Is there an easier way ? ? ? ?

[soooperdave]

My life changed when I finally invested in a Pin Vise and a set of tiny drills. Now I have three of them so I have all my favorite sizes ready to go. A little hint no. 1 that I learned about drilling those out is to start your hole first with a tiny drill and make sure you are dead center and then drill that hole out with your selection of larger size. Hint no.2 is that the larger hole does not really have to be that large, but you ream out the hole with the tip of your Xacto to a nice thin pipe wall thickness. Then hit the hole with some flat black wash. Dig?

[chief]

Dave, Thats exactly what I did too, I now have five different sizes set up on different sized pin vises,accordingly,like I have one for headers, one for fuel lines and nitrous lines,etc.BUT YES go out and get one if you can't find one let me know and I'll get you one here.With all the BEAUTIFUL and CREATIVE WORK you do Barten I would have figured you had one already,.Let me know I gotta cha covered KLOWN,..........................................Chief

[flounder]

Hey Barten,

Here is another tip. Sometimes it is hard to find center. If I have a piece of white styrene rod I blacken the end with a sharpie. Then I use a pin to try to hit center. It will be a tiny white dot. If I am off, I use an exacto to open the hole in the direction needed to hit dead center. I also use a magnifying lamp.

I use this method to drill tiny hex rod so I can make little slip on nuts. (Slip on nuts? LOL)

Flounder

[ramone]

What's a pin vise

[chief]

A hand held drill in a pencil styled device to hold the tiny drill bit which is worjed back and forth by your hand........Chief

[ramone]

Thanks Chief ;D ;D ;D

[Tim Nolan]

Holy crap you guys, step in to the 1980's...CAN YOU SAY DREMEL TOOL??!!! LOL!

I use my variable speed moto-tool and drill them out in short notice. Yes, it's easier to screw up if you aren't careful, and you have to run it at low speed, but it works great! I guess I'm just to impatient to spend all that time hand drilling stuff. To me, if you can use something motorized, it's always better!! ;D

[soooperdave]

More power to ya Tim the Tool Man haha! I've tried to go that route and even on low speed, I lose control, ruined a few sets of pipes like that.

[Honest Charlie]

ramone said:

What's a pin vise

I have 3 of them myself. One can never have enough modeling tools.

[Honest Charlie]

timnolan said:

Holy crap you guys, step in to the 1980's...CAN YOU SAY DREMEL TOOL??!!! LOL!

I use my variable speed moto-tool and drill them out in short notice. Yes, it's easier to screw up if you aren't careful, and you have to run it at low speed, but it works great! I guess I'm just to impatient to spend all that time hand drilling stuff. To me, if you can use something motorized, it's always better!! ;D

You can drill through your fingers much faster too. ;D

[zeppy1320]

l agree with most of the guys on the pin vise thing
but there is another way you can use some heat shrink tubing on each pipes
cut a length and slip it into the pipe and use a hairdryer
to shrink it
this method works great with the 4 into one pipes
l did this method on my cyclone and it works great because
it hugs onto all four pipes
just make sure the tubing with enough length and then trim to suit
here is a set a did awhile ago

[Wardster]

soooperdave said:

More power to ya Tim the Tool Man haha! I've tried to go that route and even on low speed, I lose control, ruined a few sets of pipes like that.

My old Dremel quit running reliably some time ago -- not it's fault; too much abuse over the years -- and I picked up a $27 temp replacement at Wal-Mart, by another company. I love it! It's an RTX ("Rotary Tool Extreme") by Black & Decker. I leave it on the lowest speed setting, almost all of the time. It cuts plastic -- it does not melt it (due to high speed and excessive friction). It's got so many cool ease-of-use features that I'm in no hurry to get parts for my "real" Dremel, any more! If you guys don't already have a rotary tool (or have about $30 laying around) ... get one!

(Edit -- added info below:)

Not saying anything against a pin vice ... I have a couple or three of those, too, which I use pretty regularly. Double-end'ers which have four different "jaw" diameters can sometimes be handy for when a person wants to switch between tiny sizes and "fat" bits.

[stevielewis]

Not to brag, but I have both, a pin vice and a Dremel. The Dremel has a 4 foot flexible extension so I don't have to hold the motor tool itself. That hangs above my work table. I agree...you can never have enough modeling tools.