Meet Lance Abernethy who lives in Auckland, New Zealand and is a maintenance engineer. Mr. Lance used his Ultimaker 2 3D printer to create the world’s smallest power drill that actually works. The claims of being the smallest are unofficial as of now, however, Mr. Lance does claim that this drill is the smallest one ever created.
He began the project by designing a computer model that uses Onshape 3D software, utilizing a full-size drill for reference. Next step involved printing the two halves that would become the drill’s body along with the chuck. It took him 25 minutes to complete the printing process.
Subsequent work took a bit longer, 3 hours to be exact. He had to install a small motor, a hearing aid battery, power button and wiring that came from a stripped headphone cable into the printed body. The finalized product measures 17×7.5×13 mm and makes use of a 0.5 mm bit. It is able to drill through objects that are soft. Mr. Lance already has plans of making even a smaller drill. 3D printing has surely allowed everyone to do so much more as compared to before. Watch the video below to see the tiny drill in action!
