I'm about to start the process of drilling into an anodized aluminum chassis purchased via Par-Metal and I'm looking for tips on the dos and donts with this particular chassis.
A few thoughts on the process:
• I'll be using a 10" bench top drill press for drilling. So at least it'll be easier to make precision holes.
• I've bought an automatic center punch for initial hole drilling.
• When doing design phase of this project, I used AutoCAD for drawings. I plan on printing out drawings at 1:1 scale and then applying to chassis. Any tips or tricks for this?
• I've heard it's best to drill a pilot hole first - at least for the larger holes.
• I've also bought cutting fluid to keep bits in shape and heat down.
• I got some scrap aluminum to practice feed and speed on. RPM on drill press is adjustable from 530 to 3100. I've heard RPM for aluminum would be at slowest setting.
• For the larger holes e.g. Neutrik panel mount holes I was going to start with a smaller hole and use a stepped bit to get to close to the final ≈1" holes.
Some questions:
When drilling the holes should I do from within chassis to keep a cleaner look? Not sure if this makes sense or not.
Am I missing anything?
Thanks,
Mull3t
A few thoughts on the process:
• I'll be using a 10" bench top drill press for drilling. So at least it'll be easier to make precision holes.
• I've bought an automatic center punch for initial hole drilling.
• When doing design phase of this project, I used AutoCAD for drawings. I plan on printing out drawings at 1:1 scale and then applying to chassis. Any tips or tricks for this?
• I've heard it's best to drill a pilot hole first - at least for the larger holes.
• I've also bought cutting fluid to keep bits in shape and heat down.
• I got some scrap aluminum to practice feed and speed on. RPM on drill press is adjustable from 530 to 3100. I've heard RPM for aluminum would be at slowest setting.
• For the larger holes e.g. Neutrik panel mount holes I was going to start with a smaller hole and use a stepped bit to get to close to the final ≈1" holes.
Some questions:
When drilling the holes should I do from within chassis to keep a cleaner look? Not sure if this makes sense or not.
Am I missing anything?
Thanks,
Mull3t