Any interest in pen maker specific drill bit holder?

[Swagopenturner]

I'd buy one. How about leaving a little space on the side for customers to add a hole just for the one thing they have but no one else does? I use a 11/16" Forstner bit for USB drive kits. It has a 0.407 shank. Or how about a space for a chuck key (for those of us who like chuck keys!).

[Carl Fisher]

I can do that, but how big would be considered too big for something like this? Right now we're at 8" x 4.5" and probably in the neighborhood of 3" tall without a lid of any type.

I may end up having to go slightly larger if the engraving doesn't show up well enough on the small text in wood. I have to do some test pieces to see how small is still legible. I'm thinking hard maple may take the text the best in terms of clean edges with a v-bit. Or as an alternative to color filling the engravings, I may put a layer of something over the face and engrave into that but that would add to the cost.

[MarkD]

Carl, I believe the CABALLERO (JR Gents I's) that Smitty sells use 10mm and 12MM drill bits although I think that 15/32 and a 25/64 can be used.

I may be interested in one of these.

[Carl Fisher]

It looks like he calls for the SAE sizes and then says they can be substituted with the 10 and 12 metric.

I can add space for a 12, but it's like the big 51/64th bit I ran into where it seems to be an exception.

[scjohnson243]

Love the idea, been fighting different ways to keep drill bits organized, and for a "Mechanical idiot" like myself figuring out which size is which... (if its not printed on the bit)...

Would buy this... Maybe include a little paper or fold out that has the kits/sizes... just for reference, but most poeple can just pull that up themselves... Not sure if it would add more value, but would be "nice" for the extremely lazy or confused new guys.

[Mack C.]

I can see a use for one of those for myself. My concern is mailing costs to Canada approaching $20 for an SFRB. My suggestion is the outside measurements to be no larger than what fits into the SFRB, 5 3/8" X 8 5/8" X 1 5/8".

I'm not sure why you're at 3" tall though!

[Carl Fisher]

It would be flat packed to fit a SFRB.

If I can get sketchup to behave, I'll show you why the 3". My idea is that what you see here is drilled completely through at the bit diameter plus a little wiggle room. This piece would be put on standoffs about 1 1/2" above a solid lower board. When you insert the bit it would hold the bit about half way up so the hole is the right diameter.

Otherwise not all bits have the same size shank as their drill size. i.e. a larger bit may step down to fit a smaller chuck. Those wobble around if only grabbed from the bottom. This would hold the bits somewhere around the middle depending on the bit length.

[Carl Fisher]

This is a down and dirty of what I was thinking. Not set in stone and I'm open to ideas. I'm using just a flat 3/4" board right now and I find that the bits are not stable enough for my liking which is the reason for having the elevated platform.

[Carl Fisher]

As for leaving room, I could omit the Letter bits for those of us who don't use them. I've been making pens for quite a few years now and never needed a letter bit unless I was doing kitless work. That would leave you an entire row of extra space for custom holes.

This would all be CNC cut within .001 of the target size of each hole.

[Cmiles1985]

I'd be a buyer. That looks phenomenal!