More details here:
https://shop.bosch-do-it.com/gb/en/tools-product/pbd-40--26579
Looks nice, and should be...$400 USD.
You Europeans have lots of money, I think!
The Bosch looks to be a much better choice than the smaller drills above.
In my opinion (IMO), it's not suitable for the job you want to do.
Maximum drill size in mild steel = 1/8" ...really????
That's another high speed (5000+ RPM) 'jewellery and model-making' drill press. Something like that might be OK for drilling holes in PCBs, but for drilling metal heatsinks and general shop use, you need something like this 22" high drill press as a minimum:
I have one just like that ($50 on sale, new, a few years ago, still under $100 on sale) and it works well on the bench-top when I don't want to go out to my garage where I have a larger floor-standing drill press.
That's exactly like the one I found on the side of the road. It was new but the base and platform had some surface rust. I put the rusty parts in an electrolysis tank, derusted them and it looked like new. I sold it cheap to someone looking for a small drill press. I have a 16.5" floor model press and never used the smaller one.
One thing to look out for is the size of the press. A 10" press will drill to the centre of a 10" circle. So if your heatsinks are 10" high and you need to dril in the centre you need at least a 10" drill press.
I agree that a jewellery drill press isn't the right tool for the job. You don't need an audiophile grade drill press, just something strong and big enough to do the job.
That drill press (picture above) is not as big as you might think, but whatever.....
Yes, the handheld drill you already have will work well.
Check the other thread/discussion I linked for some other drill guide ideas, if you need more.
Don't waste your money on a 'toy' drill.
BTW, for drilling PCBs I use a Dremel 'drill press' and a high speed rotary tool (Dremel knockoff). The right tool for the job makes life easier.
More details here:
https://shop.bosch-do-it.com/gb/en/tools-product/pbd-40--26579
Looks nice, and should be...$400 USD.
You Europeans have lots of money, I think!
Or better prices
I gave 258$ on sale. The proxxon is same price in Denmark - so it's a no brainer. It's bigger than the proxxon but not that much, and it's not a toy.
I really wonder if the use of self-tapping screws would be better in the situations where one doesn't have the years of experience, much less a real Bridgeport mill, and the associated tooling?
Starting out a size under the max for the transistor, to give room for an error.
I was going to strongly suggest a guide block, as previously mentioned, but they beat me to it...
There is cutting fluid that is especially for aluminum, a good idea with the nature of the alloy used for heat sinks. It tends to be harder to work with I've noticed.
Starting out a size under the max for the transistor, to give room for an error.
I was going to strongly suggest a guide block, as previously mentioned, but they beat me to it...
There is cutting fluid that is especially for aluminum, a good idea with the nature of the alloy used for heat sinks. It tends to be harder to work with I've noticed.
I had one overpriced Proxxon 'toy' for about 5 minutes and sent it back after it got too hot to hold. A cheap, small, bench-mounted drill press will be more than adequate. The typical drilling speed for a 3mm drill in ally is about 3000rpm; aluminium likes to be machined at high speed. I have done profiling of aluminium components using a hand-held router at 28000rpm, but keep the WD-40 to hand.
Bill-
Any other hints on the differences between using 'regular' straight flute taps and spiral taps would help me. I just ordered $ome $piral taps
and I'm wondering if the same motion of 'a part turn forward, then back' is used with spiral taps.Bill-
Any other hints on the differences between using 'regular' straight flute taps and spiral taps would help me. I just ordered $ome $piral taps
Not necessary in aluminium. In industry we used to tap M3 in high carbon steel at 3000rpm...
Quite impressive!
Thanks!
I've found some aluminum to be quite 'sticky' so even though it's soft, I worry about 'jamming' and breaking the tap...even in thorough holes. Blind holes raise the stakes considerably for me.
I've only ever broken one tap in a hole and it was a huge hassle, so I'm quite cowardly about tapping!
Can you please give me a sugestion on a good small drill machine?
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Hi Paulo,
All of the cheap machines will be made in China, so there is usually little to choose between the different brands at any given price. I am not sure what brands you have in Portugal, but names such as SIP, Clarke, Sheppach, Record, and Wolf all make small benchtop machines which will do the job for under 200euro. Big DIY stores will sometimes have their own brand tools which are best avoided. (I used to work for Atlas Copco/AEG professional tools, and we discovered that one big DIY chain sold tools with a design life of 12 hours!). Look out for a top speed of about 2500rpm and the rest of the features will be largely similar. More money will buy you more power, more speeds, and larger work and drill size capacity, which you probably don't need!
Cheers, Carl.
All of the cheap machines will be made in China, so there is usually little to choose between the different brands at any given price. I am not sure what brands you have in Portugal, but names such as SIP, Clarke, Sheppach, Record, and Wolf all make small benchtop machines which will do the job for under 200euro. Big DIY stores will sometimes have their own brand tools which are best avoided. (I used to work for Atlas Copco/AEG professional tools, and we discovered that one big DIY chain sold tools with a design life of 12 hours!). Look out for a top speed of about 2500rpm and the rest of the features will be largely similar. More money will buy you more power, more speeds, and larger work and drill size capacity, which you probably don't need!
Cheers, Carl.
Regular spiral point taps will have 2 flutes and are used in through holes. As they are run in they will create a long chip that will exit the bottom of the hole. There is no need to "back up" the tap normally. Of course if binding occurs, back it out and find out why. Normally it should screw in with little resistance. For aluminum there is special cutting oils but as someone mentioned, WD-40 will work in a pinch.
For blind hole's the spiral point plug tap will work just as well as the normal spiral point tap but the chips will exit the top of the hole instead.
As far as drill presses go, if you like DIY and plan to stay in this hobby, buy the best one you can. I learned at a young age that cheap tools just lead to frustration. Cheap tools can ruin a job or break before the job is done.
I would look at the local papers for a good used drill press back when they were really built well. If it hurts your back to pick it up, your on the right track.
If you must buy something light duty, buy one that looks like a real drill press, not one of those **** poor excuses for one that clamps a hand drill into it. I would rather drill free hand that to play with one of those toys. Leads to frustration.
BillWojo
For blind hole's the spiral point plug tap will work just as well as the normal spiral point tap but the chips will exit the top of the hole instead.
As far as drill presses go, if you like DIY and plan to stay in this hobby, buy the best one you can. I learned at a young age that cheap tools just lead to frustration. Cheap tools can ruin a job or break before the job is done.
I would look at the local papers for a good used drill press back when they were really built well. If it hurts your back to pick it up, your on the right track.
If you must buy something light duty, buy one that looks like a real drill press, not one of those **** poor excuses for one that clamps a hand drill into it. I would rather drill free hand that to play with one of those toys. Leads to frustration.
BillWojo
Me too, but.... I did manage with my very cheap Clarke effort. Was better than using drill handheld but wouldn't recommend it for anything that needs reasonable precision
I presume the problem is insufficient space between the fins? I have ground the head of the bolts to fit which worked very well
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