Number drills?

I am like Jason in that I use only metric drills, though I do have a little used set of Imperial drills.

As this thread has drifted a little from drill gauges to drill stands and boxes, can I ask if anyone knows where one might buy a metric drill set stand for metric drills by 0.1mm sizes. My sets are in boxes and it's a bit of a fag to keep opening and closing the boxes.

Thanks

Rod

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Just curious … What do you consider to be a sensible price ?

MichaelG.

Rod, empty cases though worth doing the maths to see if buying a cheap boxed set is the best buy and swapping out what may be poor drills. I did that for my 6-10 x 0.1 set which now has all the commonly used ones in Dormer A002 series.

I bought one of these from ebay **LINK**

to store my increasing collection of stub drills.

HTH,

(other) Rod

Thank you Dr,

While I only live in Essex (not far away), I'd like to have something on hand for future use if need be.

Jason

Thanks for the thought but I have drills in sets in cases, I was just wondering if it were possible to buy a "stand" , for metric drills of the type which used to be common, and which held sets of drills sticking up from a block or ring like shape and from which one could select drills without having to open the box. I have often seen second hand stands on sale at shows and on ebay etc but these all seem to be older ones sized for Imperial or number drills. It's only a whim or bit of laziness really and I suppose I could make one by drilling lots of holes in a block of wood or alloy etc but it sounds like a lot of work with all the drill changes and size marking required.

Rod J

Thanks for the link, That is the sort of thing I meant but looking at the description carefully it seems it has multiple holes for multiple sets of nail drills and I was hoping to find a stand intended for a set of metric drills with markings as well as holes.

I will keep looking for now, I wonder what engineers in fully metricated countries do, do they all keep their drills in boxes?

Regards All

Rod R

The other Rods round one looks to have the holes numbered in 0.1mm steps. Confirmed by the description " 91 holes: 1mm - 10mm (difference 0.1mm)"

As for opening boxes, I have removed the lids from by boxes and just have them stood where they can easily be accessed. My stub ones are in strips of wood screwed to the wall.

Edited By JasonB on 07/10/2022 17:11:27

For those with the equipment there are plenty of drill holder options for 3D printing or laser cut ply.
At my first job all small stores requisitions were supplied in little brown envelopes, about 3"x2" which now fit in a cardboard box like a card index. I still find this the most simple system when you don't have a complete set though some envelopes are now tatty as nearly 40 years old.

Try RDG Tools:

https://www.rdgtools.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=stand%20drill&PN=Drill-Stand--British-Design--0.5mm---14mm-in-0.5mm-steps-84522.html#SID=207

MC

I have seen them advertised at over £17.

I would consider a Fiver or less to be sensible - depending on which box was offered.

I have bought 0 to 10 mm by 0.5 mm in the past for around two or three pounds

MC

Really?

This gauge from Proops looks suitable:

https://www.proopsbrothers.com/steel-twist-drill--machine-tap-gauge-nf--nc-decimal-equivalents-m0419-1600-p.asp

The enlarged image shows holes labelled 1 to 60.

At £2.40, it's NOT a huge investment if it turns out to be wrong.

MC

I assure you that I know where I live.

If the Almighty had wanted the British Isles to be part of Europe, he would NOT have given us the English Channel!

MC

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I will be happier if mistaken, but …
I think you will be lucky to find anything worth using at that price.

MichaelG.c

Hi, I've got a Dormer number drill stand 1 to 60, which was my father's, I don't use it really, but it does remind me of my father's shed and my father using them, and I can remember all the holes were populated when I was a boy, it's got a few of the larger drills in it, but they are not the originals, they were in a tin of various drills, which! if I didn't take them home from my last day job, they would be binned, but only number 5 is a Dormer HS. I do have a full set from 1 to 60 which are in the usual swing up lid type box, but they aren't Dormers, but they are good quality, which I bought from Rotagripe at an exhibition many years ago, although I've had to replace a few smaller ones which I've busted.

Regards Nick.

The 100-hole round plastic ones look ideal, but I wonder whether the fact that they're rotatable, plastic [and therefore light] makes them inclined to move about undesirably when you're getting drills out or putting them back.

Can Roderick let us know, because the idea looks appealing at least?

I've got a large, recentish Dormer drill stand in plastic for metric drills, including holes for many of the tapping sizes, but it's rectangular and has a substantial footprint, so it doesn't move about when you use it.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 07/10/2022 23:14:23

Since I have all the empty boxes that I need and now mostly filled with drills, I am NOT looking to buy more.

I find it useful to have various Letter, Number and Fractional drills because sometimes a drill of an odd metric size is needed and one of the above is a closer match than a metric drill (which I have only in whole and half millimetre sizes)

MC

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Apologies for my misunderstanding of your earlier posts

MichaelG.

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 07/10/2022 23:32:53:

Posted by Dr. MC Black on 07/10/2022 23:25:02:

[…]

Since I have all the empty boxes that I need and now mostly filled with drills, I am NOT looking to buy more.

Apologies for my misunderstanding of your earlier posts

MichaelG.

There's no need to apologise

I was able to buy boxes some time ago and keep drills in them indoors rather than in shed-workshop (where they might go rusty)

Nowadays, one can buy sets of drills loose and complete in boxes but empty boxes is a challenge.

I don't want to keep drills in a stand because (a)they will get dusty and dirty and (b) I would have trouble picking them up if I knocked the stand over.

I guess there's nobody else who is clumsy!

Range is from 1 to 10mm in 0.1 steps and then 0, .5 and .8 up to 12. The drills fit fairly firmly in the hols so a 2 hand job to extract (one to steady the stand) but on the plus side they will not fall out if the stand is knocked over. These drills are mostly tapping sizes for M coarse, BSF, BSW and BA plus some ME sizes. I couldn't get the 10mm plus drills in stub length . My jobber length drills in metric(1-5.9) and (6-10) in 0.1 increments and 1/16 to 1/2 in 64ths live in the metal cases they came in.

Works for me,

Rod