Drilling/tapping in ends/side of aluminium plate

[njhussey]

If you have access to a lathe and milling machine or know a friendly someone with access to them then make a fixture like the below that you can put over the edge of the plate to act as a drilling jig. You can then use a hand drill and if you make one suitable for the tap then you can hand tap accurately as well. It would need a grub screw or similar to lock it at the point you require which I've not shown...



There is a thread here about a posh version (where I got the idea) with clear plastic insert that has a cross hair on it to line up the jig....I can't remember who started the thread but I'm sure someone will remember and say...