Drilling holes
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Faroeislands
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 4:41 pm
Drilling holes
I want to add some fibre optic lighting to a display. The base board is around 1cm thick and I need to drill holes that are 1mm wide. Whats the best thing to use? Some people recommend a dremel.
Re: Drilling holes
Drilling small holes needs to be done carefully....particularly if you're drilling into thick material.
If I were wanting to drill 1mm holes into wood, I would use a battery handheld drill that has a speed control on the trigger. "Full size" power tools have a very comfortable grip...and a battery version with a speed control will allow you to drill the small holes nice and slowly, and under full control. A 12v Dremel style drill can be a little unwieldy to hold absolutely steady...which is what is needed to stop a small drill bit from binding and spanning!
Having said that....its really down to what you're used to. I'm used to using a normal battery drill....and I find one easier to control that a small 12v drill...which usually run at high speed with a low power input, where if there's the sniff of an out-of-alignment movement, the drill will slow or even stall, leading to a surprise reaction...and an increased danger of snapping the drill of in the wood!
If I were wanting to drill 1mm holes into wood, I would use a battery handheld drill that has a speed control on the trigger. "Full size" power tools have a very comfortable grip...and a battery version with a speed control will allow you to drill the small holes nice and slowly, and under full control. A 12v Dremel style drill can be a little unwieldy to hold absolutely steady...which is what is needed to stop a small drill bit from binding and spanning!
Having said that....its really down to what you're used to. I'm used to using a normal battery drill....and I find one easier to control that a small 12v drill...which usually run at high speed with a low power input, where if there's the sniff of an out-of-alignment movement, the drill will slow or even stall, leading to a surprise reaction...and an increased danger of snapping the drill of in the wood!
Re: Drilling holes
Unless there are many holes...I would recommend a hand-held "pin vice". With a hole that small (1mm) the amount of force needed isn't very much. The battery operated slow speed drill (variable speed) would be another option. Get yourself 2 or more bits, good chance of breakage!