Author Topic: Drilling into brass sheet, help please.  (Read 1092 times)

Offline RichieW

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1966
Drilling into brass sheet, help please.
« on: April 21, 2021, 04:43:11 AM »
I need to make some control horns from brass, I have tried without success to drill 0.5mm holes for rigging without success .I'm using Tamiya micro drill bits. Does anybody have any tips for me please?

many thanks
Richie

Offline RAGIII

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18793
Re: Drilling into brass sheet, help please.
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2021, 05:41:31 AM »
I can't answer your question Richie but I am also interested in the answer. Also drilling into tubing of brass , copper, and aluminum in MY case  ::)
RAGIII
"A man has to know his limitations": Harry Callahan

"Don't slop it on" Lynda Geisler

Offline RLWP

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1494
  • Bodger
Re: Drilling into brass sheet, help please.
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2021, 06:23:09 AM »
Try this:

Mark out where you want to drill with a florists pin. I have some like this:



Push it into the metal sheet on a piece of paper and it will make a nice clean dent. Then drill into that

I now use a precision drilling machine, I used to drill holes by hand with a pinchuck. If you go that way, don't have much drill stuck out of the chuck

On those pins, I have one that I filed a flat on the point, so it ended up as half a cone. It is really useful for getting the burr out of the end of the tubes used in rigging. It makes a good drill for centre dots too

Richard
Hendon for flying - the fastest way to the ground!

Online lcarroll

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 8547
Re: Drilling into brass sheet, help please.
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2021, 06:29:45 AM »
     I have had reasonable results using the carbide drill bits from Drill Bits Unlimited on this Forum under that name in our Hobby Showroom. I use a normal sewing needle to make a indented pilot hole and work on a block of hard wood as a backing. A good illustration is the conduit that holds the plug wires on Mercedes DIII/ DIIIa Engines; The appropriate brass rod can be filled flat along it's bottom, punctured with the needle, and then drilled for the wires. Your control horns are trickier, you are better off drilling the hole, THEN cutting your control horn around it to make the drilling manageable. (A little small to hold in place and drill if you reverse the sequence!) I drill by hand with a pin vice.
HTH,
Cheers,
Lance

Offline RichieW

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1966
Re: Drilling into brass sheet, help please.
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2021, 07:10:10 AM »
Thank you so much Lance and Richard, that is so helpful. I just had a thought that I could use a punch and die set for the control horns and then make the shape as Lance suggests. I will be needing to make a pilot dent as Richard suggests where this won't be practical. Good advice about having just the drill bit tip showing, I have broken more drill bits than I have made holes in the past!