[wendyg]

I am trying to fit one of these to my aluminium greenhouse.  I have managed to remove the louvre handle (riveted on) but am having problems drilling the holes to fit the body of the auto opener.  Can anyone offer any advice please, all the drill is doing is making a small dimple in the frame.

[arugula]

Are you using a metal (HSS) drill bit? If so, it sounds rather blunt.

[jrko]

yup you need a metal bit.  nothing fancy/expensive as aluminium is quite soft

[Kleftiwallah]

Is your drill rotating in the correct direction ? ? ?     If so, it may be that you need to drill a pilot hole first.     Cheers,     Tony.

[JayG]

Klefti makes a good point - it's easy to get it wrong with reversible drills!

I nearly wore out my drill sharpener when I made my Munty bean frame (admittedly it was angle iron rather than aluminium but once the drill is blunt it will even struggle to drill through wood!)

[wendyg]

Thanks for the replies.  The drill bit is a HSS one (has a gold coloured coating), but looks as it has been used before, so will buy a new one and try that.  The drill is one of those with a rechargeable battery, and am not sure if it has a reverse mode but will check.  I will pop down the allotment and have another go when I have the new bit, and see how it goes.

Wendy

[wendyg]

Is your drill rotating in the correct direction ? ? ?  

No, the drill was in reverse .  If I do any drilling I use my Dremel...no reverse, any other drilling my husband does.  He used it last and left the thing in reverse  ,(which I didn't notice as I hadn't used it before).  Anyway the job is now done and the opener is working fine.

Thanks for the advice.

Wendy

[Kleftiwallah]

Anyone in the mechanical engineering field should be able to sharpen a drill.

In training we were handed a fist full of driils from 1/32"nd up to 3/4" inch all had been held in a vice, hit with a hammer and snapped off! After being given the theory were told "Come back when that lot are sharpened to the correct angle (and no guides to be used)".

Eventually you 'get the gen' and can manage to get the feel for the job.   The instructor then said "Now you can have the fun of snapping the ends off for the next bunch".

And no safety goggles, leather gloves, frog suits or remote breathing equipment.  .  .  .Cheers,     Tony.