Thanks for the suggestion! Tim Van Milligan’s video is great!Clean them up with an Exacto knife and an emery board. Apogee has a video on drilling holes in body tubes. More tips there.
@tsmith1315 @rocket_troyYou could always design, build and test a 3D printed scalpel blade fly cutter. Should be doable and has DANGER written all over the idea. Perfect for rocketry projects...... A micro version of the standard circle cutter.
Just watch out for reaching the other side of the tube , before you get to the diameter you need.
Excellent point.Just watch out for reaching the other side of the tube , before you get to the diameter you need.
I like the big, oval holes! Cool looking!
It seems to me that, if I am doing a new build, I can use a spent engine as the backing material. That is if the tube is a BT-5, BT-20, or a BT-50.Yes, standard twist drills are certainly not optimal for that. Hole saws are probably better. I've also used all sorts of backing material to suppress breakout eg. PVC pipe (with tape build up to an extent), plastic rod and even MDF. You could probably even fill a sausage balloon up with 2 part resin paper mache or saw dust and wait for it to set.
TP
I forgot about forstner bits! Great idea!A forstner bit makes a clean edge flat bottom hole in wood, but not sure if that would work on a curved surface like a small diameter body tube, even with a backing support like a spent engine casing. At 1/4” or 1/8” size, it might work?
Sigh. To relive my childhood as a BAR I need to buy every tool in the tool aisle at Home Depot. ;-)A forstner bit makes a clean edge flat bottom hole in wood, but not sure if that would work on a curved surface like a small diameter body tube, even with a backing support like a spent engine casing. At 1/4” or do they even make them as small as 1/8” size, it might work?
Ah!leather crafting tools
+1 this method, CA the area of the hole and use a sharp bradpoint bit with a backer inside the tube, the spurs will cut through the tube pretty cleanly and before the body of the drill gets close to the tube. A forstner bit might work okay (maybe) but a brad point would be best here. Even better if possible 3D print a guide for the bit and have a backer inside the tube, make sure the bit doesn't try to pull itself into the tube, a drill press makes the control of the bit much easier.The best drill bit is a brad point bit which is made specifically for drilling in wood. They have a central spur and two very sharp cutting lips. They are awesome for this application. I usually put some CA on the backside and back that up with a dowel. WL Fuller makes high quality HSS brad point bits.
Ah! There's an idea! It is just a paper tube, after all. Put the dowel in the tube. Put the hole punch on the spot where you need the 1/4 inch hole. Hit the punch with a hammer. Bang! That should work!An Oak Dowel Rod that just fits inside the BT, and a sharp hole punch.
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