[sdiy] speaking of drilling... Small drill press recommendations?

[David G. Dixon]

I have been drilling my own 1/8" 5052 aluminum panels for a few months now.
I print out the panel in FPD with the reference points on it, cut it out,
use a bit of spray adhesive or a glue stick to stick the printout onto the
protective film of the aluminum, and centre punch the reference marks.
Mounting holes are 1/8", toggle switches are 1/4", Alpha pots are 5/16", and
standard phone jacks are 3/8".  Drilling a crowded 2U x 5U panel takes about
30 minutes.  The hardest part is dealing with the waste.

My drill bits are a special DeWalt set I got at Home Despot which have
little starter tips about half the diameter of the actual drill.  They find
the centre punch divots easily and give nearly perfect alignment.  I don't
clamp aluminum; it's so soft you don't really need to, particularly with my
special drills.

I use 1/32" stainless steel for my stooge brackets, but I punch the holes --
3/8" for the pot shafts, 1/8" to mount the pcb.  Luckily, I have access to a
professional punch (which looks like the giant yellow pliers from hell) in
my department's machine shop.  Drilling stainless is difficult and
dangerous, and clamping is an absolute necessity (to avoid a starring role
in the Texas Drillpress Massacre, documentary version), but makes alignment
that much more difficult and time-consuming.  However, if you have no
alternative, the key is to take it slow and keep your bits sharp.


> Reading some of these drilling posts is almost enough to scare me away
> from making my own panels! (and I've been making them for 10 years)
> We're just making panels here, not rockets or satellites.  A perfectly
> round hole usually isn't an issue, as the washer from whatever you're
> attaching to the panel will cover it up.
> Center punching is always a good idea, and I always did before I got my
> drill press. I don't anymore, though.
> Starting w/ a small pilot hole always works well, but really isn't
> necessary w/ a drill press.
> Here's the first thing I drilled w/ my new press and I didn't center punch
> or pilot hole anything (other than a few extra large holes where I did
> start w/ a pilot)
> http://www.sdiy.org/wicked1/images/seqpanel.jpg
> 
> When I design my panels I do put a point in the center of every circle, so
> I know where to drill.  If I were going to build something to sell I might
> go the extra mile and center punch everything so it is exactly perfect,
> but for my own stuff, it looks good to me!  There are a lot of holes lined
> up on that panel I linked above, and I don't see any deviation w/ the
> naked eye.
> 
> The laser x's on any of these inexpensive drill presses are pretty
> worthless for what we are doing.  The thickness of the beam could lead to
> a gross misalignment.  For making furniture or something it would be close
> enough.  I just look closely at every spot and make sure the point of the
> drill bit hits the dot on my panel layout.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl [mailto:synth-diy-
> bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl] On Behalf Of Neil Johnson
> Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2009 3:58 AM
> To: sdiy
> Subject: Re: [sdiy] speaking of drilling... Small drill press
> recommendations?
> 
> Hi,
> 
> For drilling 'accurate'[1] panel holes I use the following steps:
> 
> 1/ Pillar drill - keeps the bit perpendicular to the panel, and if
> needed you can step through the speeds as you go.
> 
> 2/ Centre drill to start the hole - does not wander around as much as
> a thin drill, e.g, 1/8in.
> 
> 3/ Clamp the work to the work table - stops it moving around as you
> work your way up the drill sizes.
> 
> Neil
> 
> [1] - drilling is a roughing out technique.  For a round hole finish
> off with a reamer.  For truly accurate round holes I'd use a milling
> machine.
> --
> http://www.njohnson.co.uk
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Synth-diy mailing list
> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Synth-diy mailing list
> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy