Just A Little Help For All The Do It Yourselfers

[rbj69]

it has come to my attention many try this with a hand drill and r messing up some of there projects, please when u read people telling u how they do it, please remember it may sound and look easy but for some it is hard and u may be that someone , i use a drill press because even i am pretty handy with working on watches for u guys but using a regular handdrill is even too hard for me to use , why make it hard , another helpful tip : they sell for cheap contraptions to turn your drills and dremels into a halfway decent drill press, being i do this alot i chose to spend the cash and buy a nice jewelers press but thats me like i said in the past there is a tool for every job and for me a hand drill alone is not the best way for drilling lugholes

i can tell u one thing i have done hundreds of lugholes and using a regular hand drill is very hard to do , it is basically a feel thing when using it and to me speed is a issue as well as pressure , so people please be careful if u r one of those guys that have book sense and not mechanically inclined stay away from it , it will cost u more in the long run , i will even be willing to drill the holes out for u for half my fee as long as u finish it with the buffing which most can do , i really would hate to see people hurt there watches and mostly i would hate to see people hurt themselves by slipping and drilling a hole in there leg or something , so be careful !!!

please dont take this post out of context , it is merely here to help people be happy/careful and if u do it yourself , know what is out there to make this job easier for u!!!

take care

joe

[2005SUBMARINER]

excellent tips !!! RBJ ..

but i wont do lug drilling or case retapping .. ill do everything else with my subs except those 2 things !

i believe those should be left to the pro's

[cskent69]

I agree. I have a large drill press - having a drill press which you can set the speed makes drilling the lugholes easier. You can even hold the case in two hands - which makes it much more precise. Once you have a drill press - the next thing is the quality of the hole that you drill.

I have to say - that my first shot - i blistered the edges around the hole by going too fast. I am going to try and use some files to smooth it out before bringing out the dremel. I think that going slow is the key and backing our alot to allow the extra material to escape.

[panerai153]

Joe, Very good advice. Nothing beats a drill press for precise drilling. As to burning either the metal or the bits, the secret is lots of lubrication. plenty of cutting oil or any light oil. we use cheap motor oil on the farm for cuttinng oil and it works fine. If you ever looked at a video of a machine shop, or visited one, most have automatic oilers that run a steady stream of oil on the bit. It serves two purposes, keeps the bit and metal cooler and floats the cuttings away from the bit. Holding anything metal in your hand and drilling is dangerous. If the bit hangs up, that drill will spin the object being drilled and could cause some pretty impressive injuries to your hand or if your holding it between your legs, OUCH !! Won't even go there.