Drilling custom frame

[Izzy]

Good lubricant always helps

Once you break through the black cladding on tamiya rails or just starting out on aftermarket rails you get into that nice soft aluminum.

Since most of our parts are common low alloy aluminum it is fairly susceptible to gumming up a drill bit. By gumming up I mean the aluminum pastes itself to your drill bit or especially thread taps. By using the lube it helps to keep the drilling point cool and gum free.
A gummed up drill bit might wonder off center. Especially since it typically only gums up one of the two cutting surfaces.
A gummed up tap will strip out those nice threads as you reverse and back that tap out.

Try to always use a center punch. A must for keeping centered on the mark.

Izzy

[ricm]

Best method I found it to make a template using some Aluminium angle which you can clamp to the chassis rail. One side of the angle can be clamped to the outside wall of the rail, with the horizontal part of the angle drilled to pre-determine the the distance of the hole from the rail edge. Take lots of care to make the template, making sure you get the lateral location absolutely right, then its real easy to drill the holes in the rail with confidence because you only need to slide the template along the chassis rail to get the right 'front-to-back' location. Much more accurate than a centre punch each time....