How would one go about drilling multiple 12mm & 32mm holes (26 in all!)
on different axis using a machine?

The holes have to be accurate and are on different sides of the post
itself. Obviously, manually this is very time consuming, and ideas?

A CNC with a 4th axis rotator will make short work of things. A two pass
drill fixture with the second pass indexed off the first will do for
smaller volumes. just use a tight fitting pin inserted in one of the
pass 1 holes to align for the second pass.

Chappers wrote:
How would one go about drilling multiple 12mm & 32mm holes (26 in all!)
on different axis using a machine?

The holes have to be accurate and are on different sides of the post
itself. Obviously, manually this is very time consuming, and ideas?

"Chappers" wrote in message
oups.com...
How would one go about drilling multiple 12mm & 32mm holes (26 in all!)
on different axis using a machine?

The holes have to be accurate and are on different sides of the post
itself. Obviously, manually this is very time consuming, and ideas?

You've given way too little info for useful help.

What's the final application?

What kind of tools and machines do you have?

How much money are you willing to spend?

How many posts do you have to produce per batch, per year?

Anything else you can think of.

Regards,

Robin

Final application is to mount two brackets on either side so accuracy
is vital

Currently no tools nor machines - costs is not a problem, it's a
expansion job for our company so we are currently looking into ideas to
this problem

10,000 Alu tubes a year

Make patterns of clear mylar and get a couple of good people to mak the
parts and drill the holes.

26 holes, 10,000 parts per year- this is enough to be worth buying a
cnc machine.
If you are buying a dedicated machine for this job only, you can get
away with a pretty small cnc milling/drilling machine.

You dont say the size of the part- which will determine machine size as
well- you need a machine that will travel the distance between the two
farthest holes on one side.

I would guess it would be worth manually turning the part, rather than
going for a machine that will automatically do so, as that could add
quite a bit to the cost- although again, it depends on the weight and
size of the part-if its small enough, you could automate the whole
thing for $35,000 to $50,000. But this could easily double or even
triple if you get into large travels.

A Haas Minimill or VF-1 with 4th axis and a cnc rotary table or
possibly even a cnc indexer from Haas would do the hole thing in one
part loading- and while Haas machines are not recommended for really
heavy milling, it seems like this would be a perfect application for
one. Haas makes it easy to add a Haas indexer or rotary table.
And Haas has pretty good sales and service in europe, as I understand
it.

http://www.haascnc.com/home.asp

"Chappers" wrote in message
ups.com...
Final application is to mount two brackets on either side so accuracy
is vital

I'll assume it's not normally your job to either buy or run the machines
that make your parts.

With that said, if you want a reasonable answer which is helpful and may
solve your specific problem, you have to be as specific about your
requirements as possible(!)

Important questions:

How long is the post/tube?

What is its diameter(s) or wall thickness?

Do the holes go through both walls of the post, or only one? Are they on
center?

Does the post require any turning or axial drilling/boring? Do the ends need
to be threaded or have any type of forming, deburring, truing, etc.
performed? Does the OD or ID need any surface finishing (sanding, polishing,
etc).

Are you making only one design of post with all holes always in the same
location, or do you need to add/subtract/move holes for different versions
of the final product?

Will your company ever produce a similar product, either simultaneously or
after this post is out of production?

What are the diameter and location tolerances on the holes? Are the holes
referenced from one datum, or from each other?

Does the bracket itself fit into the holes, or are the holes only for the
fastener, or? How many holes does each bracket use?

Do the holes need to be deburred on the outside before the bracket is
fitted? Deburred on the inside?

Depending on your answer, you may go with a drill jig and drill press, CNC
lathe with cross drilling capacity, or a specialized machine, or...

Again, please be as specific as you can. Feel free to volunteer any
information, no matter how trivial.

Regards,

Robin

The actual application is to fit traffic lighting brackets to Aluminium
columns of which are cylindrical:

Lengths 3m - 6m and maybe 10m

Diameters range from 114 - 202mm

Wall thickness range from 3mm - 10mm

Holes are in center of different sizes and on both sides

I have a feeling a cnc lathe would do the job as we would need to do 2
different designs at the moment.

"Chappers" wrote in message
oups.com...
The actual application is to fit traffic lighting brackets to Aluminium
columns of which are cylindrical:

Lengths 3m - 6m and maybe 10m

Diameters range from 114 - 202mm

Wall thickness range from 3mm - 10mm

Holes are in center of different sizes and on both sides

I have a feeling a cnc lathe would do the job as we would need to do 2
different designs at the moment.

You'll probably have to look into a more specialized machine. The sizes
you're dealing with are not condusive to such a broad solution as a CNC
lathe. Are you making holes all the way along the post, or just at the ends?
A CNC lathe which could actually hold your part would be wildly expensive
and completely unnecessary.

Because your holes are all on center, you won't need what would be a "x"
axis on a lathe ("y" axis on a mill). Indeed you really only need a C axis
(rotation about the Z axis), and some type of "z" axis (lathe) to feed the
post along. This is where your tolerances come into play. The accuracy your
parts require will determine how you feed on the "z" axis. There are many
machines that feed tubes/pipes for one reason or another (tube/pipe benders,
for instance) which would be reasonably accurate and reasonably inexpensive.

The holes go through your part, so drilling depth doesn't have to be wildly
accurate. Again, reasonably inexpensive.

You should ask about your problem on alt.machines.cnc. You might find
someone who's done tube work in a high production situation. You should try
and answer more of my questions. From what you've given us, we can assume
certain things, but you need to be as specific as possible (tolerances, for
example).

Regards,

Robin