What kind of drill do I need to drill carbon fiber?
 

What kind of drill do I need to drill carbon fiber?
Just want to drill mounting points.

I have a wood driller, my friend told me it wouldn't work and would crack it.

A brad point bit
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/P...ing/077914.jpg

or a spur bit
http://www.mo2ls.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/SpurBit.gif
this one is easier to find at the hardware store.

If you can, go at it from both sides, avoid blowout.

The drill bit is probably more important than the drill; I've used a titanium coated bit on CF before and it worked fine. Start with a smaller hole and work your way up.

depends on what type of carbon your drilling...thickness, weave, epoxy all change things.

- Clean holes can often be made with a Rotabraoch tool. It's a piloted cutter that will give a nice clean edge.

- A step drill can also work well, but they don't last very long with carbon. Use a brand new one.

- Normal HSS metal drill bits work alright when sharp, but its easy for them to give a ragged edge on the back side. Backing the piece up with a piece of wood helps a lot with this. If you are making a big enough hole, a sanding barrel in a ginder will clean up the fuzzy edge pretty well.

Always tape both sides of the piece.

I avoid wood bits like the Spur Bit or brad points shown above, they tend to destroy the carbon and epoxy...at least with the stuff I've drilled out.

-Dave

First time drilling, went to get a wired drill set for ~$50 at canadian tire. I just used the brad point bit and it worked pretty good I guess, not a perfect job but good enough for me.

What does taping both sides do btw?

Taping both sides of the work helps to keep the top and bottom epoxy coatings from chipping.

-Dave

Thanks for the help everyone, wasn't as hard as I thought :)

use a good masking tape... blue painters tape works really well with it. Mask both sides of where u want to drill the hole.