Griffon brass tube woes

[myotte]

So, I had previously used Albion Alloys for all my brass tubing. I needed to restock my supply of .4mm and .5mm and instead of going back to Albion, I decided to try the Griffon brass tubes instead. 

After getting them, I am having a hell of a time with the .4mm.  The .5 looks to be about the same thickness as Albion and seems to work just fine, but the .4 just seems thinner and flimsier. Also, drilling the .4 out with a .3mm bit is driving me crazy. It just doesn't want to take the bit and Im breaking bits left and right without any success of actually drilling out a piece of tube. 

Has anyone else had these kind of issues with Griffon tubes?

[Des]

I have always used Griffon brass tube and never had an issue, the 0.5mm is the size I use the most as it has a 0.33mm inside diameter I don't need to drill it out to take the two runs of 0.12mm mono. Drilling the 0.4mm brass tube can be tricky at the best of times, do not attempt to use a carbide drill bit, as soon as it bites it will break, use a HSS drill bit and you will find you will have much better luck.

Des.

[myotte]

Thanks Des. That must be the problem. I only have carbide bits in the .3mm size. I appreciate the input!

[cgandiaga]

Thanks Des. That must be the problem. I only have carbide bits in the .3mm size. I appreciate the input!

I'm with Des on this.  That's all I've ever used and the only issues I've had are due to "modeler incompetence"

[Berman]

I just ordered  twenty .3mm high speed steel drill bits through a Chinese company on Ebay. They are selling ten for $2.49 USD including shipping. Do a search for "0.3mm hss 10pcs drill"

[petrov27]

Good tips - I had the same issue with bits breaking and actually stopped using brass tube - had no idea about the carbide vs HSS bits...

In moving away from brass tube I did start using another option - polymide tubing. it has a very thin wall thickness and i have not had to drill it out (not sure you could drill it out).

http://www.amazon.com/Translucent-Miniature-Polyimide-Tubing-0-0126/dp/tech-data/B000FMYW3O

In the pic below the polymide tube is used to secure the mono loops to the Gaspatch turnbuckles:

[myotte]

I just ordered  twenty .3mm high speed steel drill bits through a Chinese company on Ebay. They are selling ten for $2.49 USD including shipping. Do a search for "0.3mm hss 10pcs drill"

Ha, thats funny. Im reading this literally SECONDS after I just completed my purchase for this exact same item. Thanks for the info though!