Drill press for micro drills

This topic has 24 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 12 May 2026 at 11:22 by renardiere7.

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9 May 2026 at 08:02 #847557
Andy Brocklehurst
Participant
@andybrocklehurst85292
Morning all,

Whats a good high speed drill press for micro drills circa 1mm 1.2mm. My mini mill maxes out at 2000 rpm and I don’t think it’s stabilising the tiny carbide drills properly.

im drilling into stainless steel and titanium.

Are the Proxxon high speed drills any good?

thanks
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9 May 2026 at 08:57 #847567
alecs
Participant
@alecs
Dremel make a drill press stand to hold their standard Dremel rotary tool, which has variable speed up to 20,000 rpm or more.
9 May 2026 at 12:02 #847626
Peter Cook 6
Participant
@petercook6
What do you mean by “stabilising”? What problems are you having?

I find quill control on my SX1LP lacks anything like sufficient feel to use very small drills – even though I can go up to 5000 rpm.

I use one of these sensitive drill attachments (mine came from ARC) for small drills which helps a lot with the “feel” when peck drilling.
9 May 2026 at 13:50 #847646
Dell
Participant
@dell
These are supposed to be very good but never used one.
9 May 2026 at 13:56 #847649
Andrew Crow
Participant
@andrewcrow91475
Have a look on lathes.co.uk website for Pollard or Alfred Herbert High speed sensitive drills very solid and accurate.

Andy
9 May 2026 at 14:13 #847653
Andy Brocklehurst
Participant
@andybrocklehurst85292
On 9 May 2026 at 12:02 Peter Cook 6 Said:

What do you mean by “stabilising”? What problems are you having?

I find quill control on my SX1LP lacks anything like sufficient feel to use very small drills – even though I can go up to 5000 rpm.

I use one of these sensitive drill attachments (mine came from ARC) for small drills which helps a lot with the “feel” when peck drilling.

Maybe stabilising is the wrong word but on tiny drills when they’re not going fast enough Ive found they don’t run true and won’t bite into the material and walk, especially on titanium.
9 May 2026 at 14:16 #847654
Andrew Crow
Participant
@andrewcrow91475
There are a couple of AH Model b drills for sale on ebay.

Andy
9 May 2026 at 14:39 #847660
peak4
Participant
@peak4
No idea where you are as there’s no location on your profile, but there’s a Meddings MB10 on eBay somewhere just south of Norwich £175 ONO
I have one, which works OK for me.

Bill
9 May 2026 at 14:54 #847664
paul rushmer
Participant
@paulrushmer83015
I have a Meddings MB10, very good machine but its heavy I struggle to lift it my self.

Paul
9 May 2026 at 18:48 #847695
Bazyle
Participant
@bazyle
Back in the day when circuit boards and watches were made manually there were a range of very solid cast iron drilling machines for the job but with such small range of movement for anything else that they seldom escaped the scrap man.
Nowadays possibly the Z axis subassembly from a CNC router mounted on your own design rigid support would provide both the high speed and limited movement required.
10 May 2026 at 02:00 #847714
peak4
Participant
@peak4
On 9 May 2026 at 14:54 paul rushmer Said:

I have a Meddings MB10, very good machine but its heavy I struggle to lift it my self.

Paul

I don’t suppose you have the pulley diameters for the two top speed ranges do you?
I’m sure I could dig out a calculator and work it out.
Cheers
Bill
10 May 2026 at 04:47 #847717
Colin D
Participant
@colind
I’ve had a Pollard high speed drill for a number of years, can’t recommend it highly enough, proper English quality.

Looking at Tony’s site, it’s the model 9FX. Built until the 1950’s it’s older than me !

As standard, the speed range is 2700 to 18000 rpm. Mine is now fitted with an inverter so I never feel the need to change the belt positions.

If you consider getting one, do be aware they are very heavy for a small machine, I would estimate at least 50kg.
10 May 2026 at 11:46 #847753
Peter Cook 6
Participant
@petercook6
On 9 May 2026 at 14:13 Andy Brocklehurst Said:

Maybe stabilising is the wrong word but on tiny drills when they’re not going fast enough Ive found they don’t run true and won’t bite into the material and walk, especially on titanium.

Will speed help. Those little carbide drills are relatively long and thin. Although I have no experience of titanium I would have thought some stiffer mechanism for spotting the start point (e.g. a 4mm spotting drill or possibly a simple hardened point driven down by the quill) would be a good way to go.
10 May 2026 at 11:55 #847756
Robert Atkinson 2
Participant
@robertatkinson2
On 10 May 2026 at 11:46 Peter Cook 6 Said:

On 9 May 2026 at 14:13 Andy Brocklehurst Said:

Maybe stabilising is the wrong word but on tiny drills when they’re not going fast enough Ive found they don’t run true and won’t bite into the material and walk, especially on titanium.

Will speed help. Those little carbide drills are relatively long and thin. Although I have no experience of titanium I would have thought some stiffer mechanism for spotting the start point (e.g. a 4mm spotting drill or possibly a simple hardened point driven down by the quill) would be a good way to go.

You should NOT centerpunch or otherwise cold work titanium where you want to drill it. It will work harden and you drill will wander off. A small spotting dill might help.

Robert.
10 May 2026 at 12:33 #847763
Julie Ann
Participant
@julieann
While speed when using small drills helps it is not essential. Here is a photo of 1.2mm holes drilled 8mm deep in tungsten alloy:

These holes were drilled on a Bridgeport mill at 2500rpm with no issues.

When drilling tougher, or work hardening, materials with small drills (<2mm) I prefer to use carbide drills. These are not usually four facet ground so need a starter dimple. I mostly use a 2mm carbide spot drill.

If the OP is having trouble I suspect the issue is with the drill bit itself or the mill, not the speed per se.

I have an old PCB drilling machine which goes up to 10000 rpm but have never used it thus far. Of course such machines are now pretty much obsolete in industry. Commercial PCB fabrication uses drilling speeds in the hundreds of thousands of rpm.

Julie
10 May 2026 at 17:54 #847792
Dell
Participant
@dell
I have repivoted a few French clock arbors down to 0.3mm ( they are very hard ) but I never run the carbide drill bit fast.
10 May 2026 at 19:14 #847798
noel shelley
Participant
@noelshelley55608
Hi Paul, Do the 2 top speeds on the MB10 keep the pullies in the machine or are they loose and normally get lost ? Noel.
10 May 2026 at 19:50 #847801
Roger B
Participant
@rogerb61624
I have a Proxxon TBM 220 which I use happily on brass, aluminium, steel and occasionally stainless steel with HSS drills down to 0.5mm. The top speed is 8000 ish rpm. I have no experience with Titanium.

It is ok for the smaller sizes but with drills over 4mm diameter the lack of rigidity of the base /column tends to show with some deflection.

I use drills down to 0.2mm but this tends to be done on the lathe, often my Proxxon FD150, sometimes my Hobbymat.
10 May 2026 at 21:49 #847813
paul rushmer
Participant
@paulrushmer83015
Hi Peak4 & Noel

I used to use the MB10 at work for drilling PCBs using carbide drills and we had both sets of high speed pulleys and the fittihg tool but over the years they got seperated and lost. The drill then followed me home along with a pollard 9FX! this is 3phase and has never been used at home. I would also like to find the high speed pulleys Im scared to as meddings the price! sorry I can not help.

Paul
11 May 2026 at 07:48 #847824
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
As Julie says if the drill is skidding about spot drill first. I quite often drill 0.8mm holes and have no problem with a 2000rpm max spindle into stainless and silver steel using a spot drill first.

That is with jobber type drills which are longer and more flexible than the PCB type.

Do check your spot drills as some have a thinner web than others so the resulting small spot is more useful with small holes.
11 May 2026 at 11:17 #847838
peak4
Participant
@peak4
On 10 May 2026 at 21:49 paul rushmer Said:

Hi Peak4 & Noel

I used to use the MB10 at work for drilling PCBs using carbide drills and we had both sets of high speed pulleys and the fittihg tool but over the years they got seperated and lost. The drill then followed me home along with a pollard 9FX! this is 3phase and has never been used at home. I would also like to find the high speed pulleys Im scared to as meddings the price! sorry I can not help.

Paul

I did enquire; these were the prices at the end of 2019

10-13488 MOTOR PULLEY �73.00 + VAT
10-13635 MOTOR PULLEY �64.80 + VAT
10-13636 SPINDLE PULLEY �30.80 + VAT
10-13491 SPINDLE PULLEY �26.10 + VAT

I do have a copy of the exploded diagrams/parts list

Bill
11 May 2026 at 11:50 #847842
noel shelley
Participant
@noelshelley55608
Thanks for that Bill. As normal the parts will cost more than the machine did ! Might have to see about using polly V belts and pulley or machine from solid. I do have balancing ways if need be. Noel.
11 May 2026 at 20:24 #847901
paul rushmer
Participant
@paulrushmer83015
Thanks for that Bill. I wonder if the new owners of meddings still have any?

Paul
12 May 2026 at 07:50 #847950
Durhambuilder
Participant
@durhambuilder
This is pretty impressive work.
12 May 2026 at 11:22 #847969
renardiere7
Participant
@renardiere7
It’s very good, it is a copy of a Frederich Deckel sensitive drilling attachment.
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