Tungsten Carbide Drill Bits

[Des]

TUNGSTEN CARBIDE MICRO DRILL BITS

FROM - BRIAN FAWCETT

First look review by Des Delatorre

Brian Fawcett is offering to our forum members packets of brand new micro Tungsten Carbide drill bits, these are not resharpened drill bits.

The drill bits arrived very neatly and securely packaged with a card attached giving the three sizes of drill bits within the packet. There are three each of the common sizes giving a total of nine brand new drill bits.

The sizes are as follows;

0.35mm (0.013") x 3
0.40mm (0.015") x 3
0.45mm (0.017") x 3



Each individual drill bit is protected by it's own clear plastic tube sleeve which is a very neat fit onto the shaft of the drill. This plastic tube offers very good protection for the drill bits during transit plus are a good way to store your drill bits to prevent any accidental damage. For transit all nine drill bits are taped together to stop any movement inside the zip lock plastic bag.



Each drill bit has a colour code on the end of the 1/8"shaft to make easy identification of the different sizes, colour code is as follows;

Orange = 0.35mm
White   = 0.40mm
Red      =0.45mm





The drill bits are very well made and are extremely sharp, but like all Tungsten Carbide drill bits are brittle if bent to the side, they will snap. Care has to be taken when using these drill bits to make sure that it is kept straight while drilling holes. The fluts along the drill bit are well formed and expells the swarf very easily.



The drill bits can be used in a pin vice, the 1/8"shaft makes for a very positive grip and allows good control over the operation of drilling, the weight of the pin vice is ample to let the drill bit penetrate the surface. Another method is to hold the drill bit between your thumb and finger and using a back and forth twisting motion rotatae the drill bit, only slight pressure is needed to allow the drill bit to cut through the material being drilled.







I used one of the 0.40mm drill bits to drill through a 1.0mm thick piece of injection moulded plastic, I used the drill bit between my thumb and finger and it took only five turns to cut through the plastic. The swarf was ejected very efficiently and no clogging of the flutes occured, the resulting hole was very neat and clean.



POSITIVES

These are brand new, not resharpened used drill bits, so they are extremely sharp. With multiple uses the drill bits are an essential item for all modelers.

PRICE

£10.00 + post for a pack of nine drill bits

STOCKIST

Buy direct from Brian Fawcett through his websire - http://www.fawcettmodelsandpatterns.co.uk
or he can be found on ebay under the name blfmodels

CONCLUSION

A brilliant product and very useful for all modelers, extremely sharp but easy to use, These drill bits make the job of drilling so easy with a very fast, clean hole resulting. The only downside is the brittle nature of Tungsten Carbide, care must be exercised when using them.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Thanks to Brian Fawcett for providing the review samples