If you don't have a waterjet or erosion machine that can quickly cut any hole in thick steel workpieces, then don't worry.
This master class will discuss how to make a hex hole in thick steel for a bolt head.
Equipment and tools:
- Drilling machine.
- Dremel.
- Set of files.
- Set of drills for metal.
- Vise.
- Kerner.
Making a hexagonal hole in metal with your own hands
The first step is to determine the center of the future hole and mark the workpiece. All actions are performed using a caliper.
Next, you need to transfer the outline of the future bolt to the workpiece with a plus tolerance.
You can mark everything manually, but since special precision is not needed, everything can be done faster. To do this, cover the head with masking tape.
We will outline the outline by tapping a metal object such as a file or a simple pencil. Using scissors, cut out the shape.
Let's stick it on the workpiece.
Using a center punch and a ruler, draw the outline.
The hole will be made by drilling with a thin drill along the contour. Therefore, we retreat the radius of the drill from the contour and draw a smaller hexagon inside. Next, we put a core under the drill.
We drill holes along the counter.
We take a Dremel with a metal circle. This disc can be cut out from the grinder disc yourself.
We saw through the distances between the holes, connecting them. Since the metal is quite thick, we make cuts on one side, then on the other.
The last stage remains. We clamp the workpiece in a vice and use a file to manually bring the hexagonal hole to the required size.
That's all. The process is not easy, but not particularly labor-intensive.
