On Mon 01 Sep 2008 05:33:03a, told us...

I have a 1/8th thick aluminum bar 36 inches long and 2 inches wide
that I want to drill some 5/16 inch holes into and bend to 90
degrees. Could a hand held drill be used to drill the holes or would
I be better off taking it to a machine shop. If a hand held would do
it what specifications would the drill have to have to do it?

Thanks.


When you say hand held drill, are you referring to a manually operated or
electric drill? I would only use an electric drill. Aluminum is
relatively soft, so nothing special is really required in the way of the
drill itself. An ordinary twist drill bit designed for drilling metal and
other materials will work fine. I would recommend using a pointed punch (I
know there's another name for it) to mark and dimple the location of each
location you plan to drill. This will prevent the drill bit from skipping
across the metal.

HTH

--
Wayne Boatwright

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