drilling holes in paper - source of metal tube?

Hi all I want to try drilling holes in paper - a cheap alternative to getting a proper paper drill. I gather it can be done by making a 'drill' by sharpening a suitable hollow metal tube on the inside. Any ideas where I could get steel tubing suitable for this task? I want to make the standard 6mm/ 1/4" holes

Any other (better?!) suggestions to this approach welcome!

Regards Jon N

Reply to
jkn
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Why would you want to do that?

-- Cordless Crazy

Reply to
Cordless Crazy

Why not just use a punch of the sort used to punch holes so that you can put the paper into a ring binder? Many of those punch holes of around 6mm diameter.

If you want to drill holes through a fat wadge of paper a long way from the edge, if you clamp the paper between two metal plates, with pre-drilled holes in the right places, you should be able to use an ordinary drill bit to drill through the paper, using the holes in the metal as a guide.

Reply to
Roger Mills

The message from "jkn" contains these words:

Tent-pole sleeves?

Reply to
Guy King

I've never been able to get a 'standard' drill to give a satisfactory result in either paper or card. I too would be interested in such an idea as the standard punch is a non-starter for me too.

Reply to
John Cartmell

Model Engineering supplier.

Chronos

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do steel tube 1/4 - 1"

MBQ

Reply to
manatbandq

Two pieces of 3/4"thick and a couple of inchs wide wood with the correct sized hole pre drilled into them (these used as a binder for the paper)then put in the amount of paper inbetween the wood and clamp together tight,then drill. ;-)

Reply to
The3rd Earl Of Derby

B&Q sell a limited range of steel stock - I think it includes 1/4" tubing. You could try clamping the paper between a couple of pieces of MDF and using a decent lip & spur drill.

Reply to
Rob Morley

What sort of bit? I've never been able to get a sufficiently clean cut.

Reply to
John Cartmell

a snapped off telescopic radio aerial provides a complete set of sizes.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

=================== I think you probably mean 'punch' holes rather than drill.

If so look in B&Q for 8mm (possibly 10mm) outside diameter tube. The reason for larger tube is that the tube is ground off on the *outside* not the inside to form a sharp cutting edge. 8 or 10mm tube will give you the correct size hole depending on how thick the wall of the tube is and how much you grind off the outer perimeter.

You'll need a hammer to use this tool and the tool itself will need to be re-sharpened from time to time.

Cic.

Reply to
Cicero

You need a brad point wood bit:

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still, if you can get it in the size, an auger bit:
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original idea of a sharp pipe is similar to a plug cutter:
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of interest, to the OP, why?

Reply to
Nigel Molesworth

Don't know about the OP but I was making albums and needed to punch/drill holes through fabric/card/paper - and too far from the edge for standard punches.

Reply to
John Cartmell

I remember the "proper paper drill" at work causing more of a burnt hole than a clean cut one, so regular sharpening must be important. I think we all preferred using a punch (on the correct number of sheets several times), rather than the drill.

Reply to
Malcolm Stewart

You need summat like these then? were from, your guess is good as mine.

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Reply to
The3rd Earl Of Derby

Haven't seen a "paper drill" before. A Google suggests they're for drilling holes in stacks of paper, e.g. max 50mm. Do you want to cut this thickness of piled up sheets?

B&Q (spit!), in metre lengths. You could get a small file (e.g. a half- or round needle file) to sharpen with. The tupe obwiously isn't hard, so cutting against a suitably soft surface (timber?) would be best. I doubt you'd be able to do more than 1/2 a dozen sheets at once.

Try Ebay. There are some listed now, one at £14.99 bid by some printer person, so it'll go higher if anyone else wants it, one starting at £1 that's still got 9 days to go. You might get one for 50 quid!

Reply to
Chris Bacon

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 16:40:42 +0100, John Cartmell wrote this (or the missive included this):

You can get long-reach punches, you know

Reply to
Ron Clark

There were some paper bits listed in item 7598321288

There is also a "paper drill eletric" listed 7604964469 possibly the worst eBay listing I've ever seen.

Anyone noticed that the OP hasn't come back?

Reply to
Nigel Molesworth

Yup. However, he only posted just before lunchtime. Sometimes people wait for a day or two to see what replies are made. He's got a good psoting history.

Reply to
Chris Bacon

From the busted aerial some chav ripped off your car, or down the tip - telescpoic aerials are in fact brass, but they are emninetly suitable for something like paper.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

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