Preview: Fasteners & Fastening, Part 4 – Drilling & Tapping Bronze

14 Responses So Far to “Fasteners & Fastening, Part 4 – Drilling & Tapping Bronze”

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  Bill Ertel says:

  The fastening series is really great; I’ve always had only fair to poor results when using plugs, Eric’s clarification of the combo drill matchup with the same plug size is very key info. I also learned a great tip for using a machine thread in wood. Wow great videos!!
  Your various series are so valuable and fun to watch too.

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  Ralph Wernett says:

  Thank you for the lesson, I prefer to drill a pilot hole, maybe an 1/8″ for a 1/4″ hole to guild the larger bit. Two other things, one I read is don’t hold the chuck & power the drill to tighten the bitt, and another thing I was told from a machinist, only file metal in one direction, or else his father would be turning in his grave…… so every time I use a metal file, I think of his father and correct myself if I start filing back and forth.
  Just wanted to share my 2 cents.

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  Wendy Henderson says:

  A word of caution when drilling brass or bronze. Once you drill a hole say 1/4″ and you want to enlarge it to say 1/2″ your out out luck as the 1/2″ bit will often tear a larger out of round hole.

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  Michael Mittleman says:

  Very nice, thanks for sharing. When will Part 5 be available?

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  Rick Jacks says:

  Hello Eric,
  Thank you very much for the “Fasteners and Fastening” series. I’m reminded of how I felt about the Norm Abrams “New Yankee Workshop” series when it started in the 1980’s. These types of series fill in the gaps left by the shop teachers you didn’t have growing up. I’m once again reminded of the tremendous value of my OCH membership.

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  James Jones says:

  Excellent series, and especially this one about bronze! (Coincidentally great timing — I’ll be working with some bronze here shortly.) How about something on bronze brazing? Such a useful material, specially for wooden boats.

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  Ralph Eade says:

  Thinking about opening a boat building joinery shop in my semi retirement love working with wood

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  Eric J Nelson says:

  More then likely he is humoring us poor chaps who lack stationary tools in the garage. I like to do my drilling and tapping into aluminum engine blocks of Russian motorcycles while hanging 1/2 upside down, knuckles and elbows jammed into confined space cursing Ivan the whole time while blood is dripping onto the floor. Hehehe. That is a good time. Seriously, I have learned so much about producing higher quality work by the review of these basics. Thanks Eric and OCH

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  William Allen says:

  What is the wax lubricant product you used for drilling and tapping brass? I have always used oil, which leads to the mess you described. Is basic vaseline an alternative?

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    Emma Mathis says:

    Hi William,

    Its a product called “Accu-Lube: Push-Up Stick Lubricant” and you can find it at several distributors – to help here is a direct link to one with the product information: http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tnpla/05651260?src=pla&cid=PLA-Google-PLA+-+Test&CS_003=7867724&CS_010=05651260

    Hope this helps and let us know if you have anymore questions.

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  David Heal says:

  I like to use a large drill bit or countersink (hand-held for control) to debur the edge of the hole. Just be careful to not overly chamfer the edge of the hole.

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  Larry Cheek says:

  I really appreciate the very fine-grained detail in this series. It’s clear, interesting, and above all useful.

  One question: Why wouldn’t you use the drill press hanging out in the background for drilling those bronze sheets? It would eliminate the bit’s snagging and the possibility of an imperfect perpendicular in the hole.

  I’ve learned through unhappy experience in the shop that saving a minute’s time using a hand-held tool instead of a more precise stationary tool is likely to be a false economy.

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    Eric Blake says:

    Hey Larry,
    We could of used the drill press, but my thought was two things.
    Not everyone has a drill press, and if you can do it with a drill, doing it with a drill press would be a piece of cake. We are finding starting with the very basics often leads to the best stuff. I use a drill press whenever I can for sure.

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      wayne eddy says:

      It is a bit funny to go on about drilling with ahand drill cause its “basic” and then drag out the number,letter fraction bit set.It is possible to approximate the letter sizes with fraction and get apretty good job.That would have borne some discussion.