Drill bit to put 1mm holes in a toughened trem plate?

axisus

Is there anything out there that would do the job? I tried with a supposedly diamond point bit once but the bloody thing broke off in the plate!

Sporky

Cobalt. And cutting fluid, and appropriate rpm and feed rate which you can work out with sums.

axisus

Sporky said:

Cobalt. And cutting fluid, and appropriate rpm and feed rate which you can work out with sums.

Many thanks!

m_c

And a good drill press. The key to drilling tough materials is a nice steady cut with plenty pressure behind it. Lack of pressure leads to rubbing, which leads to blunt cutting edges and work hardening, and an even bigger problem.

Sporky

^ That too, definitely.

IIRC it's also important not to heat up the workpiece too much as that can cause hardening too. The cutting fluid will help, but also drill for a few seconds then back off to let everything cool.

m_c

The key to avoiding heat build up, is feed rate. You should be taking a big enough cut, that most of the heat generated is removed via the chips/swarf.
In an ideal setup, especially with steel, the chips coming of can be straw coloured if using HSS/Cobalt (they can be red if using carbide), and the part remains cool to touch. However, even with the best of setups, you typically still get a bit rubbing due to deflection, which causes heating, not the actual cutting itself.
The only real benefit of cutting fluid, is it lubricates chips coming of, and avoids them sticking to the drill reducing heat transfer into the drill. Oil is actually a pretty rubbish conductor of heat, which is why most industrial machines use water based coolant (there is also the benefit water based coolant doesn't burn if things really go wrong..)

Nomad

As a matter of interest, why do you want to drill 1mm holes in a trem plate?

bazxkr

Sporky said:

Cobalt. And cutting fluid, and appropriate rpm and feed rate which you can work out with sums.

Agreed, if you are doing it as a business ie not just a one off, I'd use solid carbide drills. Most special material cutting tool technology tools do require fast speeds... so a @Sporky says you need to know exact spec of material you are cutting as well as the speeds and feeds for the drill material. For example carbide routers will cut wood in a 1250 rpm home drill but the optimum running speed is probably nearer 15,000-25,000 rpm. But if you are doing just one plate then buying an expensive drill pc is not on. If you are mass producing a whole different ball game

sweepy

Get it milled at a machine shop, its the neatest way

Sporky

bazxkr said:

Agreed, if you are doing it as a business ie not just a one off, I'd use solid carbide drills.

I tend to approach every job as if I'll have to do it a lot of times.

Not always the best tactic, I'd concede.

SteveRobinson

Nomad said:

As a matter of interest, why do you want to drill 1mm holes in a trem plate?

Piezo saddle wires?

sweepy

I had a Strat trem plate milled for the Ghost Piezo system, so much tidier and well worth asking about

axisus

Nomad said:

As a matter of interest, why do you want to drill 1mm holes in a trem plate

Why to make the little bastard talk of course

axisus

SteveRobinson said:

Nomad said:

As a matter of interest, why do you want to drill 1mm holes in a trem plate?

Piezo saddle wires?

Indeed. I've had the wires run off the front for years. Looks horrible.

Nomad

So, why 1mm? Would something like 2mm achieve the same result? Far less likely to get snapped drill bits at that size.

Sporky

sweepy said:

Get it milled at a machine shop, its the neatest way

That's a darned good suggestion.

axisus

I have no idea what a machine shop is????

Nomad

axisus said:

I have no idea what a machine shop is????

A workshop that uses machine tools to cut and fabricate metals, although engineering plastics are also common. A place full of milling machines, lathes, and other kit, that smells of cutting oil and has piles of swarf lying about.

GluedtoMusic

Are you using Graph Tech Ghost saddles? If they have the quick connect clips already installed you will need to drill a hole that is around 5mm to feed them through the trem plate.

CasperCaster

If its the Ghost saddles then each conductor has a barbed metal connector crimped to it. These push into the plastic housing of the quick connectors to creat the entire plug - many Tyco, Molex, JST and other connectors use this approach. You can use a pin to hold down the barbed part and carefully remove the wires from the connector. It's a three handed job but achievable. You just need to mark or remember the polarity for re-assembly. And I'd guess 1mm because the hole needs to be small as it's pretty close to the where the saddle height screws will sit - the hole will effectively be between the base of the saddle height screws as they rest on the bridge plate, although I think it's ok for the hole to sit slightly forward of the saddle, which might allow for a slightly large hole. Of course a machined slot would be ideal, to allow for intonation adjustment, but a hole is fine if you don't need to change things much.

Roland

I’d be tempted to intonate the guitar, using ordinary saddles, to work out exactly where the holes should go.