Drilling holes in plastic?

I have a Nissan R32 race car. It requires 2 holes in the trunk. How should I go about doing this? BTW....what the heck is in the trunk of this car that requires these holes? Thanks!

-Chris

Use a pin vice (http://www.hiroboy.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1609) to drill the holes.

If it's not obvious from the intructions/parts what the holes are for, think twice before drilling them :D
(but I am guessing that they are for a rear wing maybe?)

I'm astonished how often it's called a "pin vice" instead of a "pin vise."* It's a vise which is used to hold pin shaped and sized objects, not a pin which is a bad and immoral habit. "Oh, man, I got so wasted on pins last night, I don't even know how I got home!" is not something you typically hear a modeler say. Though, I've heard stranger. This is, of course, not a big deal for non native speakers, but on [ahem] web business sites, well....

In any case, are you referring to small holes, like the holes molded into model parts to accept small, molded in pins on the other half of the part, or the part being attached to it? Or are you referring to the two, rather large holes, in the middle of the decklid? Those are for the fuel fillers. I think only one is used during a race, depending on which side of the car the pit wall is on during stops (though, I could be wrong about this detail). These holes are a little large to use only a pin vise, but you will need one anyway. You will need to drill smallish pilot holes in the decklid in the center of the larger holes you will ultimately make. For these holes, you will likely need a normal, hardware store sized bit, and you will drill the holes in the decklid using the smaller holes you drilled earlier as guides; to keep your larger bit from wandering all over the place, leaving you with incorrectly placed holes.

I hope this is of some use to you, and good luck!

*It is true that "vice" can be synonymous with "vise," but not vice versa. It is, however, archaic and not a typical use of the word "vice," and of course there is the point of the English language's largess, and therefore, it's unique usefulness in disambiguation. That is, using words that are more acceptably correct instead of technically correct, helps preserve clarity in language.

Ahem!

Not so fast young man :D

Check this (http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/vice_2?view=uk) out

Both forms are in fact correct - depending which side of the Pond you are on. One is more common in American English and the other in "real" English ;) Admittedly, the British English version does offer more scope for ambiguity but on the other hand, how is one supposed to interpret the title of the American Vice-President? j/k

how is one supposed to interpret the title of the American Vice-President? j/k
In this era, exactly as it sounds. :shakehead

Meanwhile, I'd guess that speedphreak is not talking about little holes, but large holes- like for the dry break fuel system valves mounted in touring cars.

http://www.1999.co.jp/dbimages/user/hobby/itbig/10036416z3.jpg

How to drill them is a good question. Personally I think a 10mm bit in thin styrene is a recipie for disaster- it would be nearly impossible to get that bit to stay put and not to walk all over the place. I'd probably drill the hole with sequentially sized bits, and then clean up the edges wiht a small rat-tail file.

Ironically, the last time I drilled out fuel valve holes like that, I used a pin-vise- but not with a drill bit. The vise itself had knurled surfaces for grips, that was exactly the diameter of the holes I needed. I opened the holes with sequential drill bits, and then used the vise itself as a perfectly sized file. Worked pretty well! :grinyes:


speedphreak, give as much information as you can when you ask questions. What kit are you building??? Go onto hobbysearch and find the instructions showing what you're trying to do. Or at least tell us how big the holes you need are. Don't make people guess what you're trying to do, or you'll get answers that aren't useful. The key to a good answer is a good question....

I use the handle of a medium large flat bastard file. Or more specifically, the tang that would be shoved into a wooden handle. It works great as a reamer for making those types of large holes. It is tapered so it can make almost any size hole between 1/8 and 1/2 of an inch... - Mark

How about using the same tool R/C modelers use to make their holes? I've seen a pen like tool with a sharp point. You sort of poke the area you're going to make the hole on and start twisting the tool side to side until it makes a hole. Then you twist in one direction to make the hole bigger and just keep turning the tool until it makes the sized hole you wanted. I dont know what its called but i've seen it make good holes on R/C plastic; however, this is much thicker plastic so I dont know if it will work.

The file tang is a cool idea- but probably the very best tool for this would be a T-handle reamer.

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/t-reamer.jpg

Perfectly made to order for this kind of task- just drill a centred pilot hole, and enlarge it to whatever size you need.

it's me again :)

I think you can make these holes just using a regular drill bit of an appropriate size.

First of all mark of where you want the exact centers of the hole to be on the plastic, drill a small pilot hole with a pin vice/vise and then drill out with the larger bit.

Plastic is soft and you even can do it just holding the bit in you fingers (as I just did with my M1 build to make holes for the fuel fillers in the rear windows).

The trick is not to go straight for the 10mm bit, but start with e.g 7mm and progress up checking after each one. Clean up the hole with a rolled up piece of sandpaper.

My :2cents:

The file tang is a cool idea- but probably the very best tool for this would be a T-handle reamer.
Perfectly made to order for this kind of task- just drill a centred pilot hole, and enlarge it to whatever size you need.I have one of those but it has a screwdriver grip, which for me is easier to handle for soft/thin materials such as sheet metal and plastic.

Tip cleaner for a welder. Atleast15 different size bits you can use and clean holes.