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This was prompted by me seeing a couple of videos of cone/step drill being used to make holes in a CU. I use a step bit quite often, especially in plastic enclosures, but in metal ones the drilling action causes noise and considerable vibration. I like to install with as little hammering and banging as possible, and recently have turned to using a hole punch for every occasion where it is possible to get the die inside the enclosure. It's noise and vibration free, apart from the pilot hole which can still be relatively smooth especially if started off very small and stepped up to the bolt size of the hole punch.
I use these:
www.powertoolsdirect.com
They cause less stress to already-installed components and leave a nice clean hole.
For any final finishing I use a Noga de-burring blade and holder:
Mine is a much earlier version, with a steel handle, but the blade range is wide, and most fit all previous handles.
The de-burr handle and blade is good for metal enclosures, plastic boxes, plastic conduit, copper pipes etc but I haven't seen many used in any YouTube content.
Same with hammering in cable clips...you have a problem on long battens and some stud-work...hammering causes "bounce", so a drilled system is much less destructive...use a drill to make the pilot hole and use something like a Linian clip to secure the cables.
Of course, this will not appeal to those who use an impact driver on MCBs!
I'd appreciate your thoughts on the least damaging way to install stuff...
I use these:
QMax Sheet Metal Punch, Metric Range
A quick and easy way to cut clean metric sized holes in sheet metal up to 16 gauge. The special design allows even load during cutting and produces a...
They cause less stress to already-installed components and leave a nice clean hole.
For any final finishing I use a Noga de-burring blade and holder:
Mine is a much earlier version, with a steel handle, but the blade range is wide, and most fit all previous handles.
The de-burr handle and blade is good for metal enclosures, plastic boxes, plastic conduit, copper pipes etc but I haven't seen many used in any YouTube content.
Same with hammering in cable clips...you have a problem on long battens and some stud-work...hammering causes "bounce", so a drilled system is much less destructive...use a drill to make the pilot hole and use something like a Linian clip to secure the cables.
Of course, this will not appeal to those who use an impact driver on MCBs!
I'd appreciate your thoughts on the least damaging way to install stuff...
