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

[wonton1017]

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.

[finbar]

A brad point bit


or a spur bit

this one is easier to find at the hardware store.

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

[Speed2K]

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.

[CCA-Dave]

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

[wonton1017]

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?

[CCA-Dave]

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

-Dave

[wonton1017]

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

[nabs]

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