This is a review of the Tamiya Handy Drill -
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Tamiya Handy Drill Pkg.jpg [ 73.96 KiB | Viewed 5803 times ]
I purchased this item a couple weeks ago and assembled it over the course of 1 hour. The instructions for assembly were very well done - but bifocals and medium sized fingers were a negative.
Patience for this assembly is a virtue and a
must!
Once assembled (and it
did work the first time!) I felt this might be a worthwhile little drill. It comes with two collets and 1 drill bit (still haven't determined the bit's size).
That was Sunday - Monday night I decided to try it for drilling the rung holes on the stern of my kit hull. I had also purchased the two drill bit sets that Tamiya makes (basic and fine) and went to pick out the 0.03mm bit from the plastic box - I got it in my tweezers and PING - it was thru the air and lost forever (shag carpet) - Oh, the humanity
So, word to the wise - pick up the bit C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y!!! Not wanting to pay really high prices for replacement bits, I found an online source (micro-tools.com) that sells mini-bits in sets for less than $5.00/set. I ordered 5 sets!!! Just to be on the safe side.
I did, however, try out the drill on some scrap plastic with another drill bit - and here is a small problem - the two collets included with the drill do NOT fit the very fine bits required for styrene hull drilling - .03mm/.05mm. So, I had spare collet inserts for my Dremel Tools and found one that is made for extremely small bits - it worked fine using one of the included collets outer collar. The drill has a moderate speed which should be good for use on plastic - I later this past week used the drill while creating radar sets for my USS NEW JERSEY project.
One thing I might add about the drill - it is short and tall which makes it unwieldy to sit on it's handle base. I would recommend laying it on its side when not in use.
I am expecting the new drill bit sets this coming week (also some other modeling supplies
) and will attempt the rung holes again. One thing I've been contemplating is crafting some sort of "stop" that will hold the depth of hole that is drilled. I don't think you need to penetrate the plastic, only a surface hole or indention in order to glue the rung (or other PE part) in place. I'll be doing some thinking about how to make the stop and keep it simple.
Hope this review helps. You can purchase the drill/bits from Hobbylinc (online). May be other vendors, but that's where I got mine.
Hank