freestompboxes.org

rapmusic wrote:That wooden stand is so clever and practical looking that I just want to smash my setup with a hammer.
Where do you guys get the small chucks from? Mine has a long shank and is inserted into chuck that came with the drill, so it just ends up being crooked as hell. If I were using carbide bits, they would probably snap every single time. Or is it more common to use drill bits with a "fat shank" for a regular chuck? I can't seem to find those either.

Dremel and other rotary tools come with small chucks installed. They use collets very much like the one you have pictured.

Hi guys,

One of the guys in my college class just said the "proper way to drill" was to...

drill halfway through,
Turn over and line up exactly then drill through the rest of the way from the other side.

He said this gives the cleanest finish as the drill doesn't burst through the other side. Said its the proper way to drill etc.

Does anyone else agree with me that that's the stupidest thing they've ever heard? It might be applicable to wood working to avoid splintering but as far as PCBs or metal i think that is a total waste of time!

Drill straight through, then use a bigger drill bit to de-burr the other side. sorted.

Well, why would you want the inside of your enclosure to be neat?

I kinda hate it when my BEASTMASTER Ryobi decimates my enclosure with pounding whiny thunder of 12V, bursting through the frail walls of my enclosure, sending lethal shards of aluminum death.............

No. You're right. It's stupid.

Hides-His-Eyes wrote:Well, why would you want the inside of your enclosure to be neat?

So the jacks and stuff fit flush! Although i'm guessing thats sarcasm!

He wasn't talking specifically enclosures tho. think he meant literally anything! metals and PCBs etc.I was going to bring him an enclosure and ask how the fuck he'd fit a drill inside to drill the side of the enclosure! lol

he said its the proper way to drill stuff but people don't do it because its hard to get the accuracy right. I then pointed out that milling machines have precision accuracy and they dont do it!

CRBMoA wrote:I kinda hate it when my BEASTMASTER Ryobi decimates my enclosure with pounding whiny thunder of 12V, bursting through the frail walls of my enclosure, sending lethal shards of aluminum death.............

No. You're right. It's stupid.

I can't think of anything less important in a build. In fact any importance given to the "cleanest finish" would be totally outweighed by the potential Channel Tunnel effect which would mean burrs could still result unless both sides matched up precisely in position and angle. And seeing as you can clean up any burrs easily and neatly by twisting an oversized bit by hand makes it time better spent doing something else for me.

So another +1 on stupid.

DeanM wrote:Hi guys,

One of the guys in my college class just said the "proper way to drill" was to...

drill halfway through,
Turn over and line up exactly then drill through the rest of the way from the other side.

He said this gives the cleanest finish as the drill doesn't burst through the other side. Said its the proper way to drill etc.

Does anyone else agree with me that that's the stupidest thing they've ever heard? It might be applicable to wood working to avoid splintering but as far as PCBs or metal i think that is a total waste of time!

Drill straight through, then use a bigger drill bit to de-burr the other side. sorted.

Yes I agree it's dumb.
If it was the 'proper' way to drill they'd teach machinists to do that.. and they don't.

If you're drilling thick material, there's no way you'd get the holes to meet properly.. and on thin material it's much more likely to grab if it's partly drilled from the other side.
But the main thing is there's no reason to do it.
If the part is held properly and you reduce the pressure as the drill breaks through you'll have a neat hole on both sides that just needs to be deburred.

Again, the best tool for enclosures IMO is a stepped drill.. and it can deburr and lightly chamfer the top side at the same time as it drills.

maybe he drills a lot of aluminum 2x4s.

IvIark wrote: And seeing as you can clean up any burrs easily and neatly by twisting an oversized bit by hand makes it time better spent doing something else for me.
.

Man ... where were you when I was drilling the 100 holes in my last amp build? I hand filed every single one.

Thanks guys for proving that common sense can prevail! lol It still baffles me how he doesn't realise how stupid that sounded! almost as stupid as when i was asked "how can that blow the fuse? its nowhere near the fuse!" by a classmate who couldn't debug his own board.

Greenmachine wrote:

IvIark wrote: And seeing as you can clean up any burrs easily and neatly by twisting an oversized bit by hand makes it time better spent doing something else for me.
.

Man ... where were you when I was drilling the 100 holes in my last amp build? I hand filed every single one.

lol dude! I hand filed the tube socket holes and power plug hole on my two diy tube amps but thats about it. even those few were a pain! actually, i had a stepped drill that went to 20mm but the socket holes needed to be 21.5 or 22mm or something like that. so on my first amp to get the extra millimeter or two i put a small diameter round file into a drill. holding the chassis, putting the drill with file into the hole, applied power and then circled the drill around the circumference of the hole while the file was spinning and applying a little pressure agains the chassis i pretty much filed the diameter from 20mm outward using a drill!

Now that's an operation I've never heard of. I had to do something similar because my Greenlee punches were a wee bit small for the octal sockets - I got a workout there. Probably pissed the neighbors off too with the unholy sound of file on sheet metal. I wore ear protection.

Greenmachine wrote:Now that's an operation I've never heard of. I had to do something similar because my Greenlee punches were a wee bit small for the octal sockets - I got a workout there. Probably pissed the neighbors off too with the unholy sound of file on sheet metal. I wore ear protection.

I either use the right Q-Max cutter for the job, or open the hole out by hand with a tapered reamer. The reamer can also be used to de-burr holes after they're drilled.

+1 for stepped drill, easy and clean!

Hi chaps,
Hint ; Google *Bradpoint Drill Bit* (images)
Oh and you do use a wood block behind the sheet,, Don't you?
Will make for much cleaner cuts and helps the strees on the bit as it breaks through.
Cheers, Phil.

I guess it really doesn't matter which method, or technique you use to drill a hole in any material, the end result will always be the same....a hole in the material....

my roommate is a machinist and he would never do that. once you remove it from the vise i will never be true again (meaning lined up).

A true machinist would use a center/starter bit, then drill straight through using one bit, going slowly a the proper speed for the metal. for larger bits they might step between an intermediate size. At the end they use a deburring tool to smooth the edges.

Clean, sharp bits will insure you have a nice straight hole.

Everyone here needs a "Tapered Reamer", by the sound of it.

Best £4 I ever spent.

DrNomis wrote:I guess it really doesn't matter which method, or technique you use to drill a hole in any material, the end result will always be the same....a hole in the wrong place....

fixed.. to reflect my regular situation

Continuing with rocklander's theme.........................

DrNomis wrote:I guess it really doesn't matter which method, or technique you use to drill a hole in any material, the end result will always be the same....a hole exactly one gauge larger than I intended in the material....

I use:

- a center punch on a properly marked up box (I like to use a small right angle measure and a fine point Sharpie).

- a "tabletop" drill press - they don't cost a lot, don't need a lot of room, and are "semi-portable."

- a small pilot hole, just to ensure that it's dead nuts lined up.

- a pair of step bits - one is for the pot and LED holes, the other is for the D.C. jack, in and out jacks, and footswitch jack.

- a tapered reamer to catch any burrs that get past a hasty pass of the step bits, or to take the any finish off the jack holes for a decent ground.

The combo of step bits and drill press help to ensure that nothing "grabs and spins." The pilot hole step can be eliminated if a good punch is used (I like the spring loaded ones), but it's actually more of a brainless procedure with them.

I've actually gone to a separate bit for the LED grommet hole, since the ones I use are a strange size that don't coincide with my step bits. It's either that or drill the pot holes a little oversized, but I don't like all that slop.

The "measure twice, cut once" principle is golden with this. I also double check when marking up the box before center punching. Aside from that rule, drilling holes undersized is preferable to oversized, since they can always be enlarged with the step bits or reamer.

I've got it down to where it takes less than two minutes to mark up and punch the box, and maybe another two minutes to drill the whole thing out. This is your "standard" setup with 8 holes.