It’s long-lasting and inexpensive. It typically comes with 5 assorted drill bits, but it never indicated on the packaging what size these are. I can’t find it online either. but they were always plenty enough to drill my gun barrels on space marines.

This head, however, is larger than most Pin Vise heads and does get in the way a bit of you are drilling areas where other parts of the model it in the way. The other annoyance (and it is just an annoyance) is that the handle wobbles a bit squeaks like hell.

Whether you are looking for a Hobby Drill, Hand Drill or its correct moniker Pin Vise (I didn’t know this originally either). You’re likely looking for the same thing. a tool to drill holes into your models. Today we are looking at finding you the best Pin Vise for your Models & Miniatures.

The most important part of the tool is your drillbits. I don’t mean the strength of them, bar the few occasions you are drilling metal, even the cheapest bits should be able to drill plastic just fine.

Unfortunately, 2.0mm is the maximum size (you could maybe squeeze in a 2.1mm or 2.2mm). but you cannot use the standard 3.2mm PCB Drill Bits with these.

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Let’s get this out of the wat straight off the bat, you can use a Dremel or any rotary tool. They are absolutely great for a myriad of tasks, but they are overkill for drilling holes in miniatures. Unless you are incredibly precise, you are likely to slip and worse drill a hole in your hand.

It only supports up to 1.8mm drill bits with one each of 1.0, 1.4 & 1.8 mm bits included in the box. But this means you won’t be able to use this with 3.2mm PCB Drill Bits.

Search Pin Vise on Amazon or eBay and you’ll find these. They are a cheap option and come with a load of drill bits. They are generally fine and do the job. They don’t use collets and instead have a more typical drill chick which will hold any size up to 3.6 mm.

IMHO, this is the perfect Pin Vise. It has a standard build style and is nice and thin. Really sturdy construction and the bearing rotation between the body and handle is firm (no wobbles) and smooth. The body on the D-R is rubberised with a ridged grip making this the most comfortable model available (seriously, check the pics below, the D-R is the exact same vise but it has rubber around it). If you’re drilling a lot of mini’s, this does make a difference. It will likely wear down with time but there’s always the Tamiya Fine Pin Vise D (74050) which is a full metal version.

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I bought a Tamiya handi drill to use with the PCB bits. I had to wedge the but into the collet, but it works really well. Makes it a lot easier to drill into metal miniatures quickly.

This is my baby, I had this model for over 20 years and they still make them now. It is generally everything you want from a typical pin vice. Solid build, decent size and weight. smooth spinning motion. It comes with 2 two-sided collets. one is stored in the handle one is stored in the front.

The only drawback is that the maximum drill bit diameter is 3.0mm, you can wedge in a 3.2mm PCB Drill Bit. But it is a wedge and you have to drag them out. If you are happy to swap out the collets all the time for changing drill bits, it’s a great choice.

I currently use one of those generic ones and the fact that you can just pop out the drill bit and just screw or unscrew the end to fit a different size is great! I don’t think I could ever deal with fluffing about with collets.

The handle is the part which rests in your palm and allows you to hold the PinVise steady as you spin the rest to drill a hole. not all hand drills come with this but I find it to be the most necessary component.

The issue I have with Pin Vises and drill bits is that I love the low profile of a typical Hobby Drill that uses collets. The issue with collets is that the difference in drill bit size means changing around the collet configuration every time you swapped the drill bit. More annoyingly, I had to swap to the other collet so I had to unscrew both the chuck and the handle, every time. You know if you’re painting an army, this is just frustrating. A minor annoyance that after time really grates.

This is a somewhat valid option, for a while. you can use a good sharp hobby knife in a twisting motion to carve out a hole. used gently it will work for gun barrels. The front hole at least. the side holes will likely just get mangled. It’s imprecise. and you will quickly snap the point of your knife making each new hole worse. But it can be done.

And now onto the list, I normally do a top 10, but I am limited to options, these are also pretty cheap to buy, no matter what model you get. so the price doesn’t really come into it. The below options are all the ones we looked at specifically. If you think there is another option worth considering, let us know.

I've been using FSWizzard for a couple years now and was just wondering if anyone uses something that they like better? an old co-worker used the one on the Helical site that he liked alot.

The first of our known hobby branded options is The Army Painter Pin Vise. this one is great and well built. It does use collets however these are only 1 sided and there’s one for each of the different sized drill bits you get with it. The drill feels a bit short in my opinion but is still comfortable to hold and it has a smooth mechanism. The handle is fastened in with a rubber ring and just pulls off to access the internal storage.

As I’ve said above, the best option, at a comparable price to the Citadel Pin Vise is the Tamiya Extra Fine which comes in a fully metal version or rubberised handle version. As the most important part of any drill is the bits you use. the convenience of being able to add standard drill bits with a 3.2mm shank just makes things so convenient by not having to keep changing collets to swap drill bit sizes. So anything which houses a 3.2mm shank is worth an investment.

If I could find more adjustable options I would have included them. Yeah I hate mucking about with the collets. But the main point was that if you get the Tamiya Pin vise and the PCB drill bits. No mucking about needed.

Collets are like a traditional chuck except the are a fixed size. Usually, a Pin Vise comes with 2 two-sided collets. One collet is in the front of the drill as it is in use, the other is stored in the handle until you need it. Each has 2 fixed diameter holes for a total of 4 different sizes. Each hole will hold a small range of different sized drill bits. If you need to change to a much large or much smaller bit than the one that is currently fit, you need to use the other side of the collet or the other collet.

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The most common thing we all drill (Space Marine Gun Barrels) it makes sense to drill the side holes with one diameter drill bit and the front of the barrels with a slightly larger drill bit. It’s a subtle change, but one that makes it appear just slightly more real.

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A Pin Vise is a relatively inexpensive piece of your hobby kit, but there are certainly some benefits to splashing out that extra cash. If you are a Warhammer collector and want all the tools to match. there’s nothing wrong with their set. If you are looking at a more budget-friendly option I’d suggest either The Army Painter or Modelcraft versions which come with drill bits. The cheapest option is a generic Amazon or eBay model and these are absolutely fine for doing the job. I just found some annoyance with them like how squeaky the handle was as it spins.

My search for a better Pin Vise started with better drill bits, or at least a way to change bits without fully reconfiguring the whole Hobby Drill.

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That’s when I found PCB Drill Bits. These bits are for drilling Printed Circuit Boards in electronics and computing projects. They come in sizes from 0.1mm (insanely small) to 3.2mm (too big) in diameter, are cheap and are usually made from Tungsten Carbide. I’m not sure if you’ve ever played Rock-Paper-Scissors-Tungsten-Plastic. But Tungsten beats plastic, and pewter too. Perfect! Although the finer sizes can snap easily when compared to steel – so, be a bit careful with them.

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The Citadel Drill is one of the most well-known hand drills in this community. It’s generally pretty good. It’s well built with a smooth turning motion. I don’t find the triangular-shaped handle the most comfortable, but that’s likely just a personal view as I’m used to a different type of handle.

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It finally happened, my Pin Vise broke. For those of you who only know the pain of spilling a pot of Agrax Earthshade, you can’t understand the loss of a hand drill. It’s been a part of my kit for over 20 years, one of the oldest tools I owned and it’s dead. I’ve spent the last month looking for a new one. I ended up buying a few to test them out.

The hexagonal grip that you turn isn’t the best either IMHO. With only 6 flat sides there isn’t really a grip. It does, however, have the best look of any of the hand drills and will be great sat next to a set of Citadel tools. The strangest thing is that this comes with only one two-sided collet, even though the handle unscrews from the body to house a second. (I suppose you could store your extra drill bits here instead)

You may find some of these online, the shaft is similar to that of the plunger on a child’s spinning top toy. As you push down the grip on the handle it will spin the drill. Like a Dremel, these are overkill for plastic miniatures. but they are still useful as you can just turn the handle like a normal Pin Vise.

The best part of these, however, is that the shank (the bit your drill holds) is a standard size. so long as you get a Pin Vise which holds 3.2mm drill bits, which is the standard shank diameter for PCB Drill Bits.

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I originally held a guide here on drilling gun barrels but it made this post way too long. Instead, I’ve put that guide elsewhere and you can view it by clicking here. it does tie in nicely with this article.

It has 2 collets. one is stored in under the handle whilst the other is in use. It is one of the slightly more expensive options alongside the Citadel Drill. But it is a purchase that offers you the most convenience and with a half-decent level of care, you will only need to make once in your whole hobby career.

The Chuck is the part you tighten to grip your drill bits, You can get get a hand drill with a more traditional chuck like you see on normal drills which is entirely variable in size. More commonly, you will see a Hobby drill has reversible Collet(s)

I’ve had the same Hobby Drill for over 20 years, it’s never let me down (until it did). When I say mine broke. it’s because I spilt glue on it and it seized the handle. Less “it broke”, more “I broke it”. It’s the sort of tool that you will buy once. so if you are in the market for one, make it a good one. They aren’t expensive at all. But they can be “cheap” in every sense of the word (we’ll get to that in the list).