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Step 4Drilling the Hinge Holes
Look carefully at the first image and you should see small marks indicating where the holes for the hinges will be drilled.
At this point, I'll mention that all my drilling so far has been done by a cordless hand drill; my electric hand drill died a few months back when the motor burned out.
Drilling with my cordless was problematic - I only have one battery pack, so I had to keep charging it every so often. It also just doesn't have that much power. But these problems are NOTHING compared to the issue of trying to drill down vertically into metal while putting enough downward pressure on the drill to get through the aluminum. If I got even minutely off vertical during my drilling, the drill bit would buzz and make an awful racket and the aluminum piece would also buzz (even when clamped securely).
I've decided I want a table mounted drill press - I won't have to worry about whether my hand drilling is perfectly vertical and I don't have to concentrate on downward pressure while trying to keep the drill steady.
The next two images show the pilot holes drilled - and here's where I ran into my next problem. I've only got a small collection of 8 bits (1/4", 3/8", and smaller). I didn't have the proper-sized bit to match the small screws that will secure the hinges, so I used what I had and the holes came out slightly larger than the screws.
So, my solution was to drop some Gorilla Glue into each hole (and a little where the hinges will attach). I attached the hinges, making sure to dip each screw's threads into some glue. The glue dried overnight (it expands and fills space, which worked in my favor) and now the screws and hinges are secured. I took a small bit of sandpaper to the excess glue.
Ideally, I'd like to have a tapper that will let me drill the holes so they are threaded and ready for screws to be inserted. These small brass screws are very soft metal and if I had used a screwdriver, it would have stripped the heads easily. Another item on my Must-Have-List is a bigger assortment of drill bits, with a good mix of small and large diameter.
The next two images show the hinges work - look carefully and you can see some glue remnants before I sanded them down.
At this point, I'll mention that all my drilling so far has been done by a cordless hand drill; my electric hand drill died a few months back when the motor burned out.
Drilling with my cordless was problematic - I only have one battery pack, so I had to keep charging it every so often. It also just doesn't have that much power. But these problems are NOTHING compared to the issue of trying to drill down vertically into metal while putting enough downward pressure on the drill to get through the aluminum. If I got even minutely off vertical during my drilling, the drill bit would buzz and make an awful racket and the aluminum piece would also buzz (even when clamped securely).
I've decided I want a table mounted drill press - I won't have to worry about whether my hand drilling is perfectly vertical and I don't have to concentrate on downward pressure while trying to keep the drill steady.
The next two images show the pilot holes drilled - and here's where I ran into my next problem. I've only got a small collection of 8 bits (1/4", 3/8", and smaller). I didn't have the proper-sized bit to match the small screws that will secure the hinges, so I used what I had and the holes came out slightly larger than the screws.
So, my solution was to drop some Gorilla Glue into each hole (and a little where the hinges will attach). I attached the hinges, making sure to dip each screw's threads into some glue. The glue dried overnight (it expands and fills space, which worked in my favor) and now the screws and hinges are secured. I took a small bit of sandpaper to the excess glue.
Ideally, I'd like to have a tapper that will let me drill the holes so they are threaded and ready for screws to be inserted. These small brass screws are very soft metal and if I had used a screwdriver, it would have stripped the heads easily. Another item on my Must-Have-List is a bigger assortment of drill bits, with a good mix of small and large diameter.
The next two images show the hinges work - look carefully and you can see some glue remnants before I sanded them down.
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