Help for a drilling noob!

[nebucanazza]

I am a total drilling noob. I bought a power drill and drill bits set. Now, I have a couple of questions regarding the usage.

I was just trying to drill a powder coated PPP enclosure... Started with a small drill bit to create a guiding hole for the actual 8mm hole I needed(for pots). How much time does a drill typically take to drill through enclosures? I felt that my drill was taking too long to go through and so I abandoned my attempt prematurely The drill had gone about halfway through the box.

Its better to find out the facts or I might end up messing the box or worse, injuring myself. The drill speed was pretty high..I have read that steel requires slower speeds but not so for Aluminum?

[boogietube]

It's always better to have a small drill press for safety and accuracy. They're fairly cheap. As an alternative, you could get a device that holds your hand drill to enable it to be used as a press. They're a bit hard to find.
Here's a cheap press:
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-5-Speed-Mini-Drill-Press-Table-Power-Tools-Machine_W0QQitemZ230175210651QQihZ013QQcategoryZ71296QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I had to lower the speed on my press in order to make it drill correctly.

Another great tool is the UNIBIT. This makes drilling much easier. You will have to drill small holes and go larger if you don't use this:
http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=375

Hope this helps.
Sean

[nebucanazza]

Unfortunately, here in India its difficult to find unibits. And I don't have space for a drill press . So I'm kinda stuck with my current tools.

Typically how long does it take for a small drill bit to go through a Aluminum box? My 1/8" bit doesn't seem to be going in too far even after 15-20 seconds of drilling.

[moro]

Unfortunately, here in India its difficult to find unibits. And I don't have space for a drill press . So I'm kinda stuck with my current tools.

I use a hand drill too.

Typically how long does it take for a small drill bit to go through a Aluminum box? My 1/8" bit doesn't seem to be going in too far even after 15-20 seconds of drilling.

Are you starting with the 1/8" bit? You might want to start smaller--I drill my pilot holes with a 1/16" bit. That only takes about 5 seconds to go through. I use a unibit now, but before I got one, I would go with bigger and bigger bits until I got the diameter I wanted. If I remember correctly, I would go 1/8" -> 3/32" -> 7/64" -> 1/8". Any bigger than 1/8", I would use a tapered reamer.

[boogietube]

I think Small Bear ships to India. I could be wrong. E-mail him. He's great to deal with!
Sean

[nebucanazza]

Hmm, maybe I'll start with the 1/16".  But the thing is,even with the 1/8"  I have steady drilling without the bit running off. Its just not going through quickly enough

[Fuzzy-Train]

Drill presses are great. I used my uncles just recently and it was soo easy. Before that I would just use one of those foldable work benches, and those worked really good as well. But you're drilling hand has to kept really straight.

This one isn't mine, just an ex.

http://dropshiponline.co.uk/images/300-10906-640x480.jpg

For pilot holes I just use a fine tip punch and mark my hole placement with that then I start the hole by hand first with a drill bit adn bit holder, then use my drill to make the pilot hole.

[cloudscapes]

it shouldnt take too long. I do the "guide hole" sometimes by hitting a hard nail into the aluminum enclusore with oen of those mini hammers. it doesnt haven't to go anywhere near through. just enough s othat the bigger drill bit can latch on to it. then when I use the big bit (8-10mm) it usually doesn't take longer than three seconds to get through a hammond enclosure.

I use an electric hand drill and titanium bits.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Don't forget the lubricant. ('cutting fluid' in tins or aerosol from any hardware).
Even olive oil is better than nothing.
Slogan: DON'T DRILL DRY!

[darron]

use a centre punch before hand to give the first little starting dent for the guide pilot hole. i use an industrial scale drill press which will chew right through it. it's so well geared that even if it wasn't drilling it would probably just press through and snap the aluminium. aluminium is a really soft metal and you should be able to drill through it heaps easier than some thin sheet steel like in the rat or something. make sure that your drill bit is nice and tight and isn't spinning in your drill maybe too? i've used cheap 'titanium coated' bits which couldn't stack up to the aluminium. don't cheap out. as long as it doesn't look/smell like you are damaging anything i guess. typically it takes me about 2-3 secs maybe for each progressive hole size. i'll have to look into unibits one day...

[nebucanazza]

Thanks for all the tips guys! I will check out my drill to find the problems. Maybe the drill bit is loose in the chuck. I was drilling for more than 10 secs and still it didn't go through.