Need help on this bayonet

I recently bought a socket bayonet / resin brown bess musket,  from tony barton, The problem the hole to insert the socket bayonet is filled in with pewter, how do I bore a hole it it? I'm thinking of just using my dewalt power drill, but afraid of damaging the socket bayonet. any suggestions?

Hm I think I would go slow on it, maybe on low power or even hand drilled. And pull the drill out often to get rid of the swarf. Not much experience drilling pewter though.

like ovy already said, i'd take a very small drill bit and do it by hand, then gradually go bigger. but leave enough around the edges so the material doesn't get to brittle.
another way would be, once a hole is successfully drilled, but still remains to narrow, you could alter the barrel of the rifle, where the bayonet attaches, ever so slightly for the bayonet will cover that area anyways.

i cant remember of often my dremel had a mind of its own and moving sideways in the most terrible situations or, in case of very small and fragile parts, knocked them to the side or out of my hand, leaving scratches or worse on the object. even when firmly attached to my workbench i almost ruined a headsculpt once when making a larger peg hole. while moving around the edges the dremel somehow sprung over due to its momentum and nicked the outer part, leaving a very unseemly scar.

dont get me wrong, stuff like a dremel is a time saver and a wonderful tool in most situations when you can secured the object firmly or customize areas that are usually invisible like joints or pegs.
but in terms of tiny things like my 3d printed stuff i stick to sanding paper and tools i use with my hands.

good luck, if you succeed please do tell us how it worked for you, it can only help for future projects.
cheers

I have only recently noticed this, my apologies.
I feel slightly guilty that it doesn't come already drilled, but as people have noticed it's a delicate job.
If you have a rubber jawed vice, that's the best place to do it, and drill first with a narrower drill, slowly and gently. It's quite hard to avoid the bit wandering, so a little pilot depression made by hand with a drill in a pin vice helps to keep things central also helps.
Once you have a hole clear through, repeat with a larger size of drill.

Having said that , which I hope helps, this is of course a bayonet in its scabbard,intended to fit in the crossbelt, so it's not intended to go on a musket unless you are trying to represent a rather unique arrangement....I also supply unsheathed bayonets, which I normally DO drill out .

Tony Barton wrote:I have only recently noticed this, my apologies.
I feel slightly guilty that it doesn't come already drilled, but as people have noticed it's a delicate job.
If you have a rubber jawed vice, that's the best place to do it, and drill first with a narrower drill, slowly and gently. It's quite hard to avoid the bit wandering, so a little pilot depression made by hand with a drill in a pin vice helps to keep things central also helps.
Once you have a hole clear through, repeat with a larger size of drill.

Having said that , which I hope helps, this is of course a bayonet in its scabbard,intended to fit in the crossbelt, so it's not intended to go on a musket unless you are trying to represent a rather unique arrangement....I also supply unsheathed bayonets, which I normally DO drill out .

it's okay, the bayonet appears it can not be fixed on a musket, presents a problem for our hero, I might make one of polymer clay or something.