Author Topic: Drilling Acrylic - special bit set (Read 1529 times)

Cheese · « **on:** February 01, 2023, 02:17 PM »

I have an upcoming Plexiglas project and decided to purchase some proper drill bits. Previously I re-purposed some older conventional 118º drill bits by modifying the drill bit point angle on a Drill Doctor. It worked better but I think there are probably other geometry changes that need to be made.

The drill bits are manufactured by Norseman in St. Paul Minnesota.

They are packaged in a drill index manufactured by Huot in St. Paul Minnesota.

FWIW...Viking drill bits are also manufactured by Norseman and all bits are manufactured to NAS specifications.

https://www.holbren.com/acrylic-drill-bits/noseman-7-piece-acrylic-drill-bit-set/

Michael Kellough · « **Reply #1 on:** February 01, 2023, 02:31 PM »

@Cheese I’m curious how that 1/2” bit performs. The scraping flat looks a bit short. You might get some grabbing when it gets to full diameter. For comparison the equivalent part of the 1/4” bit looks long but it shouldn’t cause a problem.

Cheese · « **Reply #2 on:** February 01, 2023, 02:37 PM »

Quote from: Michael Kellough on February 01, 2023, 02:31 PM

@Cheese I’m curious how that 1/2” bit performs. The scraping flat looks a bit short. You might get some grabbing when it gets to full diameter. For comparison the equivalent part of the 1/4” bit looks long but it shouldn’t cause a problem.

Well thanks for the heads-up Michael...I don't work with plastics much so I'll pay some closer attention when I'm using these and report back if something's awry.

Michael Kellough · « **Reply #3 on:** February 01, 2023, 03:00 PM »

Maybe @rst will chime in. He’s an expert.

rst · « **Reply #4 on:** February 01, 2023, 05:50 PM »

All of these work great, I have a set up to 1", although from 1/2" up you quickly get into nosebleed territory. They are also available in metric sizing. I can't remember where I bought them but they sell all things for plastic fabbing. I bought my bit sets and 50" bending bar from them years ago. I really looked hard at their hot knives as there are dozens of configurations for cutting foam. I actually found the company...Abbeon. There catalog was like Festools...usually drooled on.
On an other note, Acme has Bora stands and MFT style tops on sale 25% off so I ordered a 4'x4' stand and two 2' x4' tops for in my van. Sales on anything I'm vaguely interested are like black holes...suuuck me right in

Mortiser · « **Reply #5 on:** February 02, 2023, 09:52 AM »

How does a Forstner bit do on acrylic or polycarbonate in larger sizes? Any experience?

rst · « **Reply #6 on:** February 02, 2023, 02:13 PM »

Using a Forsner will not be a pleasant experience

neilc · « **Reply #7 on:** February 02, 2023, 02:36 PM »

Quote from: Mortiser on February 02, 2023, 09:52 AM

How does a Forstner bit do on acrylic or polycarbonate in larger sizes? Any experience?

You are better off using a router with a circle guide if you need to cut larger holes in acrylic. I personally use my Shaper Origin which does very well but you can do similar with a pilot hole and guided bit with a template.

Packard · « **Reply #8 on:** February 02, 2023, 03:33 PM »

I can only add that router bit cutting speeds are not ideal for cutting plastic.

rst · « **Reply #9 on:** February 02, 2023, 05:53 PM »

Actually the vast majority of milling plastics is with a router, although mostly CNC. Just turn the speed down and use plastic bits made for the purpose, mostly O-flute. There are even bits dedicated for particular types of plastics. I the past I drilled holes using various carbide hole saws, again at slow speed and clearing the bit frequently, but I use my Shaper now. Usage recommendations by manufacturers recommend routing or sanding edges especially on acrylics to reduce micro cracks that can expand later.

afish · « **Reply #10 on:** February 02, 2023, 07:09 PM »

Agreed, I have done a little Acrylic on the cnc router and 0 flute bit worked well. Hand held might be a different story but taking to much off in one pass or feeding to fast freehand and heating the material up is when problems tend to happen. I have been wanting to get into more acrylic fab with the new CO2 laser. However, I havent found the time yet. The laser looks like the way to go depending on thickness. The edges of cast acrylic come off the machine already polished.

rvieceli · « **Reply #11 on:** February 04, 2023, 05:34 PM »

Hey @Cheese is there a part number on that Huot case?

Thanks

Ron

rst · « **Reply #12 on:** February 04, 2023, 05:38 PM »

An aside note to milling plastic, I have used a standard counter bore as well as Weldon counter sinks as well. Any cutting bits that scrapes works well.

rvieceli · « **Reply #13 on:** February 04, 2023, 05:51 PM »

@Cheese Norseman also makes a few drills in between the ones in that set.

Here's a link to their catalogue page:

http://www.norsemandrill.com/pdf/prd/norsemanAcrylic2016-1.pdf

Ron

Crazyraceguy · « **Reply #14 on:** February 04, 2023, 07:07 PM »

Quote from: rst on February 04, 2023, 05:38 PM

An aside note to milling plastic, I have used a standard counter bore as well as Weldon counter sinks as well. Any cutting bits that scrapes works well.

The Amana carbide-tipped counter-sink bits work well too. They have no rake to the cutting edge, essentially scraping.
I have used them on phenolic material too, with good results.

Cheese · « **Reply #15 on:** February 04, 2023, 08:47 PM »

Quote from: rvieceli on February 04, 2023, 05:51 PM

@Cheese Norseman also makes a few drills in between the ones in that set.

Here's a link to their catalogue page:

http://www.norsemandrill.com/pdf/prd/norsemanAcrylic2016-1.pdf

Ya Ron I'm very familiar with the additional drills that they offer for acrylic, the major stumbling block is that even though I live only 1-2 miles away from the Norseman/Viking manufacturing facility, it's impossible to find a retailer of their products that will sell in quantities of 1. To achieve that feat, I've had to purchase Viking cobalt drills from MSC...I've purchased Norseman parabolic drill bits from Travers Tool and I've now purchased Norseman acrylic bits from Holbren.
And Norseman isn't the only offender, try purchasing Fuller brad point bits in quantities of 1. Enough of the rant.

As far as Huot goes, they used to have a "seconds" show room where you could purchase at a very substantial discount. A huge room with everything out in the open, unboxed for you to inspect/purchase.

The Huot drill index included with the acrylic bits is definitely off of my radar screen, I have a lot of Huot indexes and this one is the proverbial unicorn.

rvieceli · « **Reply #16 on:** February 04, 2023, 11:24 PM »

@Cheese these folks have singles of the ones in your set. Should you need to replace one.

https://www.circlecsupply.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?p=5&q=norseman+acrylic+drills

That search link doesn't work right so just search their site for "norseman acrylic drills"

they also seem to have a decent selection of Norseman bits as singles including M42 cobalt jobber length.

Harry Epstein also carries a good variety of Norseman bits and taps and other stuff. It appears that they have all the wire sizes and imperial sizes as singles but no letter sizes as singles. They are light on screw machine length though. I think I had to get those from Travers as a full set.

https://www.harryepstein.com/tool-brand/norseman.html?product_list_limit=all

Ron

rvieceli · « **Reply #17 on:** February 04, 2023, 11:25 PM »

I was thinking that the case was a custom one for Norseman

rst · « **Reply #18 on:** February 05, 2023, 11:49 AM »

Abbeon sells them in all types available in regular drills...imperial, metric, letter, number and large sizes and sets as well as router bits.
They are a commercial/industrial supplier.
https://www.abbeon.com/drill-bits-router-bits

rvieceli · « **Reply #19 on:** February 05, 2023, 12:05 PM »

Wow! they have a bunch of cool stuff that I didn't know I needed!

ROn

rst · « **Reply #20 on:** February 05, 2023, 12:18 PM »

The plastic welding section is very interesting, I bought a used American made one similar to the mini-e model and requires compressed air. I've used it for ABS fabbing.

Michael Kellough · « **Reply #21 on:** February 05, 2023, 12:21 PM »

Quote from: rst on February 05, 2023, 12:18 PM

The plastic welding section is very interesting, I bought a used American made one similar to the mini-e model and requires compressed air. I've used it for ABS fabbing.

Is this similar to the process the Metabo edge banner uses to get a seemless joint without using adhesive?

rst · « **Reply #22 on:** February 05, 2023, 12:28 PM »

Abbeon has a U Tube channel that shows all kinds of interesting procedures and process'...new addictions

Michael Kellough · « **Reply #23 on:** February 05, 2023, 12:28 PM »

Thanks!

Cheese · « **Reply #24 on:** February 05, 2023, 10:33 PM »

Quote from: rvieceli on February 04, 2023, 11:25 PM

I was thinking that the case was a custom one for Norseman

Ya Ron I think you're right...and thanks for those other product leads, this stuff gets complicated when you're trying to purchase drill bits in quantities of 1 rather than 10...

As a fellow metal-worker, I thought you may be interested in this.

A couple of Norseman items that I keep in the attic cover of the SYS-CE Installer Systainer. A Norseman step drill for sheet metal and thin sheet goods and a Norseman countersink for extremely small holes.

Both of these items are usually catalogued in the "when will I ever need these items" only to be an absolutely necessity when they are needed...you get it.

rst · « **Reply #25 on:** February 06, 2023, 08:52 AM »

I’ve actually used step drills on the plastic as they use a scraping action also