Just bought this 8 inch drill press

[EGRENIER]

The secret for any successful drilling is always the same....

- Use sharp bits of the appropriate type, wood bits vs metal bits isn't the same.
- Use the right speed, for aluminum 200 to 300 rpm is recommended, if you drill with higher speed you risk inducing heat which will melt the aluminum and make it stick to your bit. Using lubricant is also a good idea, but I have never needed it for enclosure at that speed.
- Let the bit do the cutting, don't push it hard thinking it will cut better.
- Make sure you remain inline and straight while drilling (That's where a press drill will be useful).
- If using a press drill, make sure it is set high enough for you to be working near your eye line. My drill is setup with the plate at my chest height to it's lowest and about my chin to it's highest.
- Let the drill get to speed and center itself out before drilling, a wobbly chuck is a recipe for disaster, that's usually when it will bite and try to break your wrist.
- With a drill press, use a good heavy vise to hold the piece you are drilling it, that will save you fingers and a lot of pain.

I'm not a high volume pedal builder like many of you, but I never failed an enclosure drilling and I'm using a very humble medium quality press drill (about 16 year old)....

 

[steviejr92]

The secret for any successful drilling is always the same....

- Use sharp bits of the appropriate type, wood bits vs metal bits isn't the same.
- Use the right speed, for aluminum 200 to 300 rpm is recommended, if you drill with higher speed you risk inducing heat which will melt the aluminum and make it stick to your bit. Using lubricant is also a good idea, but I have never needed it for enclosure at that speed.
- Let the bit do the cutting, don't push it hard thinking it will cut better.
- Make sure you remain inline and straight while drilling (That's where a press drill will be useful).
- If using a press drill, make sure it is set high enough for you to be working near your eye line. My drill is setup with the plate at my chest height to it's lowest and about my chin to it's highest.
- Let the drill get to speed and center itself out before drilling, a wobbly chuck is a recipe for disaster, that's usually when it will bite and try to break your wrist.
- With a drill press, use a good heavy vise to hold the piece you are drilling it, that will save you fingers and a lot of pain.

I'm not a high volume pedal builder like many of you, but I never failed an enclosure drilling and I'm using a very humble medium quality press drill (about 16 year old)....

You have to love posts like this thanks for the knowledge! Bookmarked!

 

[MichaelW]

Thats what I always called them too

I call them........um....metal shavings.... I let them fly everywhere then use a shop vac and clean up after. Which is one reason I like to drill multiple enclosures. Get all the messy stuff out of the way in one go.

 

[MichaelW]

Get a “drill point countersink” (the one I use is a 1/16” bit on a 1/4 inch shaft, have several and they’ve lasted decades). This will not warp with pressure, goes exactly where you want. In the cast aluminum that pedal enclosures are, which is very soft and cuts so easily, one will be a family heirloom.View attachment 33562

Ok, I just bought a set of these. Got the metric set on Amazon for $7. I currently use a 2mm bit for my pilot holes anyway. Thanks for the tip!

 

[EGRENIER]

You have to love posts like this thanks for the knowledge! Bookmarked!

Glad to be of any help... there's a few more tricks that may also sound obvious that I didn't list, but they are as useful.

- Make sure you have a well lit working surface, shadow will play trick on you and will make it hard to align the the enclosure.
- Align the enclosure while the drill is not spinning. Place it, drop the chuck to see where you land, adjust, retest, when you ready, turn on the drill is slowly bring it down to the enclosure to start drilling.
- Metal shaving (swarf) on your drill bit is your enemy, make sure you bit is clean for every hole. Easiest way to clean you drill bit for shavings is a wire brush. A couple of brushes while manually turning the chuck is enough to clean it up.
- If your buying/using a vise, make sure it has rubber cover so that you don't damage your powder coating
- When using a step bit, drill it by steps, get the first step in, release pressure, let the step spin for a second or 2, reapply pressure for the next step.
- If you have enough space, screw a wood board to your plate, this way if you drill to deep you won't screw up your bit in the metal plate.
- If you're using a vise, make sure it's line up in way that the drill bit will not hit the vise after the hole is done, don't be lazy, reset the enclosure in the vise to avoid that when you drill your next hole.

That's what I got for now, maybe other member may think of other useful tips...

 

[MichaelW]

I call the stuff that gets stuck to the bit "Schmook"

Great info and tips @EGRENIER

 

[Feral Feline]

I've followed a lot if not most of the tips/suggestions in this and other threads and drilled some steel for other projects successfully... yet somehow I still manage to mangle enclosures, used up a step-bit where others have had their's for ages...

As embarrassing as my drilling-failures are, I will re-read, re-apply and try try try again...

 

[steviejr92]

I've followed a lot if not most of the tips/suggestions in this and other threads and drilled some steel for other projects successfully... yet somehow I still manage to mangle enclosures, used up a step-bit where others have had their's for ages...

As embarrassing as my drilling-failures are, I will re-read, re-apply and try try try again...

So I just drilled my first steel enclosure yesterday. As I was drilling I only used regular drill bits until I absolutely had to use a step drill bit. Steel is definitely tougher to get through but once the pilot holes were drilled it was pretty much the same as drilling an aluminum enclosure.

 

[EGRENIER]

I've followed a lot if not most of the tips/suggestions in this and other threads and drilled some steel for other projects successfully... yet somehow I still manage to mangle enclosures, used up a step-bit where others have had their's for ages...

As embarrassing as my drilling-failures are, I will re-read, re-apply and try try try again...

If you're drilling steel and not aluminum, I would say make sure you are using lubricant. I'm less experience with drilling steel, but the same principles would apply and heat is either bad for you bit or your drilled piece. In the case of steel I would tend to think that it's bad for your drill, hence the step bit you were using may have over heated...

Drill bit can also be sharpen, it's important to start with a very sharp bit, not sure how you sharpen step bit tho...

The other option is the quality of your step bit, were they made for hard steel ? At the end it a contest of hardness between you bit and your drilled piece...

 

[steviejr92]

If you're drilling steel and not aluminum, I would say make sure you are using lubricant. I'm less experience with drilling steel, but the same principles would apply and heat is either bad for you bit or your drilled piece. In the case of steel I would tend to think that it's bad for your drill, hence the step bit you were using may have over heated...

Drill bit can also be sharpen, it's important to start with a very sharp bit, not sure how you sharpen step bit tho...

The other option is the quality of your step bit, were they made for hard steel ? At the end it a contest of hardness between you bit and your drilled piece...

I need to add lubricant next time I didn't yesterday and I can tell it would probably go smoother if I did.

 

[Deperduci]

funny thing about iron and it's alloys... you can't drill it hot. I have a set of cobalt coated bits and even if it's the olive oil just starting to go rancid I still grease when working on metal outside aluminum. and for any wood workers out there, those 'metal' grade bits work wonders when it comes to tool destroyers species like coco bola and purpleheart!

 

[steviejr92]

Yeah I was noticing as I was drilling the heat was affecting the drilling process had to let it cool down and come back in. Will use some kind of lubricant next time. Also I have titanium tipped bits I think I’m gonna get some HSS (high speed steel) bits and reserve them for steel enclosures.

 

[peccary]

I don't do a single thing to prep the enclosure before drilling aluminum. I used to center punch, drill a pilot hole, and clamp it to the press, but I don't do anything like that any more. I just drill where I indicated on my enclosure with my step bit (which is probably going on four years old now) while holding it with my hand.

I'd say that the only special thing I do is use a small piece of copper scrap to clean out the bit between each hole I drill. It's a small piece of sheet metal I just scrape down the side of the drill. Aluminum has the consistency of bubble gum so getting it out of the drill I'd say is the main thing to worry about.

 

[steviejr92]

I don't do a single thing to prep the enclosure before drilling aluminum. I used to center punch, drill a pilot hole, and clamp it to the press, but I don't do anything like that any more. I just drill where I indicated on my enclosure with my step bit (which is probably going on four years old now) while holding it with my hand.

I'd say that the only special thing I do is use a small piece of copper scrap to clean out the bit between each hole I drill. It's a small piece of sheet metal I just scrape down the side of the drill. Aluminum has the consistency of bubble gum so getting it out of the drill I'd say is the main thing to worry about.

Ive been using a screwdriver to get that aluminum gunk of my bits.

 

[peccary]

Ive been using a screwdriver to get that aluminum gunk of my bits.

You might want to use something softer, I'm pretty sure that screwdrivers are hardened and may dull your drill a bit with each scrape.

 

[steviejr92]

You might want to use something softer, I'm pretty sure that screwdrivers are hardened and may dull your drill a bit with each scrape.

Oh im controlled when i do it, i never "dig" into the dill bit i only pull away. So as to lift the gunk off of my bit rather than scraping it if that makes sense. Hard to explain without demonstrating lol

 

[Feral Feline]

If you're drilling steel and not aluminum, I would say make sure you are using lubricant. I'm less experience with drilling steel, but the same principles would apply and heat is either bad for you bit or your drilled piece. In the case of steel I would tend to think that it's bad for your drill, hence the step bit you were using may have over heated...

Drill bit can also be sharpen, it's important to start with a very sharp bit, not sure how you sharpen step bit tho...

The other option is the quality of your step bit, were they made for hard steel ? At the end it a contest of hardness between you bit and your drilled piece...

Again, many thanks for your tips.

Indeed, my old step-bit was a cheap and cheaply made one.

Using my friend's drill-press, way back when and with his tutelage, I drilled enclosures quite successfully (using lubricant) after mixed successes using my hand drill (tough to clamp down 1590A when you need to drill where the clamp is).

Using yet another friend's drill-press for various steel-based projects, again all successful (I always used lubricant, and my friend has quality bits).
After getting a drill-press for myself, I initially had the speed way too high and didn't use any cutting oil with a very cheap-quality dull step bit — well, several lessons learned:

Don't rush
Use lubricant
Use sharp quality bits (step-bit or regular), and don't try to make do with a cheap dull bit when you know it's cheap and dull.

 

[sticky1138]

How loud do these bench drill presses get? Closer to a cordless drill or a full-size drill press?

 

[steviejr92]

Definitely louder than a cordless drill.

 

[Deperduci]

you can have a normal conversation, but some people won't nap in same room(good way to keep the slacker awake at work ) fairly certain I've had more noise from what the bit is doing than the motor driving it.