drilling 2mm thick SS sheet at awkward position (above head), tools or jig to help?

vas

vas

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hi all,

Fabricated a hardtop for my mobo 4yrs ago, central section is cold formed inverted U shape approx 150X120mm made out of 2mm ss sheet.
Stupidly, I didn't specify drilling the two edges every 200mm with 4mm holes when it was still a flat sheet of metal, which I now need to do in order to screw and stress a thin black mesh material as a lining. I have 40x40mm iroko beams that I'll drill through and staple the material over and then tighten them on the frame to stretch the material properly. Led lighting in the U shape and a cover of them all in another iroko piece that will be lacquered -that's the plan at least!
Hard top is basically a frame with two 1X2m 300W ea solar panels which look awful from below, so need to cover all that.

Problem is that this thing now is at 2m from f/b floor with the panels on the top meaning I've got 2 strips of around 60-70mm high by 2m long to drill. Worse still is that I cannot get up on a chair or ladder to get the tool at chest height as there's no space for the rest of my body and head above (panels) Try as I may, using various drill bits (all decent quality cobalt ones at slow speed) I've not managed much - maybe 3 out of 20 odd holes I'd ideally like.
Ideally I'd like some way to secure the drill on the right spot so that I only need to press and not worry about moving about/breaking the bit, smashing the solar panel above...
Space is rather tight so I doubt fitting a double clamp on a table bench and securing it up there would work.
Hence the post, any smart idea I may be missing?

Even thought of messing the frame with the angle grinder, only slot will be rather thin and probably messy getting the drill to catch and complete a proper hole afterwards.
Last resort is getting my TIG welder on board with a properly shaped tungsten bit, high amps and drill (as in burn) messy holes in the ss :rolleyes:
Really running out of ideas!

cheers

V.
 
I'm struggling to picture the hard top and exactly how its made up but have you thought about using a sikaflex lookalike glue mastic to bond a strip of wood onto the stainless where needed, without drilling any holes then fixing your headlining material to that and finally covering it with the iroku strips as planned.
 
Im not fully getting it but, Can you Centre punch it to stop the drill bit wandering, or use a piece of hardwood as a drill guide?
 
I've had some stainless things laugh at cobalt drills.
Trying to modify things like dinghy fittings.
I've found a carbide burr in a dremel to be a very useful weapon.
Alternatively, the carbide spade bits they sell for drilling glass are very effective.
 
sorry should really post a couple of pics but not easy to find a decent one, will take a snap tomorrow and post it.

greeny said:
I'm struggling to picture the hard top and exactly how its made up but have you thought about using a sikaflex lookalike glue mastic to bond a strip of wood onto the stainless where needed, without drilling any holes then fixing your headlining material to that and finally covering it with the iroku strips as planned.
Click to expand...
well, planing to stretch the mesh material and in order to do so I really need the screws to go through the 40x40 iroko and tighten them from the U shape side, so no glue is going to last a minute there, not to mention heat under the Med sun.

Rappey said:
Im not fully getting it but, Can you Centre punch it to stop the drill bit wandering, or use a piece of hardwood as a drill guide?
Click to expand...
punch will be only with great difficulty and nothing really solid behind to help the force go into punching a tiny groove and not flexing the whole hardtop.
Drill guide with a piece of hardwood, that's a good idea, if I shape it properly, I could clamp it on both sides! That's good, will try it, thanks!

TernVI said:
I've had some stainless things laugh at cobalt drills.
Trying to modify things like dinghy fittings.
I've found a carbide burr in a dremel to be a very useful weapon.
Alternatively, the carbide spade bits they sell for drilling glass are very effective.
Click to expand...
I do have a couple and can get more tomorrow. IIRC my dremel lowest speed is 5k rpm, is that feasible? (maybe wrong and it goes lower, it's a mains one with a tiny digital screen and two buttons to up and lower rpm)
would a carbide burr drill though? the ones I've seen are roundish on the front to help shape material.
Good call, I'll see what I can find in the local shops tomorrow

cheers

V.
 
You can get burrs that are a very long narrow conical shape. I'm not sure they have a 'sharp' enough apex to stop it wandering about. But you will not know - if you do not try.

I might try using use a very small drill bit, in stead of a punch, to make the initial hole or indent. You might then need to go up a bit in drill size gradually. I think you are saying you can clamp something firm, front or back, as unless you can provide some real support you are going to struggle. 2mm stainless will just flex as soon as you put pressure on it.

Jonathan
 
What you must not do is let the drill just heat the stainless as it will work harden & you will never drill it. Any solution with a drill bit needs plenty of pressure. On a drill press I have drilled over 50 holes in 6mm stainless with ease using a normal dormer drill bit. You could get a very cheap drill press for an electric drill & turn the base 180 degrees from the drill & clamp the base , align the drill & try that.
typical drill stand
I am sure that you could find a cheap version on ebay
Finally--Think laterally--Can you put it underneath & drill upwards? The metal cannot bend away from you with the press attached. & backed with a piece of wood behind it

Can you not remove the stainless, drill it then re fix it?
 
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It’s always easier to weld something on stainless than drill it. Fabricate some kind of fastener that will do the job then weld it on
 
If you do need holes, and aren’t concerned how they look (if they are covered up and can’t be seen). I use a plasma cutter. Goes through stainless like butter. They are not expensive, a couple of hundred plus a hundred for the compressor. Or maybe they can be hired.
 
Bouba said:
It’s always easier to weld something on stainless than drill it. Fabricate some kind of fastener that will do the job then weld it on
Click to expand...
Lacing eye
Alternatively fix the wood to 3-4 of these & clamp the wood to the edge I have used them in industrial application & one can clamp them up really tight without distortion
beam clamps
 
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perhaps this might do for the few holes that you need . You might find one a bit more powerfull or cheaper. It may be near the limit for thickness but you only need it for a limited number of fairly small holes 14 gauge is 2 mm th. If you do a small hole you could enlarge it easily with a drill. it does do up to 7mm which I think would be too much for 2mm stainless. You should keep the holes as small as possible first. You could then use ST screws to fix lacing eyes etc
Hole punch
 
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thanks for the ideas guys,

made the first step today and bought a 10euro (FFS!) carbide 3mm drill bit.
I always thought that cobalt drill bits were the best, turns out they are not (didn't even know there are carbide drill bits!)
1:10 price diff, hope it works, low rpm 1000W makita drill and a special "lubricating" oil from Wurth I got from a friend.

BTW, removing the h/t is out of the question, getting a drill stand there is well dodgy, clamping would cause other issues I'd be always afraid it will drop slowly with vibrations, not to mention iroko is not the best wood to work with, so really need to keep it secured to something that's not deforming.

I'll try either today or sunday and will report back

cheers

V.
 
Daydream believer said:
perhaps this might do for the few holes that you need . You might find one a bit more powerfull or cheaper. It may be near the limit for thickness but you only need it for a limited number of fairly small holes 14 gauge is 2 mm th. If you do a small hole you could enlarge it easily with a drill. it does do up to 7mm which I think would be too much for 2mm stainless. You should keep the holes as small as possible first. You could then use ST screws to fix lacing eyes etc
Hole punch
Click to expand...
You won't be punching holes in SS with that.
 
Drilling SS it's important to use slow speeds and lots of lubrication on the drill bit. Most problems drilling SS arise because people use too high speeds in the process, which leads to work hardening. I've drilled light gauge SS sheet with ordinary carbon steel bits in the past, but they do need frequent sharpening and whatever bit you use, it has to be sharp so an old cobalt bit will need to be sharpened before use.
 
Neeves said:
You can get burrs that are a very long narrow conical shape. I'm not sure they have a 'sharp' enough apex to stop it wandering about. But you will not know - if you do not try.

I might try using use a very small drill bit, in stead of a punch, to make the initial hole or indent. You might then need to go up a bit in drill size gradually. I think you are saying you can clamp something firm, front or back, as unless you can provide some real support you are going to struggle. 2mm stainless will just flex as soon as you put pressure on it.

Jonathan
Click to expand...
For making (or correcting!) an indent to start a drill, I sometimes use a ball ended diamond burr in a Dremel. Using it at an angle, you can see what you're doing, and it uses more of the burr surface instead on wearing the tip off a cone. Such tools could be cheaply got from China, but only in slow time unfortunately.

Carbide masonry bits are cheap and can be sharpened for metal if you are patient and out of other choices!
 
Topcat47 said:
Drilling SS it's important to use slow speeds and lots of lubrication on the drill bit. Most problems drilling SS arise because people use too high speeds in the process, which leads to work hardening. I've drilled light gauge SS sheet with ordinary carbon steel bits in the past, but they do need frequent sharpening and whatever bit you use, it has to be sharp so an old cobalt bit will need to be sharpened before use.
Click to expand...
Most of the problems I've had, the metal has already been work hardened before it came into my possession. Nice new stock is much easier to work with!

Very variable stuff 'stainless'.
Yesterday, I put some split pin holes through some A4 machine screws, using an ordinary (ie cheap) HSS drill bit from Toolstation. Cordless drill, water to keep it cool. No issues.

If a brand new drill bit doesn't work, stop before you damage the work or hurt yourself.
 
TernVI said:
It's situations where 'pressure' is not really feasible where I've found high speed carbide tools to be the best alternative.
Click to expand...
you mean I can run this 3mm carbide bit at high rpm (via my dremmel fe) on ss without issues?
I was planning to go v.slow with the carbide bit as well!

V
 
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