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Drilling holes made easy

3K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  zilverx 
#1 ·
This may already have been posted or perhaps is obvious but I found using a simple quick grip one handed bar clamp with a nice slow drill speed turned minutes of drilling holes into seconds. I also bought an inexpensive drill bit sharpener and a bunch on 1/8” titanium bits. Your going to break some bits. Happy drilling...
 

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#2 ·
Harbor freight sells double ended bits, so you can just flip it around when you break a bit.
 
#6 ·
I did about 90% of my panels with one bit that I bought on-line with my Clecos. I meant to order 10, but did 1 by mistake. It was getting to be a quest to see if I could make it all the way. Then I punched through a panel and hit a round part of the frame and snapped it. I'll be that I went through another 10 - 12 from Home Depot for the other 10%.
 
#8 ·
What am I missing? "turned minutes of drilling holes into seconds"? Using a slow drill speed? :confused1:
 
#9 ·
It’s mostly the quick grip one handed bar clamp. It’s way less effort and I have found this method to be much quicker. The trick is to squeeze the hand clamp you until it almost stop the drill. You can exert so much force that the metal will just peel off the bit. See video link below. I could use the clamp for almost every hole that was not vertical. For vertical holes I would use my body weight on top of the drill.

 
#10 ·
1/8" drill bit, so no big deal. But you are bypassing the "let the tool do the work" part. Taking too big of a bite invites breaking the bit.

Small drill bits should to be run fast, large bits should be run slow.

Also, cranking down until you almost stop your drill will burn it out.
 
#11 ·
Not wanting to highjack from the OP, but as pointed out by many folks, a #30 drill bit can be a help as it is a few thousandths larger than a 1/8th. Didn't think it would make a difference until I tried it -- just helps get the rivets seated a bit easier and the 1/8 clecos still work fine. Yes - more expensive but a couple bucks saved time having to redrill a bunch of holes. OOMV.
Best
Ron
 
#12 ·
I have found these bits to be superb. Made for the aircraft industry of Cobalt. Yes, use the wire gauge drills (#30 for the 1/8" bit). At less than $1.00 a bit, you have to buy a pack of 12. You will not run out of these and will have many left over for other work.

Rarely did I break a bit and I've drilled a lot of holes into stainless steel that I've used on my car. Both footboxes and the firewall are of .050" mirrored stainless steel with a bunch more holes than in the standard footboxes and firewall. See the link in my signature.

https://www.panamericantool.com/cobalt-drills.html

They also have other high quality cutting tools and drills and more.

Sorry Jaga, but that method for drilling holes would be a bit awkward for me, I'm glad it worked out for you.

George
 
#13 ·
Air powered drill and one high quality 1/8" bit did most of the work for me. Having the drill get cooler the harder you worked it really upped the marathon speed. Lighter than electric too. cup of oil to dip the drill bit into after each hole, and you're talking about multiple holes per minute. The only issue was having the right pressure to stop the bit before it slammed into the other wall of steel tubing, I got used to hearing when the bit was about to go through so I could ease up the pressure. Then it's just a matter of marking the holes beforehand, and having clecos handy - I made an apron with big pockets to hold clecos and the pliers.
 
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