Enclosure Drilling

masonlewisdiesel

masonlewisdiesel

New member
First time posting here.
When it comes to any project, getting holes drilled and graphics are a struggle for me. Im still an apprentice when it comes to the pedal game. Does anyone have some advice? I think that the best(easiest) way to tackle it would be CAD, then chuck it up in the CNC... at least for the holes, as i cannot keep things lined up to save my life! as far as wording or any type of graphics -does anyone here use a mill? what cad software are you using? I should mention that when it comes to cad i'm pretty new... Been screwing around with Freecad, Carvco, easel, and just started a trial of fuision 360, definitly not an overnight kinda thing to learn. I've been using flatcam to to drill files in the past, but would like to try a V bit and a simple "boost" "fuzz" "volume" kinda thing.
Thought that would be a good "first post"
Thanks
-Lewis
 
I’ve used a CNC to mill the holes. Works awesome. You do need to be able to position the enclosure the same way every time if you are doing multiple. I made a jig to hold the enclosure and set a repeatable origin.

The key for me was to create the jig and enclosure cutouts together, then copy the cut part of the program to another file. That would leave me two files with the same origin, so then I could cut out the jig, place the enclosure in the holding jig, then run the cut file.

I used easel to do this cause it’s easy to quickly model these simple jobs and cutout routines. I use whatever free software suits my needs for the particular project I’m working on. I just milled out a power and bias supply board for an amplifier and used kicad to model the circuit, flatcam to create the gcode and candle to run the files. I do use fusion 360 a little.
 
masonlewisdiesel said:
First time posting here.
When it comes to any project, getting holes drilled and graphics are a struggle for me. Im still an apprentice when it comes to the pedal game. Does anyone have some advice? I think that the best(easiest) way to tackle it would be CAD, then chuck it up in the CNC... at least for the holes, as i cannot keep things lined up to save my life! as far as wording or any type of graphics -does anyone here use a mill? what cad software are you using? I should mention that when it comes to cad i'm pretty new... Been screwing around with Freecad, Carvco, easel, and just started a trial of fuision 360, definitly not an overnight kinda thing to learn. I've been using flatcam to to drill files in the past, but would like to try a V bit and a simple "boost" "fuzz" "volume" kinda thing.
Thought that would be a good "first post"
Thanks
-Lewis
Click to expand...
I use metric step-down bits on a hand drill and use clamps to hold down the enclosure. Be careful as the bit will get caught and the enclosure will get away from you.

When I drill I always make them smaller and have parts to check fit (don't use all the same parts), or have a paper template with the measurements written down.
 
owlexifry said:
im a big dumb dumb and i just use paper templates and a hand drill
Click to expand...
You can get decent results this way, but not 1000000000% accurate. Just remember to drill on a hard, flat surface and not holding the enclosure in one hand and the drill in another. I did that for a while and realized I was waaaaay more accurate doing it on a table. It also helps to have a punch or hammer/nail and then pilot holes.
 
Paper templates. Hand drill. Step bit. On a flat surface. Painters tape on the enclosure, to prevent sliding, or scratching while drilling.
I scrape the step bit with a 3.5” deck screw between drilling holes. The residual aluminum clings to the bit and can/will mess up a new hole. I use the same screw to tap, with a hammer, a pilot hole.
Without a pilot hole the first rotations of the bit will slide. And even a few mm’s of center is annoying, obviously.
I’ve gotten better at drilling, the first few were a little wonkey, and non symmetrical.
If and when I step up production, I will acquire a drill press.
Labeling is a separate challenge.
I am currently using alcohol ink and rubber stamps. And I use a toothpick, dipped in ink to hand write any touch ups. It took me a long time to decide on a method. It’s not for everyone, and it’s rather minimalist. But I like the look.

Good luck with the CAD stuff. I chose the ink label method because I thought it would be more hands on, simple, cheap and fast.
And… if I repurpose an enclosure, I can remove the ink and re-label it.
 

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It also depends on your time and money, how much of it you have, and how much you want to spend, plus however much you're building. If you are bulk building and time is more important, it may behoove you look into a second party to print and drill. This can be done through Tayda, but there is a steep learning curve and things need to be absolutely perfect for the files to work. I did all of my enclosures for a recent project through Spencer at Amplify Fun, and I can't recommend him enough. UV printing, will also do the drilling, and the only program you need to know is Affinity Designer, which is cheap and easy to learn. You can purchase your enclosures from wherever and have them shipped directly to him, or he stocks texture black and white 125B.

Going that route will save you a ton of time, but it will obviously cost you more. If you are not bulk building and would prefer to do it all on your own, I think waterslide decals are the way to go for graphics/labels (only downside is the inability to print in white), and drilling either via CNC, or just a good old fashioned hand drill with a step bit. Lining things up with a paper drill template can be a bit difficult though, as there is no real standard for enclosure sizes, so they can vary from vendor to vendor. This can make it challenging to get the template perfectly centered on the top of the enclosure, and there isn't a great solution for this. PedalPCB does offer a 125B drill template, which I do use for my one-off projects. Again, it's not a perfect fit, but it's better than the paper template.

Personally, I split the difference. I had all of my graphics UV printed on the enclosures, and I also had the drill hole locations printed in small red dots so I could just drill myself. It was a bit tedious, but it worked, and my hole locations were spot on. As others have said, using a center punch is key, as well as drilling a pilot hole with a smaller bit to start (<1/8" - I use 3/32"). You also want to clamp down the enclosure securely when you are center punching and drilling so that the enclosure doesn't move.
 
If you’re having trouble with fusion 360 I can certainly help out! I learned how to make sheet metal enclosures with that program. I learned quite a few things on work flow and using lots of the features fusion has to offer. If you’re looking to setup a simple drill operation or really anything to do with the software please feel free to message me!
 
Automatic center punch + a small pilot hole helped a lot for me.

Next time I buy PCBs I plan on getting the drill templates that are in the ppcb shop.

Another thing you can do is the tayda 3-6 knob predrilled. There are tags you can use for browsing builds that will be the right fit:

125B 3-Knob (Type 1) Archives - PedalPCB.com

www.pedalpcb.com www.pedalpcb.com

125B 4-Knob (Type 1) Archives - PedalPCB.com

www.pedalpcb.com www.pedalpcb.com

125B 5-Knob (Type 1) Archives - PedalPCB.com

www.pedalpcb.com www.pedalpcb.com

125B 6-Knob (Type 1) Archives - PedalPCB.com

www.pedalpcb.com www.pedalpcb.com
 
BuddytheReow said:
You can get decent results this way, but not 1000000000% accurate. Just remember to drill on a hard, flat surface and not holding the enclosure in one hand and the drill in another. I did that for a while and realized I was waaaaay more accurate doing it on a table. It also helps to have a punch or hammer/nail and then pilot holes.
Click to expand...
yep auto centre punch and a 2mm pilot hole is how i do everything before the step bit gets involved.
recently did a 5 knob 4 toggle job (aionfx ember distortion) and was able to get away with no washers on all toggles so was pretty stoked with that.
 
jcpst said:
Automatic center punch + a small pilot hole helped a lot for me.

Next time I buy PCBs I plan on getting the drill templates that are in the ppcb shop.

Another thing you can do is the tayda 3-6 knob predrilled. There are tags you can use for browsing builds that will be the right fit:

125B 3-Knob (Type 1) Archives - PedalPCB.com

www.pedalpcb.com www.pedalpcb.com

125B 4-Knob (Type 1) Archives - PedalPCB.com

www.pedalpcb.com www.pedalpcb.com

125B 5-Knob (Type 1) Archives - PedalPCB.com

www.pedalpcb.com www.pedalpcb.com

125B 6-Knob (Type 1) Archives - PedalPCB.com

www.pedalpcb.com www.pedalpcb.com
Click to expand...
I bought a handful of these last order a few months back and they didn't align with a number of projects. So, use caution. I'm not sure how to tell which build need which enclosure
 
jwin615 said:
I bought a handful of these last order a few months back and they didn't align with a number of projects. So, use caution. I'm not sure how to tell which build need which enclosure
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up. I hadn’t experienced that yet- they’ve always been more accurate than my own drilling.

I have some on the way right now, I’ll be curious to see how they turned out.
 
jcpst said:
Thanks for the heads up. I hadn’t experienced that yet- they’ve always been more accurate than my own drilling.

I have some on the way right now, I’ll be curious to see how they turned out.
Click to expand...
There's different spacing for different projects and I'm not sure how to align the correct pre-drilled enclosure to which project. Detail listings don't mention what the drill spacing is
 
jimilee said:
I’m from TN. I use a paper template and a drill press from harbor freight. Been doing it like that for a decade now.
Click to expand...
I recently got that drill press from harbor freight and it is awesome. Definitely a huge improvement from my handheld drill.
 
On the face of my enclosures I etch drill marks along with my graphic. For the top?/back? (I/O and Power jacks) I use a paper template. Use a hand drill. Always do a small pilot hole, then a metric step bit for most stuff. Generally hold the enclosure with my feet while I drill;)

Low-tech, but it’s worked for me so far.

A de-burring tool, like this:
can be handy for enlarging in very small increments, or cleaning up a rough hole.
 

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