What do you use to drill holes in the enclosures?

[therecordingart]

What do you guys use to drill the holes in the metal stompbox enclosures?  Do you use a uni-bit and a drill?  A punch?

Also what do you use to mount the perfboard or PCB?

[Johnny Guitar]

Do you use a uni-bit and a drill?  A punch?

I think most people are using these. I also have a small drill press. I have yet to actually use my step drill but most people seem to love them. I think a center punch is a necessity. I bought one of the auto punches which you just press down on and they punch the spot. I think that is a good investment if you think you will be punching more than about 50 holes.

Also what do you use to mount the perfboard or PCB?

I've seen a lot of people using some sort of double sided adhesive to hold the PCBs to the backs of the pots. I intened to try this method if I can ever get any of my projects finished :oops: .

Good luck,
John

[sir_modulus]

To drill holes, I do the following:

1) Take a small nail, and file it so it's nice and pointy

2) Hammer the nail against the box to make a mark (kind of a centre-punch).

3) Drill holes with my drill press using normal drill bits

4) Counter Sink the holes using a standard size counter-sink bit

5) File inside edges of holes with round file

Then I just clean with water, dry off, then primer before painting.

Cheers,

Nish

[littlegreiger]

I use the unibit thats sold at Small Bear and I quite like it.  I've only used it for one box but it was really easy to use because you feel when you've reached the next hole size.  As for mounting the boards I left mine floating and haven't had any problemes yet.  Just to be safe though I put a piece of foam fabric behind the board so it doesn't short out on the enclosure.

[mojotron]

I hate spending time drilling - so I have bought some good tools to do the job right - and super fast....

Enclosures:

1) I use a punch and wack the center of where I want the holes to mark the spot where I want the hole - using a hamer to wack the punch - good and hard. Wear ear plugs!

2) Then, I drill everything out with a unibit I got form a local hardware store - after you do 10 or so - you should be able to drill the holes out in about 5 minutes...

PCBs
I use a dremel tool, the dremel drill press, and a good #60 drill bit. I use PNP blue so that when I etch the board there is a guide for the bit.... like enclosures, after about 10 boards - with this setup - you should be able to get it down to about 2 sec per hole...

Costs:
Dremel + press + bit ~150.00
Unibit ~20.00

Hope this helps, it takes a little practice - having patience with yourself really pays off. Please always use a clamp when drilling w/unibit - it can really kick back at you hard, eye and ear protection.

[Wild Zebra]

Do yourself a favor and get a Uni-bit or similar step bit.  Well worth the 20 dollars. Use a drill press.
I got a cheapo at Odd Lots for 30 bucks.  It drills the Hammond boxes like butter, just make sure you keep some oil on it before every couple holes.

everyboby's probably got their preference, in my opinion switching bits sucks


"your stripes are killer bro"

[Hal]

a normal drill.

[dosmun]

Unibit and drill press.   With the DP you don't need a punch.

[sir_modulus]

hmm...I dunno about that..for me, the drill bit can wander a lot etc, so I still like to give it a nice clean punch just to make sure it doesn't go off.

Cheers,

Nish

[robbiemcm]

Depending on the material and thickness of what you're drilling you may find it hard to go through first go with a large drill bit, or maybe your large drill bits are blunt (mine were). In that case say you're drilling with an 8mm drill bit, use a sharp 3mm bit first, then use the 8mm.

[sir_modulus]

Yup, you can get straight bits that do that, they all have one step in them, but are normal bits after that. It really makes the job a lot smoother.

Cheers,

Nish