AT-HD Aluminum Alloy Hand Drill

The AT-HD pin vise

A hole in a plastic part is most safely made by hand. A pin vise lets you feel when the bit is cutting and when you are merely pressing, so a thin point does not break halfway down a hole and the hole does not wander off to the side. The AT-HD model from DSPIAE is a basic and proven version: a metal body, a knurled grip and a head that turns freely under the palm.

The workmanship and contents

The body is of aluminum alloy, so it is light and does not feel as cold in the hand as steel. The holder comes with a hex key for tightening the clamp and a set of carbide drill bits in diameters of 0.3 to 1.2 mm, that is in the range that covers the vast majority of modeling work.

Where you will use it

• opening out the muzzles of gun barrels, exhausts and tubes
• holes for brass wire, aerials and pins
• passages for lighting wires
• drilling into resin, wood and thin sheet
• widening holes that were left blind in a casting

Who it is for

It is a tool for everyday work on kits and accessories. It will be appreciated by a beginner getting a first range of bits as well as by an experienced modeler who finds a second holder useful, so as not to keep changing the diameter during a build.

A holder of aluminum alloy has one more practical advantage. It is light, so it does not tire the hand during long work, and yet stiff enough not to flex under pressure. The knurling holds in the fingers even when a modeler's hands are covered in paint, and the turning head lets the pressure be applied smoothly with one finger.

It is good to prick the spot beforehand with the tip of a scalpel, so that the bit does not slide off a rounded face.

Carbide is hard but brittle. Press along the axis, do not lever to the side and store the bits so that they do not rub against each other.