[HELP] Drilling A Hole In A Ball

[EdK]

I have a pair of brass balls that I need to drill holes in. The balls are 7/16" in diameter and the hole needs to be 3/16" to a depth of about .22". The depth of the hole is not critical. How can I hold this so I can drill the hole?

Thanks,
Ed

   

[TomG]

Ed, the emoticon should have been at the end of the sentence.

All you need to do is throw the ball in a collet.

Tom

[EdK]

(11-08-2013, 07:46 AM)TomG Wrote: Ed, the emoticon should have been at the end of the sentence.

Fixed that.

Quote:All you need to do is throw the ball in a collet.

Tom

I never thought of that.

I could put a piece of 7/16" rod at the inboard end of the collet to even out the pressure on the collet and to act as a stop for the ball. Sounds like a plan.

Thanks Tom!

Ed

[krv3000]

well their is several ways to do this if you don't have a Colet chuck put sum bar stock in your lathe say its 20mm long drill threw say 2.5 mm just for daftness say the ball is 10mm OD so drill the end of the bar 10mm by 5mm deep the ball shud be a snug fit if not drill out 10.1 or till you get the ball to fit nice then super glue the ball in place then drill and tap the ball then remove from the chuck and warm it up to remove the ball the hole all the way thew is to help remove the ball or in the mill mack up a v block to hold it in the vice on the mill a another way is to cut threw a nut that the ball fits in to put sum tape on one side of the nut to stop the ball failing threw then put the nut in to the vice on the mill with a parallel under neath and nip the vice up just a nufe to hold the ball and drill that way hope that helps

[stevec]

Why does your baby brass monkey needs his balls drilled?

[EdK]

(11-08-2013, 09:55 PM)stevec Wrote: Why does your baby brass monkey needs his balls drilled?

To lighten the load.

Ed

[dnavaille]

You could put it in a 3 jaw chuck in the lathe

[EdK]

(11-09-2013, 07:06 PM)dnavaille Wrote: You could put it in a 3 jaw chuck in the lathe

That would scar it up pretty good so that's not a good option in this instance. Thanks for the suggestion though.

And to the forum!

Ed

[TomG]

...although it would be a good option if you didn't have collets. To keep from scarring the surface all you need to do is put some paper or cardboard under the jaws.

Welcome aboard dnavaille! Drop in over at the introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself. You'll find out in short order that we LOVE pics, so be forewarned.

Tom

[awemawson]

(11-09-2013, 07:10 PM)EdK Wrote:

(11-09-2013, 07:06 PM)dnavaille Wrote: You could put it in a 3 jaw chuck in the lathe

That would scar it up pretty good so that's not a good option in this instance. Thanks for the suggestion though.

And to the forum!

Ed

I have wraps of brass shim for holding delicate bits in the three jaw to prevent this. Even thick cardboard works if you use appropriate machining forces.