Drilling holes in plate

[ctm]

I am thinking about getting an aluminum case for my V60, but its plate does not have holes for Poker case. How hard is it to drill these holes myself?

[E3E]

I am thinking about getting an aluminum case for my V60, but its plate does not have holes for Poker case. How hard is it to drill these holes myself?

A corded dremel or drill should be able to handle it no problem, but a drill press would be best to make sure the drill is straight. There's plenty of guides for drilling through aluminum and metal with a drill.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/construction-tips/171087-rpm-drill-aluminum-steel.html

I have been a machinist over the last 23 years and have drilled a lot of holes.
Here is a simple formula that will put you at the correct RPM.

For steel take 300/Diameter of drill. So 1/4" drill bit in steel = 1200RPM

For Aluminum (grade 6061) 600/Diameter of drill bit. So 1/4" drill in Alum. =2400 RPM.

For Stainless Steel (303,304) 180/diameter of drill. So 1/4" drill bit in stainless = 720RPM.

This is assuming yor using a 118 Dg. High Speed steel drill bit.

You always want to keep the drill bit and material cool. I use a water soluble coolant. It is mostly water but has some lubricity and keeps steel and your machine from rusting. You can buy this from mcMaster carr supply.

If you are drilling aluminum I just spray on some WD40 if I'm not doing a ton of holes. You can always use pipe threading oil on steel, Moly D on stainless and tapping fluid for the proper material but it is a lot messier to clean up than simply water.

Mark

[Oobly]

I am thinking about getting an aluminum case for my V60, but its plate does not have holes for Poker case. How hard is it to drill these holes myself?

It depends ^tm

If you desolder the whole board and remove the plate from the board it's pretty easy. If not it gets a bit more difficult. Be sure to mask off all the switches around the drill areas and be careful not to damage the PCB. Use a vacuum first and then compressed air to suck/blow out all the steel shavings, you don't want those in your switches or floating around touching stuff on your PCB.

[ctm]

I am thinking about getting an aluminum case for my V60, but its plate does not have holes for Poker case. How hard is it to drill these holes myself?

It depends ^tm

If you desolder the whole board and remove the plate from the board it's pretty easy. If not it gets a bit more difficult. Be sure to mask off all the switches around the drill areas and be careful not to damage the PCB. Use a vacuum first and then compressed air to suck/blow out all the steel shavings, you don't want those in your switches or floating around touching stuff on your PCB.

Hmm... I don't really feel like desoldering all the switches. It's quite a lot of work.