Disappearing buggy whips.....that made me smile
Drill bit stand -Not Made any More??
- Thread starter VicHobbyGuy
- Start date
I hear you on that one. I'd love to get a 3D Printer, I just don't have the patience to delve into CNC design and programing.
I've made plenty of simple toolholder blocks out of ply or mdf, for example center drills, graduated c/sinks, tap/clearance hole drill combos for common fasteners. They are a great way to organize things.
For a full set of drills, there actually is a little bit of design consideration involved. Ideally you want the inter distance of drills to be somewhat equal to get your fingers in there. That is different than equal center to center distance of the shanks diameters. Also the holder drill depth can vary. Some drills increase length progressively, some in steps as a function of diameter. The metal holders typically have a little shelf that sets this height. Anyways, typically not all the same depth. Wood has a few irritating qualities like shrinking or swelling over time so the fit can vary. I hate it when they are stuck & you wrestle with it. And it can gooed up a bit with any remnant cutting fluids or whatever. I've seen some cheapo drill sets where the drills themselves were dubious quality, but the case was pretty nice LOL. Unfortunately not as many in metric, but I bet they are out there. 3DP would solve a lot of these issues including identification.
For a full set of drills, there actually is a little bit of design consideration involved. Ideally you want the inter distance of drills to be somewhat equal to get your fingers in there. That is different than equal center to center distance of the shanks diameters. Also the holder drill depth can vary. Some drills increase length progressively, some in steps as a function of diameter. The metal holders typically have a little shelf that sets this height. Anyways, typically not all the same depth. Wood has a few irritating qualities like shrinking or swelling over time so the fit can vary. I hate it when they are stuck & you wrestle with it. And it can gooed up a bit with any remnant cutting fluids or whatever. I've seen some cheapo drill sets where the drills themselves were dubious quality, but the case was pretty nice LOL. Unfortunately not as many in metric, but I bet they are out there. 3DP would solve a lot of these issues including identification.
If you saw how relatively easy it is you would kick yourself. Take an off the shelf Ender-Pro-3, 30 minute tutorial (cost you a beer) and you would be banging out parts.
I have good luck with these bits (bought them from Red Deer Bolt at the Agri-Trade show). The nice part, the case is a built in holder. The bad part, yes it is multi-level and god forbid you drop it (also not two tone size etching). I don't have this 'exact' set, but Champion bits in a case just like this. I usually throw away the top part and leave them on my service-trolly.
So it's not as convoluted as Fusion is?
Thinking about your problem...here's a possible solution. It's not cheap, but more of a dual purpose solution if you do a lot of fabricating like me.
Big Gator tools makes these great things called V-Drill (and V-Tap) blocks. They are designed to facilitate drilling and tapping into round tubing. You clamp them to tubing, and you get a perfectly centered hole. The holes are just slightly oversize to accommodate the bit, but not make it wobble. I haven't put a calliper on mine (I can if you like), but I'm guessing 1/64 or 1/128 tolerance.
If you have a need for these blocks for fabricating and can justify the expense, they also make great drill bit holders (see my pic below). When you need to use the intended functionality of the V-block, you just empty out the bits temporarily. If you are looking for a reason to justify buying these V-blocks, then here you go. I love mine, although I don't use them to hold drill bits. Also, because they are a steel alloy, you could embed some rare earth magnets in the Madagascar Dark Rosewood @Gearhead88 mentioned (LOL) and have the nicest, most functional drill bit stand/V-block display this side of the Rockies. They come in fractional, metric and number sizes and you can buy them in kits with nominal discounts. The size etchings aren't painted, but you can easily solve this.
(Sometimes I think should set up a consulting service helping forum members justify unnecessary tool purchases they are struggling with—either due to their CFO, SWMBO, or some other silly reason.)
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Gearhead88
Super User
For some reason , probably from you mentioning the nearby walnut forest , just like when you get a song stuck in your head , I can't un-hear the chainsaws in the background on the Red Green show.
Vrrrrooommm vrrrroooommm. Ratatat..tat.
Just need to find the right tree that is either dead or dying or has a nice branch I can use!
Then dry the wood, then slab it, then then then..... LOL!
VicHobbyGuy
Ultra Member
Not exactly what I wanted and the labels aren't coloured, but I ordered this one from eBay:
It will hold more different sizes, including the tap drill sizes for common metric threads, unlike the General version I bought years ago..
It will hold more different sizes, including the tap drill sizes for common metric threads, unlike the General version I bought years ago..
I wanted the same thing last year. I thought it was weird that they were hard to find too. So I grabbed a couple of these from somewhere and figured one could cut a block of wood, or aluminum or anything to match the dimensions, lay it over top, mark or dimple each hole with the drill for that hole, then remove it and drill each hole with the next larger drill bit. That way, you would not have the problem of a tight fit on putting the drills in and out.
But a year later, this project still has not come to the top of the list.
I did not look too hard but here is the metric version. It gets imported though so ~ $20
I did order one of these though and it works well
But a year later, this project still has not come to the top of the list.
I did not look too hard but here is the metric version. It gets imported though so ~ $20
I did order one of these though and it works well
I don't really like round holders for such things, but it does look like it would work well.
I think you could just wipe some high contrast paint into the size marks and they would last forever.
trlvn
Ultra Member
Last year, the following was in an auction lot but the price went WAY higher than I was willing to go. (There was a bunch of other stuff included that didn't interest me.) Nonetheless, I think this version of a circular drill stand is very cool.
Alas, it is for fractional inch drills; not the metric sizing the OP is after.
Craig
