DRILLING A PIN

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 7 March 1935, Page 8

DRILLING A PIN

HASTINGS WATCHMAKER. UNIQUE FEAT ACHIEVED. HASTINGS. March 4. The unique feat of drilling a. hole from end to end in an ordinary pin 1 l-16in in length, lias Leen accomplished by a Hastings watchmaker. He was prompted to attempt this feat as the result of a wager arising from a discussion with several watchmakers over an article relating how a Yorkshire watchmaker had' drilled a hole along a pin lgin in length. The Yorkshireman’s feat, was described as a “minor wonder of the world,” and it was stated that the feat had been performed only once previously. The watchmaker and. his colleagues were of opinion that the Yorkshireman’s feat was not as difficult as they were led to believe, and he set out to prove it. He selected a. pin which was five-sixteenth of an inch shorter than the pin used by the Yorkshireman, and proportionately thinner. He made a drill and bored a hole from end to end in an hour.

The diameter of the pin was 24-1000 in and the diameter of the drill was 17-lOOoin, making the thickness of the wall only half as thick again as a fine human hair. 'The watchmaker ..says he is quite confident that any watchmaker could do the same, but it is a task that, one would not care to attempt very often. If the previous accomplishment was considered to be a minor wonder of the world, this achievement demonstrates that New Zealand workmanship is by no means inferior to that in other countries.

Another Hastings watchmaker attempted the feat this morning and reached the last fraction of an inch in the pin when the drill pierced tho wall. However, he is making another attempt.