Ok, but what does that mean in practice?
If you've got a spare electric drill you might be able to find a drill press you can bolt it into.
I got one made by Record Power (DS19) for ~£70 four or five years ago. Discontinued. But there are others similar and DS19 is certainly good enough for drilling into heatsinks. I fitted an older variable speed Bosch electric drill into it and have been using it to drill holes in casework without problems.
One thing to consider though, I do miss a laser crosshair that comes with many 'proper' stands...
Get a mill if you can, or pay for time on it.
It will have less run out.
Aluminum needs a different included angle, coolant, rotation rate and feed rates.
Jeff's machine is fine, but may not be available any more, many competitors from China have eaten away the mass market.
You can use a 1/2" impact drill with variable speed, those are about $30 here, but you need to be dextrous.
The impact function is handy for making holes in walls, so why not have two functions in one tool?
Variable speed gives you better control.
You will be making holes from 1/8 to 1/4 inch in heat sinks, if you use a center punch (and practice on scrap), you do not need a watch maker's drill, I do not expect them to be capable of 1/4" holes.
For a 3.2 mm bolt, I usually drill a 4 mm hole for through bolting, or a slightly smaller than needed hole for self tapping mounts, as I need wiggle room.
Run out happens on worn machines, loosely held jobs, not properly center punched and so on....
Unless you are tapping holes (headache in Aluminum), it does not matter if the hole is not at exactly 90 degrees, and threaded inserts are sold for this kind of fixing.
If possible, tell us what you intend to do, for what, and how many holes you need to make, and what size.
Drill bits? Kennametal and others were there in USA, now I would buy whatever is sold in the hardware section.
Odd sizes, there was a business called Micro-Tools, recommended at the camera-fix group on Yahoo, I was a member of that group. It is not active any more after Yahoo pulled the plug on free hosting.
No ties to anybody above...
It will have less run out.
Aluminum needs a different included angle, coolant, rotation rate and feed rates.
Jeff's machine is fine, but may not be available any more, many competitors from China have eaten away the mass market.
You can use a 1/2" impact drill with variable speed, those are about $30 here, but you need to be dextrous.
The impact function is handy for making holes in walls, so why not have two functions in one tool?
Variable speed gives you better control.
You will be making holes from 1/8 to 1/4 inch in heat sinks, if you use a center punch (and practice on scrap), you do not need a watch maker's drill, I do not expect them to be capable of 1/4" holes.
For a 3.2 mm bolt, I usually drill a 4 mm hole for through bolting, or a slightly smaller than needed hole for self tapping mounts, as I need wiggle room.
Run out happens on worn machines, loosely held jobs, not properly center punched and so on....
Unless you are tapping holes (headache in Aluminum), it does not matter if the hole is not at exactly 90 degrees, and threaded inserts are sold for this kind of fixing.
If possible, tell us what you intend to do, for what, and how many holes you need to make, and what size.
Drill bits? Kennametal and others were there in USA, now I would buy whatever is sold in the hardware section.
Odd sizes, there was a business called Micro-Tools, recommended at the camera-fix group on Yahoo, I was a member of that group. It is not active any more after Yahoo pulled the plug on free hosting.
No ties to anybody above...
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This is an image off the net, the thing is called a drill stand here, allows the use of a portable drill as a drill press.
There are versions with magnetic bases as well, to drill holes in structures, where a normal drill is too weak.
Price is about $15 or so for the stand here in India.
I do not have any ties to seller, cannot vouch for the quality.
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I’m leaning toward a stand as this most likely will not get used much. The other thing is I really don’t have much room where I work on these things. A small shed in cold months then outside when weather permits. This will be for tapped 3 mm holes in an aluminum heatsink. At least that will be it’s first job. Could be anything after that.
Thanks Naresh for your help
I’ll post what I find
Thanks again everyone
Also,
I appreciate accuracy takes experience and some skill which for me only comes through practice
Thanks Naresh for your help
I’ll post what I find
Thanks again everyone
Also,
I appreciate accuracy takes experience and some skill which for me only comes through practice
I have a dremmel that I’ve used for everything. Probably my favorite tool just for it’s versatility. Needs a new bearing though
Same here.
My Dremel drill press comes in handy plenty of times.
Great for drilling through-holes in PC boards, and pilot holes for larger holes on the normal drill press.