

Oh my! Don't I feel foolish. I could've bought a similar Chuck when I bought the pin vice! I ruled it out as an option because my pillar drill chuck didn't have a hex fitting. As in, I was thinking it couldn't replace my current chuck.

I didn't think to use the big chuck to hold the small one. Even though thats what I intended to do with the pin vice.

Thanks! I'll give that a go.

[davent]

I don't have that particular chuck but the ones i do have don't run true chucked in my drill press so useless to me, slightest wobble and the bit is toast.

The other thing is the slow speed of a big press is not great for drilling tiny holes, ideally you want 10 of thousands of rpm.

dave

[bloxstompboxes]

I have a 12in drill press, believe it or not, that accepts the tiny drill bits necessary for pcbs. They are not the kind of bits with the large hex shaft that then step down to a tiny bit either. It's a generic brand I got from Lowes when I was trying out some woodworking. Tradesman, I think is the brand. Works pretty well.

[slashandburn]

I picked up a small chuck (looks almost exactly like the one pictured) and had a quick play around before the brood got home. I think I'll be alright. I think there was already a slight bit of play, I'm not sure if maybe the long attachment makes this more noticable.  It's doing alright all things considered. We'll see how it fares when its asked to drill a hundred or so precisely marked holes in thin traces soon enough.

Thats encouraging, Eric. If I looked hard enough I could possibly find another chuck to actually replace the one fixed to the pillar. I'll see how I get on with this setup short term.

Dave, I'm really not trying to brag, maybe I've been really lucky, and as I say I havent done any serious drilling yet, but so far the only bit I've managed to snap (not that I'm trying) was a 0.5mm I'm not sure was aligned properly in the jaws.The 'bit' left behind drilled surprisingly cleanly. I definitely need to work on my aim, though.

Half wishing I'd got something like that Proxxon Micromot unit, but then I'd just be sitting here further down the line cursing my cack-handed enclosure drilling. Both might be an eventuality, just a costly one I'd rather avoid until my boards get more ambitious. Though I am already seeing the appeal. It's smaller profile would mightallow me to get away with drilling my boards in the house rather than freezing my 'nads off in the shed.

Thanks again. I should be good for the short term hopefully now. Not the ideal setup but I'm used to feeding off scraps so I'm sure I'll get by.