need help: drill bit cannot puncture thru Aluminum Magnestium casing

Happy Hopping

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http://www.jonsbo.com/products/qiaosiboMOD1hongban.html

so after 7 mth. of delay, I finally have time to drill some holes on the above case. The material is confirmed to be Magnesium Aluminum Alloy.

After spending 45 min., the drill bit won't go thru

the case is Magnesium aluminum alloy. The thickness is 2 mm.

I try a drill bit that says masory, another one say HSS straight shank, and 2 other drill bit. It will make a dent at the beginning. But it won't drill thru the hole

any idea? It should be very straight forward
 
Make sure your bit is sharp, use some cutting oil so it doesn't get overheated and dulled in a few minutes? Metal drill bits should be Cobalt steel (M35 or M42 depends on budget). High Speed Steel bits are not very good for hard metal.

Also, if you need to drill a large hole, best to drill a small pilot hole first.
 
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Use a drill press, lubricant, and a drill bit designed for metal. Also Google.

Exactly what I was going to say, also ensure you use a lubricant that is NOT water based (harmful off-gassing could occur).
You can skimp on the drill press and get something from harbor freight, or maybe find someone who will rent one to you.
I would NOT skimp on the drill bit, titanium or a very high quality diamond bit.

Last bit of advice- GO SLOW! AND LUBE OFTEN! once mag catches fire...it's bad.
 
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Very Low Speed Drill (drill press is great, but keep it low and slow).
Drill bit designed for metal and it needs to be *SHARP* to reduce friction and heat buildup. The harder the drill bit you can get, the better. Don't waste your time with HSS, go Titanium or Cobalt (as mentioned above) or diamond.
Lubricant *MUST* be oil based -- do not use a water based one. Not only could the off-gassing occur as mentioned above, but if by some tiny chance there is igntion....water isn't going to help things at all!

Finally -- there has to be a good way to remove the chips as they are produced from drilling. The chips are what are most likely to heat and combust (due to small mass). If you go very slow with a sharp bit, your cuttings will come out like a ribbon; this will be better than chips (larger mass, and it indicates that your cutting edge is still sharp).

As mentioned, GO SHARP, GO SLOW, LUBE OFTEN and KEEP COOL!
 
Make sure your bit is sharp, use some cutting oil so it doesn't get overheated and dulled in a few minutes? Metal drill bits should be Cobalt steel (M35 or M42 depends on budget). High Speed Steel bits are not very good for hard metal.

Also, if you need to drill a large hole, best to drill a small pilot hole first.

which is better? M35 or M42? If I'm going to buy it once, I might as well get it right

as to lubricant, any non water based lubricant will do?
 
I have a fair amount of experience machining aluminium/magnesium alloys and have yet to run into any A/M alloy that was at all "hard" to cut.
But, I do sharpen my own drills and tools so I KNOW they are sharp and that is the main requirement.
Cement drills are the wrong choice.
Tool steel should work fine. Really.
Slow rpm + high feed ( push fairly hard)
WD 40 type spray works for me.
 
excellent, if WD40 is all it takes, I got pretty of those. I'll be buying the cobalt steel bit this afternoon. Thanks.
 
which is better? M35 or M42? If I'm going to buy it once, I might as well get it right

as to lubricant, any non water based lubricant will do?
M42 is the better one (more cobalt in the alloy). For your application, I personally don't think that will make any different.
 
Don't buy cheap bits. You can, but in my experience they require sharpening before use, even when new.
Quality bits should have a good edge and correct geometry.
 
Would silicon spray lube work as well as WD40?
Use oil. Silicone lube won't flow, and will not lubricate or cool the cutting edge worth a damn. Plain water would likely work better, but don't use that either
 
I have a fair amount of experience machining aluminium/magnesium alloys and have yet to run into any A/M alloy that was at all "hard" to cut.
But, I do sharpen my own drills and tools so I KNOW they are sharp and that is the main requirement.
Cement drills are the wrong choice.
Tool steel should work fine. Really.
Slow rpm + high feed ( push fairly hard)
WD 40 type spray works for me.

how exactly do you sharpen a drill bit?

I haven't got the time to buy the cobalt drill bit yet. But I did work on 1 hole using HSS. Using a small drill bit, it goes thru quite nicely w/ WD40. But going back to use that 11/64 HSS, it's quite hard to finally puncture thru. So it seems that 11/64 need to be sharpen
 
how exactly do you sharpen a drill bit?

I haven't got the time to buy the cobalt drill bit yet. But I did work on 1 hole using HSS. Using a small drill bit, it goes thru quite nicely w/ WD40. But going back to use that 11/64 HSS, it's quite hard to finally puncture thru. So it seems that 11/64 need to be sharpen

Belt sander, or table mounted grinding wheel.
 
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*didn't get through all the other responses first*
Brand new cobalt bit. Pressure and Low speed.
 
"how exactly do you sharpen a drill bit?"11q

Not so much"sharpening" as Reshaping.

The real trick is to know what shape to grind into the bit for use in the material you want to drill.

Bench/pedestal grinder is my tool of choice.

In general the shape of a store bought drill bit is good for general duty use, works well enough in most common uses.
 
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Okay, I run into a new problem:

for this case that I'm working on:

http://www.jonsbo.com/en/products/qiaosiboMOD1hongban.html

on the right hand side next to that panel of screws, they drill the screw hole for radiator only. Now I don't do water cooling, so I'm trying to mount 2 x 120 mm fan at the bottom, and obviously the case fan screw diameter is bigger than the factory drilled hole

1 option is to use a drill to make that hole bigger

is there any option, to use some sort of screw that the top w/ fit the fan hole and the bottom will fit the screw hole?
 
Okay, I run into a new problem:

for this case that I'm working on:

http://www.jonsbo.com/en/products/qiaosiboMOD1hongban.html

on the right hand side next to that panel of screws, they drill the screw hole for radiator only. Now I don't do water cooling, so I'm trying to mount 2 x 120 mm fan at the bottom, and obviously the case fan screw diameter is bigger than the factory drilled hole

1 option is to use a drill to make that hole bigger

is there any option, to use some sort of screw that the top w/ fit the fan hole and the bottom will fit the screw hole?

Just use a washer on a shortened radiator screw...
 
I fix it. I found some screw that is just long enough w/ the small holes. So I would have to drill the bigger 11/64 holes x 2 dozens metal drill, now, I can skip that. So in total I spent 4 hr. and saved 4 x 120 mm LED fan. However, there would have been some drill holes regardless, due to modification. In the end, I'm quite happy w/ the results
 
I fix it. I found some screw that is just long enough w/ the small holes. So I would have to drill the bigger 11/64 holes x 2 dozens metal drill, now, I can skip that. So in total I spent 4 hr. and saved 4 x 120 mm LED fan. However, there would have been some drill holes regardless, due to modification. In the end, I'm quite happy w/ the results

Pics.
 
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