# Drilling Holes



## crk

Hi all
 I've been building a couple of pocket amps, one of which already works!! I've had a lot of trouble drilling the holes in the faceplate of the Pac-Tec/SERPAC case. The drill wanders off center and/or grabs the plastic and tears rather than cuts.
 Any words of wisdom out there? For example, slow drill speed or fast, use a jig, etc.

 Thanks in advance
 crk
 ps Anybody succeeded in putting an in socket, an out socket, a volume control, an on/off switch, a Crossfeed switch and an LED on the faceplate of a SERPAC H-95-9V (and have them all fit)??

 pps KR... gotta smiley with a drill??


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## royboy2k

Hi crk,

 I have a serpac H-67 9V that I'm using with my (still unfinished) cmoy amp. I have made barely enough room for in/out sockets, LED, and power switch on my front panel. I guess the volume control will have to go on the side because that's the only place it will fit 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 .

 As for drilling tips, dunno if I can help you. I just put the faceplate in a vice(vise?) and drilled patiently until it went through. I also tried to make sure that I didn't melt the plastic, so I took short breaks to let it cool off.


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## Apheared

drill bits walk, especially when you can't bear down. What I'd suggest is use a small one in your fingertips as your "marker" (a 1/32 or 1/16, but no bigger) You can also use anything sharp to dent the plastic; a nail even. Then use your fingers to make a starter hole with a tiny bit - doesn't have to go all the way through - just enough to make a pocket for the bit to rest in.

 The plastic is usually soft on faceplates. Put the drill down in the wrong place, you have a scratch.

 As for getting all that on that small faceplate - good luck. If you find a way to change physics let me know because I have this problem alot; spatial dimensions always interfere with a good layout.


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## no_iq

crk,

 Here's a drilling trick I got from someone at Headwize:

 Hold a nail with a pair of pliers and heat it with a flame.'Mark' the center of the hole in the plastic by pushing the hot nail into it. This serves as a pilot hole and stops the bit from wandering when you start to drill.

 For drilling in general - get a drill press. Expensive but well worth the investment if you're doing lots of construction. A dremel drill press would work fine. On holes larger than 3/8" I always drill a small pilot hole first. Don't try to take too much at once. Be patient.

 Rule of thumb I've always been told on hole sizes - small hole/fast drill speed, large hole/slow drill speed.

 Hope that helps.

 no_iq


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## Rotareneg

I used a screwdriver to drill a hole in the side of my Total Airhead when I was fiddling around with making a balance control for it. I used a sharp awl to make a spot to start from, and then began to enlarge it with a small phillips head driver. Once it was large enough I used flat head drivers to enlarge the hole... don't laugh, it worked really good and spared me having to dig out my Dremel.


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## JMT

I always make a line down center vertical, and across center horizontal on the inside of the faceplate. That way you can always position your switches, LEDs, and jacks relative to center and get a nice balanced look to the layout of the faceplate. 

 Like Rotareneg says, an awl makes a nice starter hole for a drill bit. I would recommend that you always start with a small bit, working up a couple of bit sizes at a time. That helps eliminate the bit from walking on you.


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## Possum

Here's something else that works well once you create the small pilot hole via the methods mentioned above. If you have a Dremel or other rotary tool, find the grinding bit that's somewhat cone shaped (maybe you can find one for a drill, you might even be able to buy the one for the Dremel and use it in the drill's chuck - correct term?). Then all you do with this cone is start grinding away from the small hole with the tip of the cone and slowly push inward until the hole grows to the size you need. It won't be the precise width you can get with a known drill bit size, but if you're careful, it'll make nice holes. You can probably just use it to increase the hole size until it's close enough to the bit you want to use to finalize the hole (an alternative to using a sequence of drill bits also mentioned above).


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## crk

Folks
 Many thanks. I guess the bottom line is being patient!!
 crk
 ps JMT, one of the problems I ran into was that the need to offset the hole from center to make some of the items fit into the case.


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## JMT

Quote:


 ps JMT, one of the problems I ran into was that the need to offset the hole from center to make some of the items fit into the case. 
 

crk, I understand but it does give you a reference point to center so you can balance all of the faceplate components. The only thing that I usually place in the center (at the top) is the LED. Everything else is placed off center, but I still want balanced to the center of the faceplate.


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## Mr_Happy

Hi,

 I use a hand punch, which is basically a large hole puncher, to make holes in my cases. It cuts through plastic very easily and is very accurate, and you don't have to mess around with drilling and the drill wandering. It takes only a second to punch a hole. The hand punch I use has removeable parts for different hole sizes. I just measure a line through the middle of the plastic panel and then use a pencil to make small indentations where the components would be, so that I can place points in the middle of the punch easily. You can probably find hand punches in a hardware store.

 If I need to enlarge a hole, I use the method Possum has described, a Dremel tool with the attachment that looks like a rounded cone covered with sandpaper.


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## chiem

I screwed up the face plate on my pactec case. Does anyone know where I can order additional faceplates ? (without having to buy another case.)

 --k


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## Apheared

chiem, you can get replacements direct from them. Do you still have the dimensional drawing that came inside the case? It lists the individual part #s for each piece. Although, in the long run - even if you can get them to sell you a single individual panel, it will cost more than a new case (unless you know a magic place that sells them for $3 each or something)

 The plastic is pretty soft; even if you drilled it perfectly in a few months stuffing it into your backpack it'll look like flotsam anyway.

 The hand punch is a great idea, cheap and easy. I'd be careful punching a 1/2" hole though, when it shears something that large you might split it.

 crk, there's these nifty rulers you can get at any drafting supply shop called a centering rule. It's marked like a ruler, only the center is "0" with two scales... one ascending, one decending.. makes it really easy to mount two (or more) things offset based on dead center... about $5.


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## AndrewB

Soldering irons make great holes in plastic too!!


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## andrew3199

what size pactec case would you use for a standard cha47..?


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## tangent

Quote:


 what size pactec case would you use for a standard cha47..? 
 

The Hansen board is made for the HML series. Either will work; it just depends on whether you want 2x9V or more panel space. With a stock CHA47, I'd go with the HML-ET, due to the virtual ground on the CHA47 not being buffered.


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## tigger

crk
 ps Anybody succeeded in putting an in socket, an out socket, a volume control, an on/off switch, a Crossfeed switch and an LED on the faceplate of a SERPAC H-95-9V (and have them all fit)??


 It may be better to mount the input jack on the side of the case and free up some room on the front pannel.


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## mhamel

A few of things I've found helpful when doing enclosure work...

 I cover the front panel with blue painters tape.... it's like masking tape, but designed to be removed easily. I can then measure and mark everything I need on the tape, without marring the panel. Once all the holes are drilled/cut, the tape comes off easily with very little, if any, residue.

 An exacto blade can quickly make a pilot hole in a plastic face panel in a pinch.

 For aluminum panels, get a center punch.

 Get a set of Black & Decker Bullet bits. They aren't cheap, but the pilot point tips are great, and help a lot with keeping the drill from walking.

 If you do a lot of DIY work, definitely get a drill press. The Dremel drill press attachment is great for PCB drilling and other small things. Home Depot also has a Ryobi 10" bench top drill press for around $100 that is pretty good for the price.

 -Mike


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