How long things take: the machine about 2 weeks, bits and small tools about a week, and one item ships in a few days from a US warehouse. Here is whyMachine about 2 weeks. Why?
Free US shipping on every order · 30 days to return it · Spare parts free for 12 months

Before you buy a small drill press

Two emails, then we leave you alone. The first is the five things worth checking before you spend $149 on a machine like this - the two that are worth paying more for, and the three that are not. It carries 7% off your first order. The second, a day later, is who should not buy one of these at all, and it carries 10%.

No countdown and no fake sale. The second code is simply the bigger one, and we would rather tell you that now than have you find out afterwards.
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$16.99
Free US shipping
  • Diamond-tipped drill bits laid out in a row
  • Diamond-tipped bits with 2.35 mm shanks
  • Size chart of the available diameters
  • Drilling a bead with a diamond bit
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Diamond-tipped drill bits — 10 of one size

$16.99
$16.99
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Size: 0.5 mm
30-day returns
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  • 30-day returns

Description

For the materials a twist drill cannot touch. Glass, stone, sea shell, mother of pearl, ceramic, tile, bone, and the hard beads used in jewellery. A normal steel bit skates on those and then cracks them. These do not cut at all — the tip is coated in diamond grit and it grinds its way through.

How to actually use them

Three things decide whether the hole comes out clean or the piece cracks.

Water. Keep the tip wet. A shallow puddle on the work, or a drop added every few seconds. A dry diamond bit overheats, the grit comes off the tip, and the bit is finished in under a minute.

Light pressure. You are grinding, not drilling. Let the weight of the quill do the work. Pushing harder does not speed it up, it chips the underside.

Moderate speed. On this press the middle of the range is right. Faster is not better with diamond — heat is what kills both the bit and the workpiece.

What fits what

The shank is 2.35 mm, the standard rotary-tool size. It goes straight into the 0.3 to 4 mm chuck on the Mikrabench drill press, and into any rotary tool that takes a 2.35 mm collet.

What these are not for

Not for metal. Not for steel of any kind, hardened or soft. Not for wood, where they will burn rather than cut. For metal use the cobalt set or the PCB bits — different pages, different job.

They are also consumable. Ten of one size is the pack because you will go through them: how fast depends entirely on how wet you keep them.

Which size

Pick the diameter above. Every pack is ten bits of that one size, not ten different sizes — you break the size you are using, not the ones you are not.

Your size is not in the list

The full range runs from 0.4 mm to 3 mm in tenths. We stock the sizes people actually ask for. If you need 0.7 or 1.4 or anything else in between, write to us and we will get it and put it on the shelf. It takes about a week.

Shipping

Free and tracked across the US, about a week. These come from stock, not from the workshop that builds the machine, so they arrive well before it does — and in their own parcel.

Shipping is free on every US order, tracked, with no minimum. Orders are processed within 2 business days.

After that the number depends on what you bought, and each product page gives its own. The drill press takes about 2 weeks - we do not hold stock of it, so it comes from the workshop that builds it. Bits, punches and the small consumables take about 6 to 10 business days because those do ship from stock. The engraving ball vise and the cross-slide worktable leave a US warehouse and arrive in a few days - those two are the fast ones. If one order has several of these, they can arrive separately and you are not charged twice.

You get a tracking number by email as soon as the parcel is scanned, not before. A link that sits at label created for a few days is normal on this route.

Returns: 30 days from delivery, unused and in its packaging. Nothing is excluded - there is no rule here about sale items. If it arrived damaged or does not hold tolerance, we pay the return label. If you simply changed your mind, the return postage is yours and the price of the item comes back in full. Email support@arvonelle.com before sending anything back.

Will it plug into a US outlet? Yes. The drill press adapter comes with US blades on it, and no travel adapter is needed. This answer used to say the opposite, and it was true when it said so - we moved to a supplier who ships the US version and changed the page the same day. The listing states 100-240 V, so no converter either, but we have not put a meter on one ourselves and the machine's page says the same thing.

Can it mill? As it ships, no. Milling needs an ER11 collet spindle in place of the drill chuck, because side load pulls a bit out of a chuck. That spindle is a real part and we are sourcing it. Until it is on the shelf we do not sell collets or end mills either.

Do your vises fit the press? The ones meant for drilling do - the drill press vise and the brass vise on its XY stage bolt to the base as it comes. The bench vises do not bolt down and must not go under a spinning bit. The engraving ball vise, the toolmaker's vise and the cross-slide worktable are bench tools too, and the cross-slide is sized for a full-size drill press rather than this one. Every page says which it is.

Do I pay tax or duty? Sales tax is added at checkout where your state charges it, and the total you see is the total. You pay us nothing after the order. If a carrier ever asks you for a fee on a parcel from us, do not pay it - send us the notice first and we will sort it out with you.

What if a part breaks? For twelve months, tell us which part and we post a new one free. No return, no inspection, no photograph of the packaging.

Can I cancel? Yes, within 24 hours, no questions. After that it is usually already moving.

Why trust a shop you have never heard of? You should not, on our say-so. Check instead that every page tells you what the tool will not do, that each product carries its own delivery number, that we say which figures we measured and which we were told, and that when we get something wrong we say what the page used to say.

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If something goes wrong


If your order arrives damaged or defective, email support@arvonelle.com with your order number and a photo. We replace it or refund it — you don't have to argue for it.