Best way to drill a new air hole?

[Quaz]

I was wondering what techniques people have figured out for drilling a new air hole without having the bit "walking around"?

I was thinking you could take a little block of wood and drill a hole in it the size of the atty, cut the wood block in half, clamp it back together with the atty inside and than drill through the wood and the atty. This seems like a pain to do though and am hoping someone else has figured out a better way.

 

[Dougiestyle]

Without a drill press, you're in for a real challenge. Your wood block seems feasible. How do you propose to orient your hole without a clear view of your target? Measure, measure, measure is all I can say. Good luck.

You could try to mark a point with an awl.

 

[darkzero]

A center punch is used to prevent drill bits from walking. You can get an automatic one at any hardware store for $10 or cheap at HF if there's one in your area. Or you can just use a nail & a hammer but that might not work well on SS. But if your cap is thin I would take caution with the hammer & nail. I saw a video once where some guy but a mean dent in his cap. The automatic center punches have adjustable tension.

 

[Nermal]

I don't know about drilling related to vaping, but there is a similar technique that gets occasional machine shop use.

Instead of drilling and then cutting the block, you split the block first, insert the "right size" shim between the two halves. Now, drill the hole slightly over size. Separate the blocks, discard the shim, and make your pilot hole. If your shim was really the right thickness, you've got a nice little drill jig that you can clamp around whatever you are drilling. Whether the job is worth the trouble or not is up to you.

 

[Quaz]

Thanks for the ideas. I'll get a center punch and see if that works for me, otherwise I can make a jig.

 

[darkzero]

With the center punch start with the lowest setting (end knob unscrewed) then increase tension as needed. The larger the center punch the more powerfull it will be. They have thin ones that are the size of a pen, that one should work just fine.

 

[D. Waterhouse]

If you need a hole at the exact opposite side as the original one, sand a dowel down to fit snuggly inside the cap and drill through the first hole.

 

[slimest]

To drill small holes (less than millimeter) I use broken carbide bits. Why broken? If you try to drill a small hole in a stainless cylinder with a new tungsten bit, say, 0.6-0.8mm diameter without a special drilling equipment, just using Dremel, you will ruine the bit in a seconds. But if you use already broken bit, its end is short and strong enough. All you need is to give its end a shape like real drill bit using cheap chinese diamond disk for Dremel. After that just drill needed cylinder on 20-25 RPM, no need in cooling. The bit burns an accurate hole. Of course these "modified" bits are not supposed to work for years, but will do to make a few accurate holes.
Hope, it helps.