| I think I'll see how I get on with the Micro Carbide Slot drills. I think producing my own and heat treating them myself would probably work out more expensive than the £2.58 each I paid for the bought items. I'd also be a bit concerned about cutting the flutes precisely enough to get any degree of chip clearance.
One of the benefits of HSS is the relative ease in which tooling can be sharpened, but in sizes as small as 1mm - 3mm it's probably more economical to just buy disposable cutters and carbide still keeps it's edge longer than HSS.
I know Carbide bits are much easier to break than the HSS equivalent, but in smaller sizes breakage is always going to be a possibility, although I have used some supoposedly carbide tipped tools in a router where the brazed on tips themself have bent.
__________________   |