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Drilling copper

sopark4000

sopark4000

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djayz

djayz

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I just went over to the local metal works, they drilled it for me.. with a general purpose 12mm drill bit with a relatively sharp end.. the drilling machine was a full scale and FIXED one just like the ones they use with a big lathe.. and it did stuck several times because the copper core is pure and very high density solid.. it took several minutes for a 2.5inch drill , i think he used some engine oil to make the drill bit run smooth and some water afterwards.. The heatsink was very hot obviously..
photos are at..

October 16, 2011 | Facebook
 
sopark4000

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I own a drill press so it shouldn't be too difficult I'm planning on using full titanium bits and I'm going to use a good water flow to help with the heating. But if anyone has any other suggestions I'd appreciate it.
 
djayz

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Motor Oil would be better during the drill.. and afterwards u can cool the heatsink with water, it doesnot get very hot because its a heatsink lol.. but the drillbit if stuck , can break.. so oil is what i suggest..
 
kiyoukan

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yea dont start with 12mm!
when i do my work i go up in steps.
the last 2 are the most important.
go to the closest bit you have to 12mm then go with your final 12mm bit
that way you bit wont heat up or expand very much as almost all but a tiny bit of metal has been removed this should give you the tightest hole.
i have made mine so tight doing this tat i dont need set crews just a litle bit of a push with a vice or block of wood and it slide in.
but may be different depending on your bit. might want to check and make sure thats a 12mm bit. as i use a reamer to get a 12mm perfect hole.
some bits say 12mm but they are 12.2mm and that .2 is a bad thing.
 
djayz

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OMG.. Kiyoukan dude u scared me with my heatsink, i just had it 12mm piercing in the middle of the copper cylinder from a local shop.. i will have to find me a vernier caliper now.. but indeed very wise, and it will help alot of people to push their lasers to the limits.. ;)
+rep
 
djayz

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Those holes are sometimes very sharp copper, and made of copper/aluminum.. i wouldnot recomment that a fellow laserer get hurt :p
 
sopark4000

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Yea last time I drilled an aluminum heat sink I slowly stepped up the size of the drill bits starting with a 4mm bit although this time I think I'll start even smaller with 2mm increments because last time with aluminum I noticed a bit of warping in the metal when I stepped up the size of the bits too quickly and it resulted in the the circumference of the hole varying a bit. I remember putting the module in and at first it slid in perfectly but towards the end it got very tight.
 
qumefox

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You don't really need a bunch of intermediate steps. As kiyoukan said, the last two are the important ones. Depending on the material, sometimes you can get away with three steps.
 
Blutquell

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Here in machine shop they recomend you start with a "pilot hole". Which means a smaller hole say 4mm or 3/16 that goes all the way through.
Then step up with 6, 8, etc until desired 12mm.

Another thing i do sometimes is using a 15/32 inch size bit for the final step. Some of these imperial bits have funky equivalents in mm that are not as common.
15/32 is 11.9mm so you get a very tight press fit.
 
sopark4000

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You make a good point with the last 2 bits being most important thanks for the advice :thanks:
 
kiyoukan

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sopark4000 said:
Yea last time I drilled an aluminum heat sink I slowly stepped up the size of the drill bits starting with a 4mm bit although this time I think I'll start even smaller with 2mm increments because last time with aluminum I noticed a bit of warping in the metal when I stepped up the size of the bits too quickly and it resulted in the the circumference of the hole varying a bit. I remember putting the module in and at first it slid in perfectly but towards the end it got very tight.
Click to expand...

i dont think that is warping.
Your drill press has a bit of a vibration problem.
that is why you always drill from back to front.
The starting hole will almost 100% of the time be wider than the ending hole.
The metal that the bit has already gone threw help make it more stable and a close to the size hole you want.
Some people have very very good mills/drills that this does not apply to but most people dont.
And for a good fit a 12mm reamer is a good thing.
but i have a set of 12 mm bit bought 10 and out of 10 1 is just under 12mm great for making press fits.
but a 15/32 can work too buy you may need to sand just a bit on the aixiz housing.
 
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