Drilling Mouse Holes

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Slow Hand
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Drilling Mouse Holes

Post by Slow Hand »

OK, still a first time F1 builder and still a newbie at the lathe. I have received some great advice both here on the board and in back channel communications with several members here. It has all been highly appreciated.
I have my first of three K baffles done except for the mouse holes. I do not have a mill, but have a decent drill press. I was wondering If anyone has use a similar setup to drill mouse holes rather than milling them. I was thinking of using a hole saw to drill a slightly smaller hole through a block of wood, then split it and lock it in the vice, clamping the baffle into it. Any other, better suggestions?

I have seen mouse holes drilled at an angle to the bore and parallel to the bore. Is there any advantage to either of these ideas?

Edit to add a pic of my first baffle. It's only about the fourth thing I've made on my lathe, so I'm pretty happy with it! I see some things I'll adjust on the next two to make it more like I want. I'm basically building them on the fly with small sketches to keep my mind straight as I'm cutting! I'm definitely learning a lot on this project!

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john.t.little1
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Re: Drilling Mouse Holes

Post by john.t.little1 »

I have done it two ways when not having a mill. One with a drill press using a rotary table have the part in the center with end mill in the bore than turn rotary table enough to make your mouse hole. That way leaves a crescent shape but when you haven't another option... Second way and easier than one would think is make a holder than can clamp your k's can be as simple as a piece of 1" square cut it in half clean it up with the lathe than put the two pieces together bore a hole in it and use it to clamp your k in your tool holder on the lathe and chuck a end mill in the lathe jaws. Takes some aligning but isn't all that hard.
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CMV
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Re: Drilling Mouse Holes

Post by CMV »

Is your drill press table large enough to clamp a lathe chuck to it? If you have your 4-jaw off the lathe use it to hold work on the drill press. It's typically not a good practice to use a drill press in place of a milling machine but for what you need to cut, it's all plunge cuts & not the higher lateral forces on the tool typically associated with milling.

If the chuck doesn't work, maybe V-blocks in a vise? Or else make a fixture as JTL1 suggested.

For as much as I complain about my crappy rotary table, it does a good job at holding K's for the milling ops. About the only good thing I can say about it. This is how I do the milling work on K's. Not saying it's the only or best way, just how I do it. Maybe that will give you a better idea of how to hold it.

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T-Rex
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Re: Drilling Mouse Holes

Post by T-Rex »

Unfortunately I don't have the equipment to reliably use my press for this operation.

For a K with OD around .87", I chuck up a piece of 1.25 round stock Al about 1.5-2" long, in an independent 4 jaw. Bore it .0005-.001 larger than your K and to the same depth as its length. Lock the spindle. Hacksaw a kerf across the axis the same depth as the K. Clean it up. Insert K and lock with a hose clamp. Off center the jig so a bit in the tailstock, or in boring bar holder on QCTP, is where you want it. Setup indicator on tailstock, if needed, and go to town.
I've also cut a piece that goes on the outside of the K, in the angled portion of the skirt's exterior. Ripped it in half and used opposing set screws to hold K in jig.
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gunny50
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Re: Drilling Mouse Holes

Post by gunny50 »

Check complete builds by Enfield, he had some great builds with several building solutions, including a porting Jig for power drill.

one of his builds is below
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=81037

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SPdotCOM
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Re: Drilling Mouse Holes

Post by SPdotCOM »

Hi,

Jigs, yea !, a good jig is the key for a successful home-shop K-Baffle (ie. Drill Press or Hand Drill).

And, guessing loud, i'll add: Use a 3D Printer to build the jig and you can have access to angled ports (same as CMV Operation 1 & 2 but with some angles).

If you don't have a 3D Printer at Home or yours is not accurate enough, just send the STL to an on-line 3D Printing Service near Home and have it professionally printed for just few bucks.

If posible, use Nylon (Tauman manufactures very good filaments): it's strong, really good absorbing shock/vibrations and have very low friction coefficient.

Drilling Ports in K-Baffles (or any other Baffle) shouldn't be an issue any more.

Best,

Paul
www.Silencer-Plans.com
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Slow Hand
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Re: Drilling Mouse Holes

Post by Slow Hand »

Thanks for the help, guys! I appreciate it. I'm closing in on my first build and I can see many more in the future!
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Slow Hand
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Re: Drilling Mouse Holes

Post by Slow Hand »

A little progress is being made....

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