I wondering if anyone has a technigue for drilling small, sometimes very small holes for gun barrells. I have a collection of drills. I has been OK on some and not on others. Sure could use the help. bulding a M4 sherman with 105mm Howitzer and I am getting close to start drilling the barrells of the 50 mm gun

Thanks

Ken Bizzigotti

I start with the point of my X-Acto blade 1st and then just use the drill bit with a pin-vise. I bought a set of Tamiya drill bits and use the smallest one, which seems to work fine. I couldn't tell you what the diameter or size is though.

I'll have to the idea of making the point first with the knife. I hadn't thought of that. Otherwise the hole sometimes gets started off center which is a pain to fix.

Paul

I use a small needle. Place the point in the middle of your barrel and twist. As the needle opens up a hole, it gets wider as it deepens. So you get the desired opening and after a little black paint, you get the perception of depth. I usually use a 20 gauge needle with good results.

Patrick

Here is the trick I use. Take your #11 blade and scribe an "X" on the end of the muzzle. Then take whatever size small drill bit needed for the size of muzzle hole you are drilling, and drill your hole on the center of the "X". The drill bit should stay centered in the "X". Once you are fiinished drilling, lightly sand the end of the muzzle and remove the "X". Hope this helps!

I'll add one hint: I don't use the pin vise. I drill the holes by rolling the drill between my thumb and forefinger. I think I get better control that way, instead of using the drill bit in a holder of some kind.

HTH,

Shaun

Like the tips about getting started by using a knife - I too have had snags with wandering off-centre. Thanks for sharing the info!

I have a pin vise (tiny hand drill) and an inexpensive set of drill bits for it. I do not know the sizes off hand but the smallest ones in the set are smaller than a sewing needle and could fit through the eye of the needle easily.

The hole in the end of the barrel of a .50 cal (BTW .50 or ½ inch, not 50mm) is pretty small compared to the diameter of the barrel as seen in this photograph. Most modelers widen the hole so that the barrel edges are paper thin.

Thanks for that clarification Sabot. I tend to have a lot of M2s that I am doing on my models (all but 2 of my current AFV/Tanks came with at least one), and I usually do the paper thin route. I will now not.

For me, the hardest part is making my guide hole actually be in the center. Everytime what I think is the center turns out not to be. But when the 1/35 sized barrel is so small to begin with, drilling a hole in the center is very hard for me.

The other thing to make sure of is that the barrel itself is supported in some way. Whether you are holding it, or it is clamped down (I prefer the former, as this allows me to adjust pressure/tension in real time without having to stop what I am doing and adjust the tension), the 1/35 barrel is long enough and flexible enough that it can easily snap if it isn't supported.

Jeff

Hi Ken ...well I just use a #11 exacto blade to make my holes. If it is a small hole just a couple of twists will do ,and if you need a bigger hole just keep turning and the hole will widen the deeper you go. Looks fine to me and I don't break anymore little drill bits...

Rick

hi,

I uses a sewing needle to start off, boring a shallow hole by rolling it between my thumb and finger. To remove the debris, i change to a nail (for concrete walls) and repeat the process till i get the effect.

I did not uses the drill bit cos i felt they are too fragile and may break easily by the pressure we exerted.

I got it work for my Sherman (OOTB)!

hope this helps!

Cheers!


https://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/500/Sherman4.jpg

https://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/500/Sherman8.jpg

You want some fun....try drilling out the guns on a 350 scale ship. It ain't easy doing the 15" or 16" on a battleship, but try doing the smaller 5" in the secondary armor. I like the " X " idea to center it better

Now on the M-16 or AK-47 I use the # 11 xacto blade centered then with a few twist, it looks fine, but if I got something just a little bigger, and needs a drill bit, then I do just like Keenan, and hold the drill bit in my hand so I have better control.

Cause they are so small, I don't want to risk things with a pin-vise, I want total control of the bit between my fingers.

Kerry

I'm a proponent of using a brand new #11 blade to start the center hole for the MG barrel, then use a .014/.016 dia drill to open up the barrel. Then, if the MG has a flash hider, it's back to the # 11 blade to open up the flash hider.

Of course my optivisor with 10x loop is absolutely neccesary for this operation. Old Fart eyes Ya know :-)

Want to thank everyone for the great help. The x idea is the best. thanks again

Bizzphotos

Yep the #11 blade works best for me, though I should change my approach as it is annoying wiping blood off the barrel... :-)

I hadn't drilled out the barrels of any guns before my last project. I don't have a set of pin vise bits yet, so I just used a push pin like others have suggested. It worked great on one, but let me let you learn from my experience. When pushing down on the barrel with the pin, don't push very hard, and be patient. On my first try, I pushed too hard, it split the end of the barrel out and sliced my finger! I suppose this result would be magnified if it were a #11 blade!

So whatever you do, be careful!

Tamiya's craft tools have a set of 5 piece mini drills. Beginning with a 0,3 mm drill and ending with a 0,8 mm one. I'm using this stuff with a fine pin vise for barrel hole procedure. It works very fine.

First of all, I check my references on how big or small the holes should be. Just like what Sabot posted, I just drill holes using pin vise on my 50 cal guns. On some other guns such as the MG-34 wherein they overheat and get deformed, I use the X-acto blade to widen it up.

Hope this helps

I have never tried this, but this may be a solution to the centering issue. I would take some telescoping brass tubing, slide one tube over the barrel, then add the smaller tubes into the ID of this "collar" tube. Then drill through the smaller tube. Worth a shot?

I also use the xacto to get started, and then a 0.3mm drill bit in the vise. I don´t tend to worry about depth though. Drilling the hole is only 50% of the effect. Using paint the hole can be highlighted even further. Dead black in the centre and black and a little silver for around the hole.
I would go as far as saying, paint gives more effect than drilling a hole at this size!