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Drilling Holes in Holey Metal
leapinlew:
--- Quote from: Necro on July 26, 2011, 11:38:53 pm ---Also, 'sandwiching' with wood won't work - hole saws won't cut wood properly and if it did, I couldn't get the drill oil on it properly to actually cut the metal. I'm thinking the 'half a sandwich (i.e., wood under' approach may be the best for the initial drilling, then 'repair/fill' where needed, and dremel out touch ups if necessary to ensure controls fit. I guess... :/
It's never easy... :)
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pre-cut the holes in the wood...
Necro:
--- Quote from: brad808 on July 27, 2011, 10:48:45 am ---Hopefully this makes sense to you....
What I have done before is cut a piece of wood the same size as the control panel. I then cut out the inside of the control panel so there was only an inch boarder around the outside. Then take the wood and route a one inch boarder in the wood the same thickness as the metal. This allows the wood and metal to sit flush.
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Oh - it's nowhere near this bad. It's, quite literally, 6 holes. Two regular button size and 4 small ones. It's just making the new holes that's an issue.
Leapinlew: That defeats the purpose of the top piece of wood giving stability to the drill bit and would be equivalent to just a piece of wood underneath.
leapinlew:
wouldn't the holes give your drill bit stability?
mgb:
If you're using a hole saw and a drill press, anything firm under the panel like wood should give you stability as long as its clamped well. personally I would not use a step bit as I find them to not be very stable.
nox771:
Maybe not the cleanest method, but couldn't you just mark it with a pen and use a dremel with a grinding bit to enlarge the hole?