ChuckT Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Does anyone have some tips on how to drill a hole cross ways through micro tube or rod? I am trying to drill a .04mm hole crossways through a .05mm plastic rod and for the life of me can't seem to keep the drill centered as it drills through the rod when using my pin vise. Any ideas? Thanks in advance, Chuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Make a jig with a wooden block. Drill the block to hold the stock first then drill through at 90 degrees where you want the hole to be. The jig should hold your stock firmly in place and center the drill where its needed. Although drilling through .05 mm with a .04 mm drill sounds like there will be minimal material left on each side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckT Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 I was thinking of something along these lines. Thanks for confirming. Just to clarify, I meant to type .4 and .5mm dimensions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunwinglow Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Acrylic (Perspex) or brass might be more robust than wood for your jig. It will have to be pretty accurate, with only 0.05mm material left either side of the hole, so be careful!! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckT Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 I was thinking about using clear plastic as well. I'll give it a try and report my results. Thanks again, Chuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckT Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Success! I made a jig out of clear plexiglass. On it I glued two plastic strips, the same thickness as the rod I wanted to drill through, spaced to allow the rod to sit in between. In the trough formed by the plastic strips I then drilled a #80 hole all the way through the clear plexiglass. I then inserted a .4mm brass tube in my jig and made two attempts to drill through the brass. Both attempts ended in failure as the drill bits broke! I then tried the same thing but this time using plastic rod. I was able to drill a hole centered through the plastic rod with the jig keeping things nice and square. I'm now in the process of making another jig to allow me to drill out the ends of that same plastic rod so I can then insert copper wire into the ends, simulating handles. Thanks again everyone, Chuck. Loki 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Chuck, any chance of some photos? I'm having trouble visualising your solution (nothing wrong with your description, I just have poor spatial acuity). Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckT Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 I want to get a valve done entirely before I post some pics. I thought I would see if a thicker piece of plexiglass for my jig would be even better. As I drilled through the plexiglas I broke ANOTHER drill! Argh, now I'm out of drills. I have more bits on order but I won't be able to do any more micro drilling until they arrive next week. Stand by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 If you wanted to drill into metal, could you not punch a v small indent with a needle then this would allow the drill to bite and drill the hole you want. No need for a jig, just a clamp to hold the part steady. Just an idea, don't know if it would do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Chuck, sounds like you hit upon a great technique. Looking forward to some photos of the jig Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radders Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 When I done mine, I taped the tube down. Broke two drill pieces though! MB9T7448 by Rainbow 1984, on Flickr MB9T7453 by Rainbow 1984, on Flickr ChuckT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckT Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Loki, I tried your technique early on when I was making my first attempts at drilling rod/tube and it often resulted in me not drilling evenly through that material. I'm sure it would work on larger material, but when you get down to .4mm kind of sizes, it's pretty tough to keep things square. Thanks though, Chuck. Loki 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckT Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Looks great Radders! Did you make a jig for drilling that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radders Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 No, I just laid the tube on the cutting board and taped it down either side of where I was going to drill. So for the first hole I put tape either side of the mark and drilled, removed tape and then taped it back down where I wanted the next hole, had to do that 10 times. Time consuming but looks ok in the end. (and if your wondering, mine was a fuel rail for a 1/24th Airfix Me-109) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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