Tips for assembly line hole cutting? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: cdevidal
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2023, 11:11:38 am
content: What are some tips for making jigs to cut slots and holes quickly and consistently? I had thought of using a drill bit or router end mill in a handheld drill against a template but am thinking that would wear out the template very quickly as the cutting edge would be rubbing it.I need to have a small enclosure for an ESP32, 1200mAh flat battery, and circuit board. Holes needed for USB-C and panel mount buttons. Does not need to be watertight. First run is 100 devices.If the price of a factory doing this is low enough I’d also like to know, but at 100 pieces I would think the costs would be too high. Aiming for $3 max per enclosure.

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2023, 01:05:15 pm
content: what material? what tools do you have?

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2023, 01:32:14 pm
content: IMO, the best setup would be a milling machine and some kind of jig to position your boxes quickly and accurately. You could probably make the jig from wood. A hand drill isn't going to be able to locate holes very accurately (probably accurate enough for a round connector plug but not enough for an arrangement of mounting holes) and you're not going to be able to cut any kind of slots with just a hand drill or even with a drill press. Their bearings have too much side play in them and they're also not intended to handle any side load.You could probably also use a router table and make jigs for it but routers and router bits are made for softer materials such as wood and plastic and not for metal.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2023, 01:45:02 pm
content: IMO, the best setup would be a milling machine and some kind of jig to position your boxes quickly and accurately. You could probably make the jig from wood. A hand drill isn't going to be able to locate holes very accurately (probably accurate enough for a round connector plug but not enough for an arrangement of mounting holes) and you're not going to be able to cut any kind of slots with just a hand drill or even with a drill press. Their bearings have too much side play in them and they're also not intended to handle any side load.You could probably also use a router table and make jigs for it but routers and router bits are made for softer materials such as wood and plastic and not for metal.PS to add. In metal working industry when they use jigs to locate holes to be drilled, they drill the jig hole larger than needed and use hardened steel drill bushings in them and replace the bushings when they start to wear. Look up "drill bushings".Another possibility for the holes would be to make a template that locates the holes and then use a transfer punch to mark the hole locations and then drill them on a drill press. A drill press isn't as accurate as a milling machine but is a lot more accurate than a hand drill. It's all going to depend on how thick and how hard the material is that you're working with and how accurate the holes need to be.

author: cdevidal
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2023, 02:29:23 pm
content: Drill bushings! Perfect. That’s what I needed to know. I can make jigs large enough for the bushing to create the slot the perfect size. Thank you!I forgot that I have a small conversion kit that turns a hand drill into a simple drill press. I’ll use that to start, then later upgrade to something better.I have a small hobby CNC router (MPCNC) but I figured it would be overkill for this. Hard to mount the enclosures in a consistent way, but maybe not if I build a good hold down jig. Something I need to consider. The CNC needs repairing before I might use it.