As everyone knows, no matter how many drill bits one owns, one inevitably needs a size that isn’t on hand. Well, if you ever find yourself needing to drill a hole that’s precisely 13 mm, here’s a trick from [AvE] to keep in mind for doing it with a 1/2″ bit. It’s a hack that only works in certain circumstances, but hey, it just may come in handy some day.
So the first step in making a 13 mm hole is to drill a hole with a 1/2″ bit. That’s easy enough. Once that’s done, fold a few layers of tinfoil over into a small square and lay it over the hole. Then put the drill bit onto the foil, denting it into the hole (but not puncturing it) with the tip, and drill at a slow speed until the foil wraps itself around the bit like a sheath and works itself into the hole. The foil enlarges the drill bit slightly and — as long as the material being drilled cooperates — resizes the hole a tiny bit bigger in the process. The basic idea can work with just about any drill bit.
It’s much easier demonstrated than described, so watch it in action in the video around the 2:40 mark which will make it all very clear.
It’s not the most elegant nor the most accurate method (the hole in the video actually ends up closer to 13.4 mm) but it’s still something worth keeping in the mental toolbox. Just file it away along with laying your 3D printer on its side to deal with tricky overhangs.
Or just shoot at the hole with a .45 magnum at a slight angle, that would yield a similar useful result.
Haha! Or just wiggle the drill around a bit? Tin foil is better left to making hats
Unacceptable blowout.
If you’re intending to remove 0.15 mm of material and it’s acceptable to shoot 0.2 mm past, just do what we always do: ream it with the blade of a scissors.
Humor aside, before the advent of cheap carbide drill bits, a “shop tip” in a late 60’s Popular Science suggested this solution to the problem of how one can add a drain hole to a ceramic pot ( for subsequent use as a planter) :
Fill and pack the pot with damp sand, invert it, and shoot a hole in the bottom with a .22 rifle! This is claimed to result in a clean hole.
Or just buy a 13mm drill, like normal people…
Or use a 33/64 inch drill bit.
Or lightly take a file to your 17/32 inch bit.
Or 13 x 1mm drill bits and tape them all together.
Makes me wonder why we have different size bits at all, we could just have a box full of 0.5mm bits and tape them together accordingly
If you can file your drill bits then you either need better drill bits, or I need to know where you buy your files.
If you live in a non-metric country the 131 /256ths drill bit is pretty damn close.
Grind the drill off centre, thin the point then drill without pilot hole. This produces an oversize hole in metal, harsh words will suffice for soft materials.
That’s great, who’d guested
Go to your local Leroy Merlin
Buy a $10 13 mm drill bit
Drill a hole
The lenght Americans would to to avoid using metric tools
yeah, except he’s Canadian
barely.
I have no idea what you are babbling about. Every American drill set I own includes a 12.7mm, 6.35mm, 3.175mm, and 1.5875 mm bit. Doesn’t your’s?
The frustrating thing about the “metric vs non-metric” argument is that it has nothing to do with units, and everything to do with different engineering groups. You’d still have the same problem if you had one standards group with 10 mm, 11 mm, 12 mm, 13 mm, etc. and another standards group with 1/8 cm, 1/4 cm, 3/8 cm, etc.
AWG’s weirdness has nothing to do with the units, for instance, and everything to do with the fact that it’s based on putting 40 gauges between a ratio of 92 via constant multiples. Would’ve been weird even if it had started with 0.1 mm and ended with 9.2 mm.
Heck, there are plenty of standards that mix “nice round metric numbers” and “weird metric numbers that are actually nice round inch numbers.” Just look up any of the Eurocard-derived standards (racks) and marvel at the insane mixtures of round metric numbers (100 mm 3U height, 100/160/220/280/etc. mm depths, etc.) and “weird metric but actually inch” numbers (233.35 mm height for 6U which is 100 mm + 5.25″ and HP being 5.08 mm which is 0.2″).
You just get used to it. Dunno what the fuss is. The fact that I can build a high-speed electronics data acquisition system which could be installed in a cabinet from the 1920s kinda suggests it’s no big deal.
You’re making the point. For a lot of this a system will do – Any One System. Why carry on with two similar systems. Can you really tell me why the rest of the world should need two sets of socket sets, open end wrenches, hex keys, drills, … For what these are used for, either system will do. FWIW, most weird metric numbers are so, thanks to needing to fit Imperial measurements. So join the rest of the galaxy and Millennium and stop being a stick in the mud.
“Can you really tell me why the rest of the world should need two sets of socket sets, open end wrenches, hex keys, drills”
Because those things still exist! If you’re trying to say “stop making new things with that” then the problem becomes that companies still have the tooling and the tooling’s expensive.
But the other point is that the two standards groups didn’t just use different systems of units. They chose two entirely different ways of doing things: one by linear spacing, the other by fractions and ratios. They both have advantages and disadvantages.
“The frustrating thing about the “metric vs non-metric” argument is…”
…is when somebody [ comment not directed at you, but OP]] looks down their nose at someone else because of the units they use.
My earlier remark was an attempt at humor, but with a point: If I need to drill a hole sized ” this big,” does it really matter that the appropriate drill was measured to be 12.7 mm or 1/2 inch? No. Not at all.
Personally, I’m perfectly at ease performing engineering calculations in metric units. I’m equally at peace with specifying 6-32 machine screws for some assembly I’ve designed.
I agree with you… it’s no big deal.
“I’m equally at peace with specifying 6-32 machine screws”
also, WTF ISO, “if I don’t specify the thread it’s coarse” is just wackjob stupid. Had multiple things ruined because someone just saw ‘M3 screw’ and glossed over the pitch specifier and went ‘okie, let’s try this.’
Go to Obi instead. It’s just 5,99€ there.
But 13mm appears to be an uncommon size here in Germany. Drill bit sets usually go up to 10mm and the only 13mm wood bit I found on the Obi website has to be bought offline. The website of my local hardware store skips from 12mm bits right to 14mm.
Could be superstition?
It wouldn’t let me reply to Pat’s reply above, so I added it here:
RE: “..the problem becomes that companies still have the tooling and the tooling’s expensive.”
All countries had their own systems. Everybody else was able to do it.
RE: ” … They both have advantages and disadvantages….”
No. Never heard a convincing argument for fractional,
and I’ve been down this path many times.
It always ends up, where it’s easier for you, based on what you’re used to.
Sure, you can make up special cases, but the more obscure, the more obvious the weakness.
Then, somebody claims that in their field they use legacy unit xyz, and it works perfectly fine. Good! It’s somehow tied to Metric, just as Imperial is. What doesn’t make sense, is to have two sets of tooling, fasteners, … that are basically equal functionally. Time to grow up and shed the “Shadow” system.
In response to Pat and Observer above:
You’re forgetting the reason you “need a hole this big”, is because you have a fastener “this big”. The size is not arbitrary, where sometimes one system wins, sometimes the other. So yes, there is a reason to have only one system.
As far as not getting the correct pitch on an M3 screw, do you think asking for a #10 screw gives you more info?
A 1/2″ drill bit is nominally 12.7 mm. Twist drills, especially in a handheld drill, usually cut a bit oversize. So say it cuts 1 mm oversize. Which is better: 12.8 mm or 13.4 mm?
You know the ‘dumb’ tag that got removed from the 3d printer link…
Don’t forget to hand the apprentice a left-handed drill bit and then dog him for how long it’s taking. It’s a rite of passage.
Does this guy ever shut up? Video is 4 minutes long and somehow four times as long as it needs to be.
AvE is an absolute legend.
But not necessarily a good one….
Didn’t watch it but from the photo above, he really needs to make a pair of soft jaws for the vice. Even a scrap of thick cardboard works fine. It’s a lot better than having a diamond pattern on the workpiece.
Take any of his “canukistan” hacks with a massive grain of salt. AVE content is really only for idle amusement. People come to his videos to hear his drunken hillbilly rants and northern witticisms.
Case in point, go watch the video series where he gets plastered and weirdly confuses polymers with plastics and tries to prove that seed oils are bad for you by stinking up his shed and rambling.
He went way off the deep end quite a while ago
He let slip he was incarcerated for a few months by way of explaining why the channel was inactive. I figure it didn’t help his sanity but he’s returning to normal bit by bit. i like the poor sod, there’s no airs and graces with him.
The Canadian government are fascist, so not surprising.
He did step out of line.
What did he expect?
By that I’m guessing you mean he isn’t a rabid leftist 😂
No, he just got weird
I’m glad/sad to see others say the same. Loved his videos in the past because they were interesting and goofy with plenty of good lines.
Then suddenly the quality and fun dropped hard.
Yes I used to follow all his videos, but when I stopped being able to follow the logic in his arguments, I unsubscribed.
Drill an undersize hole and then use a reamer to make it the size you want.
Well, if you don’t have a 13mm drill, you almost definitely don’t have a reamer either.
Solutuion:
His problem is living in the one backwards country.
Move to a country that has progressed since colonial times, and uses the Metric System.
He is Canadian and Canada is a metric country. We still occasionally use and have Imperial tools, though.
The US is a metric country, too. The beauty of the metric system isn’t that you use One Singular Set Of Units (which… you don’t, anyway) – it’s the fact that everything is referenced to a common, stable standard so conversions are just math.
Non-US countries use a ludicrously wide range of random standards based on weird combinations of metric stuff and equivalences and who knows what else. Standards Creep is A Thing. It’s why XKCD made a comic about it.
You’re always going to end up with tons of standards. The important thing is that everyone agrees on what those standards are.
Oh,he’s Canadian. Learn from the Whiner in Chief. Tariff all Imperial goods.
This is not the measurement system you’re looking for.
“Move to a country that has progressed since colonial times, and uses the Metric System.”
Oh f’crying out loud, it’s not the unit of measurement that’s the issue. It’s the standards group. You’d have the same problem if you had one group that chose to split things by fractions and the other to space things linearly. And wire gauge is even weirder.
No. It’s having two systems. Of course it’s not the unit that is the prblem. Make a unit called “thepencilwidth”. But only use that system. Don’t use the “crayonwidth” system, just because grandpa used to do so.
If we’d all use 12, 13 , 14 mm bolts, he wouldn’t have a 1/2″ drill. He’d have one set of Metric drills. Problem solved.
Are you 12?
If the world were simpler, it would be simpler…Problem solved.
In response to reply below:
"If the world were simpler, it would be simpler…Problem solved."
I was wondering when your lame replies would appear.
You don’t think having one set of sizes makes more sense?
You’re just doing your usual sniping every post with lame “humor” and no info.
I take that as:
‘Yes I am mentally 12’
You do realize that drills are available at non-round number sizes?
They are needed.
The world is, in fact, complicated.
In reply to “haha”:
Do you ever actually read and post on the article, or just the comments?
As far as things being complicated, as you say:
I suspect the world is much more complicated for you than most of us.
DO NOT DO THIS, IT IS DUMB.
It says “DUMB TRICK” right in the thumbnail. Not sure what you were expecting.
Tin != aluminum
tin foil = aluminium.
Tin != aluminium
Sn50 != Al13
Go back to the basic school.
https://web.vscht.cz/~nadhernl/psp.html
In UK English, “Tin foil” is the usual name for aluminium foil: «Tin foil, also spelled tinfoil, is a thin foil made of tin. Tin foil was superseded after World War II by cheaper and more durable aluminium foil, which is still referred to as “tin foil” in many regions (an example of a misnomer).» (From wikipedia)
American English uses the same term the same way.
Some folks are just like this, ignore them. Eventually they will get lonely and behave properly.
“precisely” and “goes from 0.3mm under size to 0.4mm over size”
come oooon
I used to love this guy’s videos back when he did teardowns and such. Also I love the logo of the 555 with flames shooting out. However the quality of the videos went down hill and the ramblings got worse. You need a 13mm hole? Buy a 13mm drill bit. I’m in the USA and the usual auction site and the get it all delivered tomorrow site also carry 13mm.
As a machinist his “solution” makes me cringe, and your answer makes sense. I can think of several ways I would drill (and have drilled) oversize holes. But, weighing the advantage of a cheap fix that gets the job done in 2 minutes, versus paying $10 to twiddle thumbs for 24h, he wins. There is a tradeoff, but if it doesn’t affect the final project, good enough is perfect. Use a little less foil, to appease those thinking .040″ is excessive clearance.
It’s good for what it is: a hack.
I am very used to the phrase “perfect is the enemy of good” but I’m going tokeep the “good enough is perfect” in my toolbox. Thx!
Iirc he lives out in the middle of nowhere in Canada, so this is probably easier than spending hours driving to town to buy a bit.
Kinda glad/sad to see others say this. I felt for awhile that he had a weird crash out and just stopped watching.
I used to love his videos and quote them all the time.
Does this really ream to hole larger or does it just compress the wood to enlarge the hole?
seems like a contradiction…if what is wanted is ‘precise’ then you go out and buy a 13mm bit. there’s really no two ways around precision. but if you don’t care about precise then there’s no limit to the options you have, including this one. personally i’m a big fan of just running the bit in and out with a bit of wiggle as you go. i’m also a fan of whamming real hard to get the bolt or whatever into an undersized hole, depending on the materials involved. i even have a couple reamers and i’m not at all above going at it with a dremel or file.
I think the real issue is the ugliness of the tool vs. the result.
I would have done same as you. None of those will easily give you as round and straight a hole and at as little cost and time. Well, other than a bigger hammer. Stressing the material that way isn’t usually a good idea.
No, the size is not precise. it is perfect in this instance. I challenge anyone to do better…
good luck picking oout all the bits of aluminum off of your drill bit
Just use a brush
No. Just…no.
Why not use a 14mm and then grind it down to a 12.5 mm and the use half the amount of tin foil to make it a 13mm?!?!
Mm hole is not the same as mm. A 13 Mm hole is quite a bit larger than 1/2″.
Get on Aliexpress and buy a cheap set of step bits. Unless you’re drilling thick material or hard steel, work great. I have an stupid large selection of metric, fractional, letter and number bits, but the step bits get used about half the time.