I’ve got a CNC project that is going to need small (1/16, 5/64, 3/32, etc) holes. I can buy carbide drills in those sizes w/ 1/8’ shanks but they are expen$sive.
I was wondering if it’s possible to chuck up an adjustable chuck so as to use regular drill bits. Something like this pic with a straight (not Morse Taper) shaft. Since all metal it should work with the depth setting block.
Speeds would be dialed way back for the drilling operations.
Thoughts?
Edit: Carbide not Cobalt drills.
Those are cheap flexible drills? Answering my own question after 2 seconds with Google: yes.
Those are not appropriate. If they are just ever so slightly off center as they enter the work they will very likely be snapped in two. A machine like the MultiCam is very unforgiving to such things. Especially as the diameter becomes smaller,
Carbide is the appropriate material. And it is much more expensive. And it will have feed-speed parameters.
The spindle is ER 25.
Brian, sorry. I meant carbide drills. They are the appropriate sizes with 1/8" shanks. I guess I’ll get them but they’re like $17 each.
Armed with such things you can use the 1/8" collet. (I believe we have {had} one.)
Some things I know about CNC drilling…
Plunge too fast, the drill bit will get too hot
Plunge too slow, the drill bit will get too hot
Fail to occasionally extract the bit while drilling a deep hole so the waste is cleared, the drill bit will get too hot
Peck drilling with wood is a waste of time
But I have never used the MultiCam to drill holes.
This might be a project better suited for secondary machining on the small CNC router in Creative Arts, if the bit cost is really such a concern.
Bit cost is not a concern. I mean it kind of is but registration is much more important. If I am cutting the parts on the router than the holes are much better drilled on the router. So they are registered perfectly correctly.
Can you imagine a lining a 28 tooth wooden gear on the shapeoko so that every 1/16th in hole goes in exactly the right spot?
Could you maybe use a V-point kind of bit and just dimple the hole centers, then do those on a drill press or other machine ?
Todd - I could, but there are hundreds of holes, many drilled to a specific depth. It would be a beat down. Trying to use CNC for what it was made for - to be my pack animal 
No. Any imbalance in the chuck, and the spindle would be destroyed in short order. It’s not built to rotate much weight, and certainly not to handle eccentric loads.
Do Not Do This. Video Camera watching you. Spindle costs about $3,000.
There are drills especially made for use in a CNC router. They use shank diameters that will fit our collets. For anything bigger than 1/8", just use a plunge tipped end mill (all ours are plunge tipped) smaller than the diameter of the desired hole, and mill the hole using a pocket or profile toolpath.
My two cents: Using proper bits (even if they’re expensive) is part of using the CNC for what it’s made for.
Bear in mind, if you use VCarve, you may not be able to save changes to the Tool Database. I suggest you start small: just one or two holes, save, close, restart, add a few more holes, save, restart. I would hate for you to finish the project only to find out you cannot save (or worse).
It will save the tool information in the vcarve file, but not in the database. You can create your own database and store them that way though.
It’s all good. IF I had chucked up a chuck I’d have been running at hundreds, not thousands RPM. But I’m not going to anyway. I found some 1/8 shank carbide endmills appropriate for the work. Ordering tomorrow.
CNC drilling with drill bits is a thing. But…
Precisely why I asked the question instead of just doing something boneheaded. I respect our tools and do everything I can to avoid borking stuff. Probably more than many.
Spindle has a minimum speed, 3600 rpm if I recall correctly.
Pretty gnarly power dropoff too as you reduce speed.
You can drill thousands of holes, any size, in any pattern you’d like on the MultiCam. Not complicated. There are many drilling strategies available No need for a special collets. If you are smart, a single endmill can cut them all out in various sizes. There are at least 10 different ways to drill holes. And there are even more. It’s so easy if you know how to do it. Good luck! Minimum spindle speed is 4000
Thanks. I was just having a hard time finding small drills with 1/8" shanks. In the end I found tiny endmills with 1/8" shanks.
Don’t forget I put 1/16" in my bin for you …
John, thanks for reminding me. I got sidetracked on another project. I was up there tonight but it seems the Multicam is down.
