Getting drill templates on straight?

[CheapSuitG]

Hi all!

New builder, drilling my enclosures for the first time. How are everyone getting their drill templates on straight? I printed, folded, measured the holes to make sure they were the same distance, punched and still they came out slightly off between a mm or 2.

Thanks!

 

[Stickman393]

A millimeter or two typically isn't too bad. If you drill your holes a little bit larger (by around 1 mm), you can typically wiggle em into place. Washers, nuts, and knobs cover up 90% of mistakes.

What really helps is an XY vise, a centering bit, and a drill press. A hand drill will always tend to drift. You can mitigate this a certain amount by clamping the enclosure in place and carefully eyeing how you drill your holes, but it's real easy to make a mistake.

Or you could go nuts, like I did, and learn how to get repeatably perfect results with a CNC router. After destroying a bucket of enclosures and end mills.

 

[perfboarder]

Maybe you need build/get jig, suited your punch. That slightly off because your angle view when punch and drill is different.

 

[lowpitch]

Draw a crosshair on the enclosure the exact diameter of the drill hole after center punching. That way you can check your progress and correct it along the way (use a stepped bit!). Drifted a little toward the right? File out the opposite side of the hole until it's centered again. When you continue drilling the drill bit will kind of self-center after filing. It takes a little more time but you can get some really exact holes that way.

 

[Erik S]

What’s off by a few mm - your finished holes or your punch marks? And off relative to what - hole spacing, position relative to enclosure centerline, or position relative to board mounted components?

If it’s holes, the problem could be at the template positioning, punching, or drilling stage.

I use the paper templates. They’re great, but definitely not foolproof. It takes some care to get good accurate punch marks onto the enclosure. After doing about 50 of these, here are my tips.

Sharp scissors, working under magnification, careful cutting on one side of the lines, taking your time with the positioning, using your fingertips to feel for equal overhang of the template edges over the enclosure top radius.

I like to block the enclosure up off the table so the jack side of the template doesn’t touch the table. If the template includes the bottom face, I don’t bother cutting that out.



I also like working with some kind of weight sitting on the template so once I find the perfect position, it doesn’t move while I’m sticking the tape down. If it doesn’t feel perfect once it’s taped down, pull it up and start again.



There are some tricks to good center punching technique too. Even if your eyesight is good, try some magnifiers or reading glasses to really get zoomed in.

Try setting the end of the punch on your fingertip so your finger touches first and sort of roll the punch up into position. You can make really fine adjustments that way.



I drill on a manual milling machine, so I go right in with a step bit, but if you’re drilling with a hand drill, you may have better luck starting with a pilot hole using a small diameter drill bit. A small drill bit will stay in the punch mark much better than a full size drill.

Also, if you’re not already using one of these, I’d highly recommend checking them out.

 

[CheapSuitG]

What’s off by a few mm - your finished holes or your punch marks? And off relative to what - hole spacing, position relative to enclosure centerline, or position relative to board mounted components?

If it’s holes, the problem could be at the template positioning, punching, or drilling stage.

I use the paper templates. They’re great, but definitely not foolproof. It takes some care to get good accurate punch marks onto the enclosure. After doing about 50 of these, here are my tips.

Sharp scissors, working under magnification, careful cutting on one side of the lines, taking your time with the positioning, using your fingertips to feel for equal overhang of the template edges over the enclosure top radius.

I like to block the enclosure up off the table so the jack side of the template doesn’t touch the table. If the template includes the bottom face, I don’t bother cutting that out.
View attachment 83288


I also like working with some kind of weight sitting on the template so once I find the perfect position, it doesn’t move while I’m sticking the tape down. If it doesn’t feel perfect once it’s taped down, pull it up and start again.

View attachment 83289

There are some tricks to good center punching technique too. Even if your eyesight is good, try some magnifiers or reading glasses to really get zoomed in.

Try setting the end of the punch on your fingertip so your finger touches first and sort of roll the punch up into position. You can make really fine adjustments that way.

View attachment 83293

I drill on a manual milling machine, so I go right in with a step bit, but if you’re drilling with a hand drill, you may have better luck starting with a pilot hole using a small diameter drill bit. A small drill bit will stay in the punch mark much better than a full size drill.

Also, if you’re not already using one of these, I’d highly recommend checking them out.

View attachment 83294

This is PERFECT!

My issue is the punches, i thought everything was lined up, even measured and was still crooked. Cutting the sides off is really a good idea.

May take it a step further and use a razor and straight edge to cut the paper.......

I just ordered the step bits, was using standard bit and that was ok but time consuming. The #4 step bit seemed to cover most if not all the holes.

Thanks, can't wait to share my builds!

 

[Atom ant]

I drill by hand, this is what works for me.

Take time to get the paper template right. Fold evenly, using a straight edge to make sure the fold doesn’t wander.

Tape down the template, trying to make it tight so there is no slack in the paper against the enclosure.

Use a spring loaded center punch. Take time to line up the hole. Magnifiers work great for this

Once I punch the initial hole, i punch again about 10 times, at different angles, not just 90 degrees. This makes the punch dent a big bigger, but as long as you make sure the punch stays in contact with the enclosure, you should have no problems.

Next, i use the smallest bit I can find to drill a pilot hole. Small bits wont wander like bigger bits will, especially if you make a bit larger dent with the punch, and let the bit do its job. Meaning don’t put any unnecessary weight on the bit. Small bits like this will bend, screwing up the centering.

Next, I use a cone shaped burr bit, (like for dremel tools, relatively cheap at harbor freight) to enbiggen and shape the pilot hole. Not a lot, but enough that the step bit (used next) won’t wander.

Then I use a step bit for the hole. I have a few marked with defferent steps for different hole sizes, but you get the idea pretty quick which step to drill to. Dry fit your pot or switch or LED bezel after each step for a while to get used to the diameters.

The biggest tips I have is take the tome to get the initial punch dent right, don’t force the bits, let the drill do the work, and you should be fine. Order a couple extra enclosures to practice on, you’ll be glad you screwed up a practice enclosure instead of a finished one. Also, you can play with paint and finish techniques on em.

Good luck!

 

[CheapSuitG]

Thanks for this!

Followed along with that, my holes are fairly straight. Close enough for a hand drill.

The thing I am struggling with is getting the punches straight. I like you idea of punching from all angles, make sure it is even.

Next batch I am taking a razor and straight edge, cutting off the sides so I can center it better. Also, tape it down more so there is no way it slides around or has wrinkles.

If it is off a little left or right it looks bad IMO, top to bottom not so much.

I drill by hand, this is what works for me.

Take time to get the paper template right. Fold evenly, using a straight edge to make sure the fold doesn’t wander.

Tape down the template, trying to make it tight so there is no slack in the paper against the enclosure.

Use a spring loaded center punch. Take time to line up the hole. Magnifiers work great for this

Once I punch the initial hole, i punch again about 10 times, at different angles, not just 90 degrees. This makes the punch dent a big bigger, but as long as you make sure the punch stays in contact with the enclosure, you should have no problems.

Next, i use the smallest bit I can find to drill a pilot hole. Small bits wont wander like bigger bits will, especially if you make a bit larger dent with the punch, and let the bit do its job. Meaning don’t put any unnecessary weight on the bit. Small bits like this will bend, screwing up the centering.

Next, I use a cone shaped burr bit, (like for dremel tools, relatively cheap at harbor freight) to enbiggen and shape the pilot hole. Not a lot, but enough that the step bit (used next) won’t wander.

Then I use a step bit for the hole. I have a few marked with defferent steps for different hole sizes, but you get the idea pretty quick which step to drill to. Dry fit your pot or switch or LED bezel after each step for a while to get used to the diameters.

The biggest tips I have is take the tome to get the initial punch dent right, don’t force the bits, let the drill do the work, and you should be fine. Order a couple extra enclosures to practice on, you’ll be glad you screwed up a practice enclosure instead of a finished one. Also, you can play with paint and finish techniques on em.

Good luck!

 

[Erik S]

I haven't tried this, but it looks pretty slick.

125B Enclosure Drill Template - PedalPCB.com

Drill Marking Template

www.pedalpcb.com

 

[Atom ant]

You could also go with a keetch style template. Would guarantee your holes are lined up right, but are restrained by the limited holes on the template. Works for most of the pedal pcb layouts, but not all.

125B Enclosure Drill Template - PedalPCB.com

Drill Marking Template

www.pedalpcb.com

 

[Atom ant]

Hahaha. They work great.

 

[CheapSuitG]

I have the template in my cart for the batch I order! Just waiting to decide on a couple others before I place it.

 

[Atom ant]

Also, if you have a 3d printer, or access to one, you can find stl files of the above style hard templates.

 

[andrewsrea]

Like @Erik S , I use clear tape to hold down the paper and adjust to the contours of the enclosure. Then use an awl to mark center, then use smaller drill bits to create a guide for the bigger drill bits, then use a drill press and a graduated bit to finish. I leave enough tolerance to adjust the component by 1mm or so.

 

[jwyles90]

Try setting the end of the punch on your fingertip so your finger touches first and sort of roll the punch up into position. You can make really fine adjustments that way.

This is such a great piece of advice. I've found that the majority of my drilling issues come from the center punching stage. Guiding it with your finger is a great way to mitigate some of the misaligned punches we might end up making.

As others have said too, using a drill press is a game changer. The amount of misaligned holes I had decreased drastically once I upgraded to a drill press from a hand drill.

 

[Erik S]

As others have said too, using a drill press is a game changer. The amount of misaligned holes I had decreased drastically once I upgraded to a drill press from a hand drill.

I’m really impressed by the folks who do a nice job with a hand held drill. That shit ain’t easy.