Drilling holes using a hand drill
 

Does anyone have any tips for drilling holes when making chassis plates using a hand drill? My holes never seem to come out round and are never where i want them to be, even when centre punching and starting off with a small bit.

I've been tempted to buy myself a pillar drill, but was wondering if anyone could give me some advice before i do?.

My advice is buy yourself a pillar drill

seconded

i have got one of these. good enough for chassis plates

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...illing-systems

another option is to use stepped cone drill bits as they cut differently to conventional bits.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-A...Set-576690.htm

ha ha me to..:eek:

Yup pillar drill is the answer. I have a small six speed unit in the workshop from Aldi and it works just fine plus all their electrical stuff has a three year guarantee. Only downside with Aldi kit is it only comes in about once in six months.

D.

Well it looks like i now know what im spending the rest of my money on :p. Cheers for the help guys.

Try using some good proper drill bits, dormer are good with gold tip, use a quailty drill, bosch is the best.

To be honest it does'nt matter what you use to drill the hole with pistol,pillar or hand brace if you hav'nt got the work in a vice it will move where ever it wants, if it moves the hole will come out triangluar. A drill run at a slower speed rather than flat out will let the bit cut instead of burn and a good sharp properly dressed drill bit will also help. Every body knows how to make holes in timber but steel is a different matter it's much harder,funny that.

Its definately worth getting a pillar drill and a decent set or two of drills
proper tools proper job
half arsed tools half arsed job
get some holesaws as well especially if your going to cut out your own diff brackets wishbone plates etc
made my own bike carb manifold with a pillar drill and holesaw
carefull cause next youll need a grinder to sharpen your drills then a lathe then a mill lol
Ray:)

If you have drill bits then you definitely need a bench grinder to sharpen them on, all you need to do is learn how to sharpen drill bits;) . I've seen some very highly qualified men in engineering circles who couldn't sharpen a drill to save their lives. I've had to sharpen drills on everything from a 9 inch angle grinder clenched between my knees (not funny when its a 2.5mm drill bit:mad: ) to a really good quality pillar grinder with a 9 inch fine wheel, after all the other crap I've used to sharpen drill bits this one was a peach! I have a small 250Watt bench grinder/belt sander combo unit and its good enough for sharpening bits on down to 3mm dia, less than that would need a finer stone.

D.

we always use a squirt of Drill/Cut fluid it really does help
cuts quicker/better and the drill bits last a lot longer
cheers les g
ps: it also really helps on a jigsaw or hacksaw blade as well

When using my hand/pistol drill I had the work piece securely in a vice, I'm too health and safety conscious a the moment, I need to wait a while until I have the funds available to buy the pillar drill as I had less money than I thought. Still plenty to get on with now though, ill just finish cutting all of the chassis plates first.


Although....my university owns a lot of pillars drills...:D. Time to go ask one of my lecturers if i can put the money im paying the uni to good use :p.

stop farting around spend your student loan on a plasma cutter and live on beans and toast. i discovered when i was a student tesco value bread and beans weren't too bad after a couple of cans of tesco value beer lol

Bring it around and I will drill them for you :rolleyes:

I lived for a week or two on 6p beens and 19p bread..

1 can and 4 slices a day ... Cost about 10p a day for food... Totaly Rediculous!!!

Sadly tesco's put up prices.

TT

Oh come on, 1 can and four slices barely qualifies as breakfast:D .

D.

You need to learn how to sharpen you drill bits,allways buy quality ones.
Also some hand drills have a "bench drill attachment",they work well if you are on a budget.Maybe there are "universall models" that will fit your drill.
And you could do what I did 30 years ago,build your own drill press.Mine has worked perfect all this time,plans will be on the internet for all sorts of types,look at the old Popular Mechanics and Mechanix Illustrated,home built tools were very popular in the 50s/60s when credit was unavailable and if you were short of money you simply built the tool or went without.David:)

Trefolex cutting compound is a miracle!but you still need to learn how to sharpen your drills!,also dont overheat them,if they start to smoke and turn blue back off and let the drill cool.David:)

Just a quick update here. I managed to acquire a SIP F16-16 01374 floor standing pillar drill, you can pick one up new for £225, but i managed to get mine for the grand total of £40 :D. Its got a 0.75hp motor and seems to be in really good nick.

The only thing wrong with it is that it needs a new chuck, which will cost me £18.50 delivered for a 1-16mm chuck, i would go for a keyless chuck but it costs an extra £10 for that feature, many in the future eh :p

So it looks like i've solved my drilling issue for less than the cost of a clarke bench mounted drill. :eek:

Yeah, a pillar drill is a good piece of kit to have handy. Biggest favor you can do yourself is to run your drill at the correct speed and always to use a bit of cutting oil.

Enjoy.

Well done that man.
Sounds like you go a real bargain there