I use them in a pin vise. I gave my kid a couple sets of micro drill bits and a couple pin vises for his models.
-Safest method for most home applications
I don’t see how they would work in a regular drill press or cordless drill. They would probably break right away.
-When the drills get below a certain diameter it's absurdly easy to break them off from misalignment or excessive pressure. A cordless drill is just asking for trouble. If/when they break off you now have the distinct possibility of the broken segment being imbedded in the material further complicating what to do next. The quill of an average drill press or Bridgeport doesn't offer enough sensitivity/feedback to know when you're at the point of breaking them. Small drills are surprisingly fragile.
have passed up about 20 high speed sensitive drill presses over the last 17ish years at garage/estate sales. These are the drill presses for these tiny bits. Some of the sensitive drill presses have been quite beautiful. Maybe I should have bought one.
-The sensitive DP's are quite nice if in good working condition, small/micro drilling is what they're made for.
The sensitive drill presses are made for people who work on watches and jewelry and such.
-True but not exclusively. Injection molds, some stamping dies, vacuum actuated devices, and other tooling can all require tiny hole passages drilled for various purposes. There's even surgical/dental components I've seen that required drilling and sometimes for wire EDM start holes. I've drilled holes to about #80 (IIRC) a handful of times in components but that's usually outside the domain of the average homeowner. Depending upon the material being drilled and the depth (depth x diameter of drill) it can be an anxious operation.
They look much fancier than a regular drill press.
-They are. There should be a depth stop collar for the quill. Some have a spindle load meter and a pressure sensor to let you know when the drill is getting dull and needing a new one or to indicate you're approaching a load that will break the drill.
-There is another, less expensive option than a sensitive drill press. There's a micro drill chuck that I purchased decades ago after breaking two tiny drills on a job. The micro drill is a small chuck with a ball bearing knurled collar that's mounted in a hollow, spring loaded shank. You put the shank in a regular drill chuck or a collet (better) and you grip the knurled (ball bearing) collar while it's at spindle speed. Feeding the drill is accomplished by hand, two fingers is all I ever use. The chuck mount inside the hollow shank slides in/out for drilling, the spring return allows retraction. I use mine in a "peck cycle" to clear chips and re-lube. You learn to feel whether the drill is cutting or not, Runout is a matter of how well it's made and whether all components are hardened or not. There's many more of them made now than decades ago so they're not hard to find. An example is below.
www.proxxon.com
micromark.com