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bikerclubby

Drilling post holes

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Recently bought a Kamtec shell and now have it rough trimmed. Next stage is to decide on mounting position and make the holes. What’s the best way of doing it cleanly? Have a cordless drill and selection of bits, or a dremmel with some engraving and sanding heads. 

Also, is it worth using masking tape where I intend to drill to stop any skipping before the bit bites?

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I have only the experience of one shell, but I used the dremel with one of the reaming type attachments. Think they just call it a high speed cutter, it’s basically a metal helical cut cylinder With a flat top.. since the dremel spins at such a high speed there’s no push off it half grinds and half melts its way through, you can rub off the burr with your finger and it leaves a good clean edge, I did experiment with using a drill, but found this more likely to wander And if you get the pressure wrong can tear. I used the same cutter to do all the detail cuts around the suspension slots and also there are some race track shaped holes and it made short work of opening these up to the right size. I didn’t use tape, just a magic marker to give me something to cut to.

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I got one of these hand reamers from the LHS. Think it cost £8, ream halfway from out to in then finish off in to out on lexan or vice vrersa for hard bodies. Makes a nice clean hole, easily controllable and just a quick scrape after to remove any burr left. Used it 3 times now and seems to leave very little burr though

 

IMG_20200706_172140.jpg

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Trim the posts down so the body sits level and about 1/2 inch above it's intended height.  If you are really anal-retentive, you can measure the distance between the posts in the same manor a carpenter would measure a doorway; squares, then diagonals.

Shine a bright flashlight under the body and look at the top to locate the shadow where the posts are.  Mark with a Sharpie.

Mark the centerline of the body with a Sharpie and make sure the sharpie marks are equi-distant from the centerline.

(I prefer the Dremel to drill the holes surrounded by masking tape to prevent accidental scratches.) 

Use a small pointed bit to drill pilot holes.  Place the body back on the posts to assure the measurements are correct.  This is your last chance to make small adjustments.

Use a conical bit to drill larger holes.  Drill a little at a time, checking frequently that the hole is the correct diameter.

Wash off the Sharpie marks with rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab.

 

Note - the Dremel flapwheel is a great bit to make fenders almost perfectly round.

 

 

 

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I use a hot nail. It's a trick my dad taught me when I was a kid and it's worked quite well over the years. Pick a nail with a head larger than the bodypost, hold that in clamping pliers. Heat the head over a flame (we just used the stove), and press through the body. Doesn't need to be glowing or anything, just a few seconds over the flame. The result is a melted edge with no microfractures. It's those microfractures left by most cold tooling that will lead to splitting when the shell is stressed.

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11 minutes ago, isomer1 said:

I use a hot nail. It's a trick my dad taught me when I was a kid and it's worked quite well over the years. Pick a nail with a head larger than the bodypost, hold that in clamping pliers. Heat the head over a flame (we just used the stove), and press through the body. Doesn't need to be glowing or anything, just a few seconds over the flame. The result is a melted edge with no microfractures. It's those microfractures left by most cold tooling that will lead to splitting when the shell is stressed.

I might try that, though I have a soldering iron with lots of different tips and adjustable temp setting so no nail required.

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I use a body reamer also,  as Wetman posted.  Due to drilling holes in sheet metal on most days at work,  I honestly don't know why anyone would choose to do drill holes in a rc body with a regular drill.  The reamer is so much more precise in both location and hole size.  And it is so much easier and potentially safer.  At least that's my .02

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3 hours ago, kwkenuf said:

  I honestly don't know why anyone would choose to do drill holes in a rc body with a regular drill.  The reamer is so much more precise in both location and hole size.  And it is so much easier and potentially safer.  At least that's my .02

 

Well I’ve never done it before so that’s why I was asking. 

Not buying a reamer that I’ll likely never use again, but I have a couple of tapered dremmel bits so looks like that’s the way to go. 

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3 hours ago, bikerclubby said:

 

Well I’ve never done it before so that’s why I was asking. 

Not buying a reamer that I’ll likely never use again, but I have a couple of tapered dremmel bits so looks like that’s the way to go. 

Measure the post hole locations at least 5 times to assure they do not line up all "chueco".

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Bit the bullet a few days ago and gave it a go. Used my Dremmel, firstly with a pointed engraving bit to get the hole started then a 3mm  drill bit. Used the side of the bit to widen the hole to the right size.  Dremmel is pretty high speed and made quick work of it. 
I know a proper reamer is the correct tool but the shell is a one off and couldn’t justify another tool. 
Thanks for all your advice. 

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