Drill 4 x 28mm holes through 44mm thick aluminium

[irving2008]

A hole saw will do it. but accuracy wont be great. A straight shanked boring head would be better if you can get a small one with a 12mm arbor to fit in the chuck. Theres no need to drill any holes other than the pilot hole..

Cutting fluid will help in either case... compressed air also works


Or ask someone nicely... hobnobs and/or beer often work ;)

[WandrinAndy]

A straight shanked boring head would be better if you can get a small one with a 12mm arbor to fit in the chuck. ... Or ask someone nicely... hobnobs and/or beer often work ;)

Thanks Irving... Haven't seen hobnobs on here since that little spat a couple of weeks ago, which is sad as I really enjoyed his sense of humour... and benefitted from his contributions.

I will make use of a machining service that has access to a lathe and CNC, as that tooling looks expensive for now... Is a boring head and a fly-cutter one and the same thing?

[irving2008]

Thanks Irving... Haven't seen hobnobs on here since that little spat a couple of weeks ago, which is sad as I really enjoyed his sense of humour... and benefitted from his contributions.

I will make use of a machining service that has access to a lathe and CNC, as that tooling looks expensive for now... Is a boring head and a fly-cutter one and the same thing?

Essentially, tho a boring head is arguably more accurate as it holds a cutter at a known distance from the axis and is adjusted with a micrometer screw whereas a flycutter generally holds a bit of tool steel out at an angle. Boring heads generally allow you to bore deep holes; flycutters are usually used to cut circular holes in sheet of relatively low thickness..


If I could get at my mill or lathe I'd offer to do it for you, but at the moment I can't physically get at them .... :(