Step drills at Harbor Freight for $10

[R.G.]

Harbor Freight has their three-piece set of step drills on sale now for $9.99.

There isn't any better way to drill boxes for the FX maker.

[jonathan perez]

thank you! i was just talking to my dad about buying one yesterday...cool, ill buy one right now.

[jonathan perez]

harbor freight is in west sacramento, about 3 minutes away from my house 

[DryRoasted]

Could I be a pain in the arse and ask if one of you guys could get a set for me and i'll pay you all expenses please? Because I live in the UK and I cant get em anywhere near as cheap


cheers

[jonathan perez]

ill do it! i gotta hit the post office tomorrow, anyways. 

[DryRoasted]

Cheers mate your a diamond!

PM sent

[MKB]

Made my first visit to the Harbor Freight in Evansville, IN two months ago.  It is a happy, happy place.  Just think all the cool stompbox enclosures ala Fulltone you could make with one of their sheet metal combination shear and benders, only $300 or so....  Bought a 1" air nailer on sale for $8.   

[choklitlove]

i ordered some a while back, they were out of stock.  a couple weeks later, i bought a set at Tractor Supply Company for $15.  i e-mailed to cancel the order and mailed the postcard that they sent to me to cancel it.  few weeks later, i received the set anyway.  in comparing them, the ones from TSC are far better quality and come in a great metal case.  they don't have the no-slip shank like the others do, but i've never had a problem.

so now i have two sets.  i gave one to my dad. 

[Cliff Schecht]

Harbor Freight has their three-piece set of step drills on sale now for $9.99.

There isn't any better way to drill boxes for the FX maker.

It's so nice that they built a Harbor Freight right next to Fry's, now I can get all of my Hammond boxes and any sort of specialty tools that I need in the same shopping center. I bought an 18v electric drill and a step bit (all for about $20) just the other day and the results were the straightest drilling job I've had on a box. I used a Dewalt hand drill and a drill press for all of the drilling, but everything lined up oh so well:


They also sell decent spring loaded punches for pre-marking the holes and those tiny carbide drill bits that come in packs of 20 and while most of the bits are uselessly thin, some are just the right size for drilling PCB holes after an etch. Sorry R.G., but I always snag up every set they sell when I can find them, the bits shatter really easily if you aren't careful .

I'm also guessing you know that Altex sells Switchcraft jacks and adapters. I get that Canarie cable they sell in the back in bulk (20 feet for about $3 or 4) and the #280 Switchcraft 1/4th mono plugs and make some great quality cable for very cheap. People seem pretty shocked to hear how little I spend on all of the stuff I have, just today at one of the Goodwill Blue Hangars I found a sewing machine pedal (they have a million, great for stompboxes) that plugs into the wall, controlling the amount of power recieved by the sewing machine with a pot and a Zildian Rock Crash in working condition for $.75. I honestly don't think it's too easy to beat Austin for DIY'ers.

[brett]

Hi
I've been "shopping" at the rubbish tip/refuse tip/garbage dump the last week or two.
I really liked a 100V 140VA transformer from a TV.  It has excellent shielding.  Other finds included high power inductors and caps from a microwave, as well as a small transformer.  I built a pulse charger for my old lead-acid batteries.  A pulse charger "shocks" old batteries back to life by hitting them with 50 to 100 V spikes, which knock the accumulated crap off the plates and often returns weak batteries to good condition.
cheers

[guitar_199]

Thanks RG, I've got one about two miles from here.  Such a deal....

[R.G.]

Sorry R.G., but I always snag up every set they sell when I can find them, the bits shatter really easily if you aren't careful

]
'S'OK. I started with that but I haven't broken a carbide bit in quite a while. Why?

See http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=81631 for the MicroLux drill press. This or something similar will not break your bits unless you move the board as you drill. It's $160 - mine was $140 on sale - and it will eventually pay for itself in carbide bits you don't buy.

[Cliff Schecht]

I am using a drill press. I've found the big problem is if you move the board slightly while drilling, it flexes the bit and shatters it. Maybe I'm just breaking them out of pure laziness  .

[Dragonfly]

I am using a drill press. I've found the big problem is if you move the board slightly while drilling, it flexes the bit and shatters it. Maybe I'm just breaking them out of pure laziness  .

youre breaking the harbour freight ones ?  wow...ive drilled TONS of boxes, and never broken the bit...ive "worn out" a few though

AC

[Cliff Schecht]

I am using a drill press. I've found the big problem is if you move the board slightly while drilling, it flexes the bit and shatters it. Maybe I'm just breaking them out of pure laziness  .

youre breaking the harbour freight ones ?  wow...ive drilled TONS of boxes, and never broken the bit...ive "worn out" a few though

AC

These are hardened tungsten carbide bits, they are very hard and easy to break. They don't dull up, but as they come the actual drilling section comes a bit long and is easy to flex the wrong way.

[R.G.]

I am using a drill press. I've found the big problem is if you move the board slightly while drilling, it flexes the bit and shatters it. Maybe I'm just breaking them out of pure laziness

There are many kinds of drill press. For sub-0.05" solid carbide bits, you need runout of under 0.001" in the drill press spindle. Much more than that and the drill press spindle wobble will break it for you.

As to moving the board while you're drilling - wouldn't it be simpler to put the carbide bits in a vise and hit them with a hammer? That would be faster and about the same certainty.   

Carbide bits are completely intolerant of being bent. They don't bend at all until they fracture. Not like high speed steel bits at all.

The reason I mentioned the Microlux is that I was breaking bits on a floor standing shop drill press. That quit entirely when I got the MicroLux. It's actually a jeweler or modelmaker's drill press.

With a little work, you could make the MicroLux into a PCB bottom-drill with optical sights and probably never break a bit again, nor drill outside the pad. Optically centered bottom drilling is how all PCBs were drilled before CNC drills became pervasive. I have an article somewhere from the mid 90's that I wrote on how to make a bottom drill out of a Dremel drill press and a $10 rifle scope.

[Cliff Schecht]

Yeah, I was considering getting a jewelers drillpress from a repair store around the corner, but jeez they get pricey fast. I use jewelers saws for a lot of finer work and case shaping, but the replacement blades are at least $1 a piece.

I've been having much better luck with the carbide bits lately, it just takes some carefulness from the user not to let anything wiggle around. I got through 5 boards this holiday break and all of them were drilled with the same bit, which I must say is a first for me. Does anybody (retail wise) sell a small enough high speed drill bit that would work for PCB?

[Ben N]

  The homepage at Harbor Freight still shows them for $10, but the link shows $29.99, and so does the shopping cart.  Too good to be true, I guess.
Ben

[jonathan perez]

nooo i paid 10 bucks for mine, and cliff's.

[zarathustra]

They seem to go up and down in price every couple of weeks. A few months ago they were $9.99, then $16.99, then $29.99, then back to $9.99, and so on. I just bookmarked the page and waited for them to go down to $9.99 again.

I just used them for the first time last night, and they work great. The holes are actually straight!