In a message dated 12/8/97 12:25:07 AM, Ron Nossaman wrote: <<Bill, I think your drill sizes are too big for this material.>> The drill sizes I mentioned ARE way too big for this material. I wasn't suggesting that they would work, only that there are a a lot of standard sized drills out there that very by only a few thousandths of an inch in diameter, and that one should consider metric dirlls as a possibility. You should select the right size by testing with the drill to be used on the pinblock to be used, not by looking at a list. <<Way back before I started using Delignit, I used to drill these blocks at 1/4", .250. I've seen these blocks go from 200 in/lb to too loose to hold in five years in school buildings heated with radiators. That's why I switched to Delignit.>> Been there, done that. I once bought some "pinblock" material that simply could not be made to work. To get decent pin torque one had to drill so undersized a hole, like 1/4", a heavy hammer was needed to drive them in, and then the compression would destroy the lousy wood of the block. It was like using balsa wood. <<I double drill Delignit, .250 first pass. This clears out the bulk of the chips, and the feed speed and generated heat isn't as critical. Then I drill 6.8mm on the second pass (could be 6.7 if necessary). Not much material removed, not much heat generated, very uniform feel without much skill involved (drill press setup, floated on air to move between pins).>> I LOVE your method of drilling your pinblocks! It is twice the work and four times better than any other method I have heard about. I would bet money that it is worth doing.You must do an excellent job, especially with watching the tuning pin diameters and suppliers so closely. It is really smart to put great effort ( and money in the case of delignit) into what counts the most. Bill Simon Phoenix
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