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Homebrew Equipment A place to show, design and discuss the weird and wonderful electronic creations from the hands of individual members. |
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24th Jan 2018, 5:17 pm | #1 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 3,687
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Fixing holes you made too big?
I did a silly thing at the weekend which I've only got around to looking at. I drilled a panel hole for something that was too large. I got my RCA and 3.5mm jacks mixed up and drilled a 7mm hole for a socket which requires a 6mm hole. This now doesn't clamp down properly in the hole and is wobbly. Oops.
Now for lack of a better solution I trawled the RS web site and found some 3.5mm jacks which require a larger mounting hole, therefore sidestepping the issue. This little mistake cost me £3.60 in the end. But my mind is wondering if there is a better solution to this problem? |
24th Jan 2018, 5:20 pm | #2 |
Rest in Peace
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Location: Harlaxton, Lincolnshire, UK.
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
Don't be to hard on yourself, sidestepping is a word for lateral thinking.
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24th Jan 2018, 5:21 pm | #3 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: West Cumbria (CA13), UK
Posts: 6,127
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
A suitably-sized washer inside and out?
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Mending is better than Ending (cf Brave New World by Aldous Huxley) |
24th Jan 2018, 5:28 pm | #4 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
Or some Araldite instead of (or as well as) the nut?
Or a correctly-sized hole in another spot on the panel, then re-purpose the other one for something else or fit a blanking panel? |
24th Jan 2018, 7:42 pm | #5 |
Rest in Peace
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
If appearance is not particularly relevant, cut out a square of similar metal and appropriate size. Fix it to the original sheet over the unwanted hole using 3 mm. screws and nuts, qty. = 4. Then drill that added piece for the required size hole.
Al. |
24th Jan 2018, 8:45 pm | #6 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,934
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
Well in recent weeks you have admitted to;
B
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24th Jan 2018, 9:18 pm | #7 | |
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
Quote:
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24th Jan 2018, 9:40 pm | #8 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 3,687
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
Bungle (verb) - carry out (a task) clumsily or incompetently.
This is no coincidence Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Some good ones there. Stocking an assortment of washers and round things appears to be the best way out of this so far. Bazz4CQJ: that’s hilarious. I’ve had a few tea related accidents in my time also so I can sympathise with that one. The worst being the bin was full at work so I lobbed the wet tea bag out of the window and straight onto one of my coworkers who was outside having a fag. Fortunately he was a pretty cool guy and thought it was hilarious. |
24th Jan 2018, 11:31 pm | #9 |
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
A bit fiddly, but what I do when I make holes too big, is to fit a layer or two of heatshrink to the goober that you are mounting, then trimming it down with a razor blade so that you are left with a plastic "washer" that fits the hole, and is only long enough to fit inside the panel thickness.
Does that make sense? Joe |
24th Jan 2018, 11:42 pm | #10 | |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Penrith, Cumbria, UK
Posts: 1,993
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
Quote:
ok seriously now, if the nut is big enough to cover the oversize hole, and the threaded barrel of the socket is long enough, I'd try a thin metal plate with a 6mm hole drilled in it superglued/araldited to the rear of the panel and then refit the socket thorugh that and nip the nut up, with a thin nice looking washer to give a bit of support and cosmetic appeal. Academic of course as you have neatly solved the problem. A. |
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25th Jan 2018, 4:14 am | #11 |
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
When I've drilled a hole too big, I usually weld it up, grind it flattish and drill it again, then spend a few weeks trying to restore the finish.....
David
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25th Jan 2018, 10:38 am | #12 |
Nonode
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
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25th Jan 2018, 10:47 am | #13 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
In the past when fitting the kind of small 2.5/3.5mm jack sockets that have a tubular knurled 'nut' with 2 screwdriver-slots to oversize holes, I've broached-out the hole so the emtire nut passes throug it, then used a proper hex nut-and-washer on the front, the original nut then just serves to centre the threaded part of the socket in the hole.
[You may need to lap the faces of the original 'nut' down on some wet&dry to make it thinner, so the new washer-and-nut actually grip the panel properly] My silliest 'bungle' recently: collecting up all the little wire-offcuts solder-balls and bits of insulation off my bench after completing some work, and absent-mindedly putting them in my coffee-mug rather than the old yogurt-pot I keep for the purpose. I only discovered this when I drank the last of the coffee and saw this little pile of red blue black and yellow insulation-offcuts! |
25th Jan 2018, 11:14 am | #14 |
Octode
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Carmel, Llannerchymedd, Anglesey, UK.
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
A skilled machinist once said to me that precision engineering was the easiest thing in the world, given that it was a lot quicker and saved on material to get the work the right shape to begin with. Very true, but with deteriorating eyesight it sometimes is down to guesswork as to where the hole should be...
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25th Jan 2018, 11:36 am | #15 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
I think we should all build engineering mock-ups before getting on to the serious business of "cutting metal". Cardboard boxes are excellent providers of materials for mock-ups, and the boxes I find particularly useful are the 10-packs of choc ices and 4-packs of ice cream caramel cornets. I've developed a special "Just in time" delivery system that ensure the packs are always available when needed
B
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Saturn V had 6 million pounds of fuel. It would take thirty thousand strong men to lift it an inch. |
25th Jan 2018, 11:50 am | #16 |
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
I was taught that a good workman measures twice and cuts once. That's saved me from making a mistake several times.
Another good maxim is that the only way be absolutely sure that two holes will line up is to drill them together. The bane of my life now is incorrect published drawings.
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Graham. Forum Moderator Reach for your meter before you reach for your soldering iron. |
25th Jan 2018, 11:56 am | #17 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
Quote:
Which you then find are too big, in the wrong place, or both. [Murphy, Sod etc have us beat]. |
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25th Jan 2018, 12:02 pm | #18 |
Dekatron
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
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25th Jan 2018, 1:04 pm | #19 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
I still have a 12V power supply that I made in the 1970's in an old Aluminium box that had a number of 1/2" holes for switches. I filled them with Araldite and they are still sound some 40 years on. I used to put a strip of masking tape over the hole, put the box with the holes uppermost, and fill with Araldite, smoothing off once set.
For mock-ups of small items I use the backing card from A4 pads (we used to use a lot of pads at work). For larger items, corrugated cardboard from boxes that you can pick up in supermarkets. Using traditional Evostik, you can run a bead of glue along the abutting edges, wait until the glue is tacky, and simply join together without needing any tape or reinforcing. It makes for a very quick and sound job that can be handled immediately, yet can usually be pulled apart without significant damage to the cardboard. |
25th Jan 2018, 2:47 pm | #20 |
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Re: Fixing holes you made too big?
I coincidentally had exactly this 6mm vs 7mm hole dilemma recently in a 1.5mm thick aluminium panel. Fortunately in my metal stocks I had some aluminium tube which was 6mm ID. So I simply machined the outer diameter to 7.05 mm and cut a 1.5mm length. Then I pressed this into the panel hole with a small bolt and two washers. I felt equally disappointed with myself that I had drilled the incorrect sized hole, but after I got over feeling like an idiot and did a professional job repairing it, I felt a little better. The hole mounted a potentiometer with a nut and washer, so it is impossible to see that this fine bush is there in the panel.
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