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How do you guys drill the holes into other baseplates? What drill bit do you use?
drill bits for metal drilling in ascending order in terms of cost are High-Speed Steel (HSS) bits, Black Oxide bits, Cobalt steel bits, and Titanium bits
I just got a very plain simple 5 mm HSS drill bit and use a very simple cheap battery drill and it works fine.
The things to note, drilling a very precise hole is often not going to happen, so I tend to widen it out some as I go, as well as keep an eye on exactly where the drill bit is going, eg often goes a little to the right as I drill, for whatever reason, so yes user error / issues aside, it does work fine with a little care and control, sometimes better than others.
Holding it straight in a vertical way, not going too fast but going fast enough on this variable speed drill and keeping a good view of where it sits in relation to the other holes, then an easy break through and cleaning up the hole a bit by going round some.
Tried very carefully marking it all out at first, but now, after maybe twenty or more baseplates, I just go by eye, look at where the other holes are, line it up and start, check it after a little just to make sure it is in the right place, angle it in the right direction and drill a bit more if it went crooked, then once the hole is about right, finish it off and clean it up a bit, then on to the next.
I also angle grind off the E from the word VENTURE so the deck bolt nuts sit evenly, but it is not essential.
Also, cast baseplates I like to drill from the underside as they are solid, but forged baseplates I like to drill from on top, as the underside has too many bumps and the drill bit doesn't sit well on it to start. Might be different if there was a fixed setup, like a drill press, but I just have a jig made up and go from there.
Can post some pics if anyone is interested too, but it is very much just a "backyard" type setup, nothing amazing looking.