Drilling copper

[00Giorge]

I drill copper, brass and aluminum and to prevent sticking I prefer Tap Magic but just about any oil will work good. Water isn't a lubricant. If you get a hole that is too tight you can always get a piece of round stock, split one end, put a piece of emery cloth or sand paper in it. Put the unsplit end in a drill and you have a cheap hone.

 

[sopark4000]

I know water isn't a proper lubricant for metal working but it helps with heat dissipation and preventing metal warping. @kiyoukan I know what your talking about but last time when I drilled the aluminum one I did it with a corded drill not the drill press I have now and since I couldn't get the slow speeds I needed while maintaining pressure on the drill I had to drill at a higher speed resulting in to much heat and it left these weird round protrusions in the hole. Basically the circumference would be good and everything fit fine then there would be a ring of a smaller circumference and then it would get wider again. It is kind of difficult to explain but I think it was the result of drilling faster on one section than I did on the rest. In the end I used a dremel with a 12mm circular grinding bit to completely smooth out the inside of the hole. This time I will be more precise with the last 2 bits and also it should be much easier with a drill press.

 

[kiyoukan]

find a drill press or buy one for 50$ even a cheap HF one is better than a hand drill

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

That's why they make reamers for a round hole. Two fluted cutters tend to make a triangular hole unless the last pass removes only a few thou for finish cut. I usually use Kerosene as a lube on soft materials.

HMike

 

[sopark4000]

I have a drill press, I was saying that when I drilled the last heat sink I didn't have one yet

 

[qumefox]

Another thing worth mentioning is make sure the heatsink you use actually has a solid core. A lot have a dish shaped cutout under the fan and actually don't have a very thick solid core.

 

[Flaminpyro]

Go slow copper can grab and break a bit, going slow help prevent this, use some oil also.

ever try and get a broken bit out of thick copper :crackup:

 

[sopark4000]

Go slow copper can grab and break a bit, going slow help prevent this, use some oil also.

ever try and get a broken bit out of thick copper :crackup:

Yea that was a big issue when I used a corded drill the last time. It was extremely difficult to keep the speed low while at the same time keeping pressure on the bit. Luckily now that I have a drill press it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Blutquell]

LoL yeah Flaminpyro is right, if you breake it ur pretty screwed xD.

 

[sopark4000]

lol I remember about 2 months ago I had to pull a broken bit out of an aluminum block that was about 6 inches thick and the bit was already about half way through. That was tons of fun.