I just spent a couple of hours in the workshop progressing one of my projects and became disolusioned when after drilling some holes in a case, i realised they didn't line up as i had hoped so had to file the holes a little, i was annoyed with myself as i expected better results, then i thought the way large companies do there metal bashing is machines, i am sitting at the bench drilling holes with one hand whilst holding the case in the other, now i'm wondering if it makes sense to buy a drill press with the relevent clamps or just accept i am not going to achieve professional results with my current methods and file (botch) it till it fits
Neil.
Neil.
haha, sorry to laugh but I wish I had a nickel for every project I'd started only to have it end in the same frustration as you mention.
A few years ago I bought a relatively cheap drill press with adjustable table and center clamp. While It's no great setup by any measure, I am now finally able with a bit of care to drill more than one hole in a straight line on metal.
I thoroughly enjoy working with metal and I only wish I had the $$ to buy a great setup, but in the meantime this setup from Grizzly works pretty well!
A few years ago I bought a relatively cheap drill press with adjustable table and center clamp. While It's no great setup by any measure, I am now finally able with a bit of care to drill more than one hole in a straight line on metal.
I thoroughly enjoy working with metal and I only wish I had the $$ to buy a great setup, but in the meantime this setup from Grizzly works pretty well!
Or learn to build jigs.
I used to watch Norm on the New Yankee Workshop - or whatever it was called - on public TV. A master carpenter. WHen he needed to make something that matched something else he often created a jig. Nail or screw a cleat to a piece of plywood, or whatever, and bolt that to the bench top. Or clamp the work directly to the bench with large C-clamps or those bar clamps carpenters use. I am looking at some bar clamp coupons from Harbor Freight at the moment, $1.99 each with coupon. The idea of a jig is it makes a surface with blocks so you can shove the work piece into it and it will be in precise position. A clamp holds it there.
WHen I make certain panels, I sometimes make a template first and use that as a drill guide.
I used to watch Norm on the New Yankee Workshop - or whatever it was called - on public TV. A master carpenter. WHen he needed to make something that matched something else he often created a jig. Nail or screw a cleat to a piece of plywood, or whatever, and bolt that to the bench top. Or clamp the work directly to the bench with large C-clamps or those bar clamps carpenters use. I am looking at some bar clamp coupons from Harbor Freight at the moment, $1.99 each with coupon. The idea of a jig is it makes a surface with blocks so you can shove the work piece into it and it will be in precise position. A clamp holds it there.
WHen I make certain panels, I sometimes make a template first and use that as a drill guide.
Neil, welcome to DIY. If I had a nickel for every...well you know the story.
The real thing you will learn in the long run is to include processes that eliminate the potentials of what you speak. It may not make sense now but as you wander through this, you will look back and say "man what was I thinking?"
It doesn't come easy. I went from drilling and screwing, to biscuits and clamps to cleats and brad nails before I realized how difficult I had made things in the past.
Don't fret - thanks for sharing your misery, it's temporary
The real thing you will learn in the long run is to include processes that eliminate the potentials of what you speak. It may not make sense now but as you wander through this, you will look back and say "man what was I thinking?"
It doesn't come easy. I went from drilling and screwing, to biscuits and clamps to cleats and brad nails before I realized how difficult I had made things in the past.
Don't fret - thanks for sharing your misery, it's temporary
1. drill a hole of the desired size in a piece of scrap 1x3 or whatever you have.
2. carefully align this over the center of the marked hole location on your work piece.
3. clamp the 1x3 and work piece to the work bench, with another piece of sacrificial scrap underneath (hard wood works better than soft for both parts of this jig).
4. drill through the pre-made hole in the 1x3, through the work piece, and into the sacrifical piece under it.
You can make a perfectly round, perfectly centered, sharp edged hole, every single time with this technique. It doesn't matter if you are drilling sheet metal that is hard (steel), soft (aluminum), thick or thin, this just works.
2. carefully align this over the center of the marked hole location on your work piece.
3. clamp the 1x3 and work piece to the work bench, with another piece of sacrificial scrap underneath (hard wood works better than soft for both parts of this jig).
4. drill through the pre-made hole in the 1x3, through the work piece, and into the sacrifical piece under it.
You can make a perfectly round, perfectly centered, sharp edged hole, every single time with this technique. It doesn't matter if you are drilling sheet metal that is hard (steel), soft (aluminum), thick or thin, this just works.
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Joined 2009
If drilling holes to bolt something together with M4 for example, I often pre-empt the problem by drilling them all at 4.2mm to allow a bit of 'adjustment'! I know that it's possible to make a jig for every situation that guarantees a perfect result, but I haven't the patience. Gradually, over the years, I think my ability to get the centre-punch in the right place and then to drill the holes reasonably accurately has improved. I do usually use a drill press, though.
When I was a kid in the 1950s learning stuff, and building my first amplifiers, I had few tools. Making the hole for an octal socket involved drilling a circle of small 1/8" holes, then nipping through the resulting "perforation" to remove the center, then filing the very rough edges out to the needed round hole size. Crude, and took forever.
Then one day I invested in a Greenlee hole punch.
Then one day I invested in a Greenlee hole punch.
The most useful lesson of a lifetime of DIY work is that there is nothing more expensive than a cheap poorly made tool. You pay the initial cost, then you pay the frustration of the poor results and ruined projects, then you pay to replace it with a quality tool that you should have bought in the 1st place. The most important tools you use are the tools used for layout (squares, compass, rulers, center punches, etc.) since the final results cannot be more accurate than your layout.
Importantly as CopperTop pointed out you must allow some tolerance in your hole dimensioning to accomodate variation in the mating parts and fasteners. If you are drilling holes to mate parts with #8 machine screws, which have a major diameter limit of 0.1640", you would use a #18 drill (0.1695") for a close fit or a #16 drill (0.1770") for a loose fit (more adjustment allowance). Google "Tapping and clearance hole information" to get guidance on this.
Importantly as CopperTop pointed out you must allow some tolerance in your hole dimensioning to accomodate variation in the mating parts and fasteners. If you are drilling holes to mate parts with #8 machine screws, which have a major diameter limit of 0.1640", you would use a #18 drill (0.1695") for a close fit or a #16 drill (0.1770") for a loose fit (more adjustment allowance). Google "Tapping and clearance hole information" to get guidance on this.
Oh yeah, I agree completely. I use a very sharp marking knife (only has one bevel edge) for layout in wood and it made a huge difference in the accuracy of my cuts.
Another thing is that I find that I often have to compensate for small errors no matter how precise I try to make things. I just accept that this is part of the process. I don't have a shop full of precision wood working tools either.
I just spent a couple of hours in the workshop progressing one of my projects and became disolusioned when after drilling some holes in a case, i realised they didn't line up as i had hoped so had to file the holes a little, i was annoyed with myself as i expected better results, then i thought the way large companies do there metal bashing is machines, i am sitting at the bench drilling holes with one hand whilst holding the case in the other, now i'm wondering if it makes sense to buy a drill press with the relevent clamps or just accept i am not going to achieve professional results with my current methods and file (botch) it till it fits
Neil.
There is an attachment for drills that makes drilling perpendicular more easy. It's a slide with a chuck. It works ok, not great.
Did you use a center punch? I found that helps a lot.
lol....thats the easy way out...too funny!
I try to take pride in what i do and like i said at the opening of this thread i just have to accept it's not going to look like a store bought item, and as such i am going to tolerate surface scratches and paper labels instead of screen printing, however, i draw the line at a straight line of holes that isn't straight.....lol
Neil.
Ah yes - lining up holes is a pain in the *ss.
Funniliy enough, of the entire (and first) speaker project I just completed, getting holes to line up for the back panel was the most difficult!
For attaching the grille to the baffle, I got my elderly dad to silver solder a drill bit into a 1/4 inch bit of metal round that fitted into a router collet - this finally let me drill at a precise 90 degrees pilot hole.
Looked everywhere for some kind of jig - found nothing. Can't fit an entire speaker cabinet under a drill press - spose that I could have done them in advance, but I dont think that far ahead
Funniliy enough, of the entire (and first) speaker project I just completed, getting holes to line up for the back panel was the most difficult!
For attaching the grille to the baffle, I got my elderly dad to silver solder a drill bit into a 1/4 inch bit of metal round that fitted into a router collet - this finally let me drill at a precise 90 degrees pilot hole.
Looked everywhere for some kind of jig - found nothing. Can't fit an entire speaker cabinet under a drill press - spose that I could have done them in advance, but I dont think that far ahead
I do a lot of metal work and IMO making two parts where the holes line up is an acquired skill, and one of the most important ones to learn. It's actually a little easier in metal than wood, but holes will wander in either material. There is a very specific sequence of events you need to follow to make this happen. Get a bit lazy and leave out a step and the result is always frustration. It doesn't seem like all the steps should be necessary, but they are. Every time.
First you need to locate the hole. This can be with a good ruler and sharp pencil, or scribe or whatever. The end result will never be better than this first step, so use the best method possible. Modern printers are so good you can sometimes do a template in CAD and just mark through the points of the paper. Kids glue sticks are a wonderful thing.
Next you have to center punch the hole. In metal use a hammer and sharp punch, or an automatic center punch. In wood you want something deeper to guide the drill and prevent grain or particles from pulling it off the mark. Grind a more severe taper on a punch or use something more like an awl. If the mark isn't where you want it, adjust it now because you can't do it later. Either angle the punch and hit it again, or otherwise re-punch and rework until the mark is centered on the scribe marks. Most people make it to this stage without much trouble and then decide the next step isn't important.
You need to drill a small hole on the mark. In metal you'd use a center drill a.k.a, a combined countersink and center drill. These are rigid and won't flex or wander. In wood a small standard drill bit is OK, but make sure it's not much bigger than the punch mark. Only when you have the small hole drilled and can confirm that it's right on the money, do you consider going after the final size.
If the final size is large, say over 1/4", go up in two or more steps, not all at once. If you follow this you should be able to place holes within plus or minus about 0.01" of where you want them. In metal, if you scribe marks are good, you should get without about plus or minus 0.003" of where you want. It's just a matter of practice and never deviating from what works.
First you need to locate the hole. This can be with a good ruler and sharp pencil, or scribe or whatever. The end result will never be better than this first step, so use the best method possible. Modern printers are so good you can sometimes do a template in CAD and just mark through the points of the paper. Kids glue sticks are a wonderful thing.
Next you have to center punch the hole. In metal use a hammer and sharp punch, or an automatic center punch. In wood you want something deeper to guide the drill and prevent grain or particles from pulling it off the mark. Grind a more severe taper on a punch or use something more like an awl. If the mark isn't where you want it, adjust it now because you can't do it later. Either angle the punch and hit it again, or otherwise re-punch and rework until the mark is centered on the scribe marks. Most people make it to this stage without much trouble and then decide the next step isn't important.
You need to drill a small hole on the mark. In metal you'd use a center drill a.k.a, a combined countersink and center drill. These are rigid and won't flex or wander. In wood a small standard drill bit is OK, but make sure it's not much bigger than the punch mark. Only when you have the small hole drilled and can confirm that it's right on the money, do you consider going after the final size.
If the final size is large, say over 1/4", go up in two or more steps, not all at once. If you follow this you should be able to place holes within plus or minus about 0.01" of where you want them. In metal, if you scribe marks are good, you should get without about plus or minus 0.003" of where you want. It's just a matter of practice and never deviating from what works.
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