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aemeijers

wrote:
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.

Make a jig out of four boards- a base, 2 side rails, and a thick top
plate with a guide hole in it to guide the drill bit and keep it
perpendicular. Hard part will be making the hole in the top plate,
unless you have some piece of metal in your junk box that would work.
Pretty much any corded drill would work- aluminum is soft. If you don't
have the material on hand, a machine shop would be pretty cheap- they
could knock it out on a proper drill press in a few minutes, and even do
the bending for you on their jig.

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