Terminology for universal drill die plate jig 2

[Owen N]

I can't find these on Google.
What are they sold as?
I saw one once on line.
they have many hole of different sizes in a hardened steel plate.
hole sizes 2mm to 10mm
This is handy for making small engine parts.
The objective is to simply clamp the plate in place and drill through a hole.

 

[TugboatEng]

Individuals they're called drill bushings. Assembled in think it's called a drill guide plate. I don't know what the benefit of having one with many sizes would be.

 

[SnTMan]

https://www.google.com/search?q=dri...HSdDAQMQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1203&bih=579&dpr=1

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[TugboatEng]

From Tin's link, this one would be most useful.

https://www.mile-x.com/otc-6982dgs-...eR2QggAmgcGwFuz6Wmv8aF-3VOpnaoJhoCGL8QAvD_BwE

 

[Owen N]

There is one called a Big Gator Metric V-Drill guide for woodwork, $56 nz. I could use one of those.
I could also make a plate and insert the full range of bushes in it. Generally bushes are not conveniently shaped to go into a piece of 3-4mm plate.
There is no need for it to be 1/2" thick!

The advantage is that it eliminates many drilling steps, and has one handy tool for many different size holes.
I can go straight from scriber lines, drill bush, hole with one tool and simple setup.
It would be handy to have matching lines inside the bush.

Otherwise you have to do some fancy measuring to get the bush in the right place.
Even drawing scriber lines is a horrible process, causing many errors.

- maybe setting up measurements on dividers first would be good.- or a high-power laser-ruler that and digitally make scribe-like marks??

The objective is not to use then like a toolmaker, but as a home metalworker.

Typically small engines have a number of holes in a pattern, plus with holding fixtures you have holes you want to match with tapped holes in another piece.

The next things I really need to get is a digital calliper, and maybe a range of scribing dividers.

 

[TugboatEng]

You shouldn't be drilling in steps if possible. From experience I reliably run up to 25/64 in steel by hand without a pilot hole.

You must have set of dividers and be good with trigonometry. Dividers are excellent for laying out all types of hole patterns, even in a straight line.

When you have many holes practice skipping holes in one direction and then skipping back from the second direction. It cuts the error in half.

 

[Owen N]

I will look for more dividers.
Are these the compass type with a screw adjuster in the middle?
That slotted bush system looks interesting.
I find I also want some hardened steel scrapers. They can be handy.

I re-chucked a cylinder head blank, and could not get it to centre properly. I need a bigger lathe, with a face plate.
This micro-lathe is next to useless!
I got the cylinder stub to seat properly by scraping the head recess with a shaved file.
I have also over-lapped the surfaces, so I will scrape them back with a wood chisel and re-lap them, a bit more carefully this time.

Regarding inaccuracy, by the time I had scribed, centre punched, drilled a pilot hole, drilled a 5.5mm hole, I was out by 1mm from centre.
In a square layout, the opposing holes were both spaced out or in in pairs.
Even in a drill press, the larger drill seems to wander a bit. Maybe I should just enlarge the punch mark, then go straight to the bigger drill.
Luckily this was only part of a clamping fixture, and not a finished part.

 

[kjoiner]

Hi Owen,
Regarding your tolerance stack for drilling the Ø5.5mm hole. If one of the errors is missing the scribe mark with the center punch, an optical center punch can help with that.

Here's one on Amazon for reference:

https://www.amazon.com/Flexbar-Opti...ds=optical+center+punch&qid=1642080027&sr=8-7

I just picked up one of these for woodworking project around the house:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Milescraft-Template/1001470700

There are also template bushings made for thin sheet metal. I've made lots of template jigs for work using 1/8" aluminum and they work pretty well. I made several using hand layouts but now that I have a CNC router, it's a lot easier.
Here is a McMaster Carr Link:

https://www.mcmaster.com/template-bushings/

 

[kjoiner]

Here is another handy tool for guiding taps:

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3427&category=