Drilling out air holes with a Deremel tool

[mwjones]

Even a cheap drill press is better than none, and a 8" bench model will run you about $100 when on sale at home depot. I have a cheap 14" one at home that my kid bought me for my birthday a couple years ago, and it does all jobs that I would want to do at home passably well.

DO buy a vise, even a small 3" or 4" drill press vise. They're only $20 and will keep your work from being pulled out of your hand, thrown across the room, embedded in your body, etc.

And jut keep in mind a couple things:

The slower you turn a drill, the deeper it cuts per revolution, and the more torque it puts on the bit.
The deeper the drill cuts, the more chance that the chips are not going to shear, and the drill will "grab" and put a TREMENDOUS amount of torque on the bit.
The smaller the drill, the less torque it can handle before it breaks.

 

[JMarca]

Titanium drill bits work best, I picked up a DeWalt bit kit at Home Depot for around 20 dollars a few years ago they've been perfect for the job. If you want a really nice seamless look use that Dremel to polish and sand the drill job after you're done.

 

[Huh?!]

Not on topic but nice bo...err, water pipe in the background of the first pic lol

 

[DaPopeLP]

OUCH! drilling stainless with a dremel? Dremels have no torque at all.

I cringed as well. I actually tried this once. Couldnt find my drill and needed more air flow as my build was too hot. 10min of trying and getting no where made me rethink it.

 

[mwjones]

If you're going to use the bit for more than a couple times, a HSS or cobalt bit will be much better than titanium nitride coated. Once you wear through the coating, they're just cheap steel underneath, and often not hardened/tempered properly. The rub is that a cobalt bit will be twice the price. Stay away from carbide drills. Unless you have a rock solid setup, they're too brittle and will break, plus, the hardness of the carbide is not necessary for most stainless.

 

[yellowrider]

This got complicated quick.. I just take my small drill bit, throw my cap in a vice in between some wood and use my hand drill.. Little bit of lube of your choice.. Takes less then a minute.. No charts needed and really do not have to be a machinist.
I took this step a little bit further and purchased a 60 dollar drill press so I can really have some clean drilled holes.
In case anyone forgot.. We are simply enlarging a preexisting hole. Also using some electrical tape or duct tape around the drill area will help you to stay on track so your drill bit dont go walking on you.

 

[AzPlumber]

I use either a 3/32nd or 5/16th Dremel diamond tapered bit for enlarging air holes. You are not committed to a specific size so you can check the draw as you go.

 

[SirLoki]

A Dremel truly is an amazing tool if you use the right setup for the job. I have the flexshaft attachment and a huge assortment of diamond bits. I hang the dremel from an IV pole with the flexshaft on and set it to low speed. Use the diamond head of size and shape best for job under running water in kitchen sink. It may take a couple minutes instead of 30 sec but you get a much better finished result.

Of course for me the SS top cap is easy since I have this setup for carving stones as a hobby and I have used it successfully to carve all they way to raw ruby/sapphire. I got a tugboat clone that had 1mm holes and I enlarged both to 1.5-2mm in about 3min total. There were no walk marks and finish is still really nice (is a black finish version) plus no burrs.

 

[Bolivar]

Yeah, the draw is more airy than I was going for... lesson learned. But for now I can adjust down with a "dynamic thumb cover", while I figure out how to mcguyver something better. Even still, it's now at least usable!

You can press a roll pin in the oversized hole, that will drop the diameter back down some. You may have to enlarge your current hole even more to get the pin/air hole diameter you are looking for.

Available at Lowes, HD, Ace, etc....usually with the screws, fasteners.