I need help guys
I need to drill a 5/8 hole in a 1/4″ steel plate. I have a drill press but do I need to go fast or slow and do I need cutting oil? My drill press has one speed but I think I can control how fast I drill the plate.
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Ahhhh that’s a good one. I should be able to use a thinner plate of steel as well 😀 The one I have was free99 but I will look into that idea.
Take your steel plate that your going to drill the holes into. Take a second wood layer and put that behind the steel one. Drill all the way through both layers. Now when you load your paint balls into the holes you can slide the back wood layer to the side and it would lock the paintballs in place all at the same time.
I would like to add to the warning to clamp that piece down real good. 5/8ths is a pretty big hole to drill thru 1/4 steel, and even if you have made smaller holes first, the drill will more often than not want to grab big time just before breaking out the other side, sending the whole piece spinning along with the drill instantly. My hand got sliced up pretty good once doing something similar, and it was clamped… just not good enough.
As long as your drill press is a low RPM press, not an old press designed fo wood only, it should do just fine. Get your self a few cobalt bit at lows or home depot. You will only need one if for only one hole. If for many, such as the box. Best to hav a few. Lubburicant will help, However I drill 1/4″ Jet Turbin Steel here in the shop without any lub. and it is a heck of a lot tougher and more abrasion resistant that plain cold roll steel plate!
Aluminum would be easier to drill…
Awesome idea and good for field target practice as well… 😉
Yeah your right Jim, but what may happen is when a mess hit tags the steel the vibration Would make some of the balls fall out. So I’m thinking the thicker the better and I have tested this with different wood?……Oh hell Adam is going to kill me with that one..LOL 😆
If you make the holes so the paint balls friction fit they should hold themselves even in a 1/8″ think steel plate…
Aluminum would be easier to drill…
Awesome idea and good for field target practice as well… 😉
Chances are your drill press has a belt and 2 pulleys to adjust the speed.
It’s an old and cheap old Adam, Central Pneumatic with one speed 🙁 I may get this one I seen that has 12 speeds from 250 to 3100rpm’s or I can just have my buddy with the much better tools do the job right 😀
In a metal bar on your new frame, drill a series of holes 3/16 dia. spaced apart about 1 1/2-2 inches and get some golf tees. Put a golf tee in each hole and the concave on top of the tee is ideal for setting the paintballs on.
I use the tees, just pushed into the ground. Makes it easy to set up targets at various distances.
I do the golf tees and they work really nice in wood or cardboard and cheap factor is good thing. One problem that I run into with the golf tees is when one paint ball is hit, the splatter will sometimes knock down the next ball and I have them spaced 4-1/2 to 5″ apart so I’m looking for a better way to isolate the blast from the paintballs like the wood does.
My wood setup. This is the second one I made due to the holes getting pretty bored out with blowthrough.
I would like to drill 30 holes in that plate in back of the flange. I just hope it’s thick enough to hold the balls. The holes will be tight so it should work.
Holding the paintballs:
In a metal bar on your new frame, drill a series of holes 3/16 dia. spaced apart about 1 1/2-2 inches and get some golf tees. Put a golf tee in each hole and the concave on top of the tee is ideal for setting the paintballs on.
I use the tees, just pushed into the ground. Makes it easy to set up targets at various distances.
How long did it take you to tape all those paintballs on Lama’s American Standard dinner table & waterbowl? 😆 😆
Thats actually a pretty slick idea. You could tell from pretty far away when you popped one.
Thanks for the tips guys, I gota project I’m working on for a target setup. I started out with cardboard and went to wood, but after many shots both will have to be replaced. So I was thinking steel but it has to hold the Paint balls. My kids really love shooting paint balls due to the pop they make when you hit them.
Cardboard does pretty good and it’s cheap but We need something that will be stronger. Sometimes you can catch the edge and still hit the paintball with steel that will not happen.
If you use duck tape or shipping tape to hold the balls on the inside, the hits will not knock the other balls out. The box also helps keep the mess inside and clean up is all good.
Pat,
Chances are your drill press has a belt and 2 pulleys to adjust the speed.
If your drill press rotates faster than about 250rpm then you might want to rethink the project. Even with ever increasing hole sizes you may end up burning the cutting lips and margin on that bit if runs too fast.
Clamp it down good and solid.
Good luck
Walter….
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I would think it would work. The paintballs would need to centered between the two layers so it didnt just push them out when you moved the second layer.
Hmm, you could also make a second layer behind your plate that was out of a foam of some type with undersized holes in it. The foam should hold the balls tight and the steel plate would keep the foam from getting shredded.