Drill straight line of holes in aluminum

[rvator51]

Wondering what people have found is the best way to drill a straight line of holes in aluminum?

[AndrewTR30]

https://cart.averytools.com/p-269-ev...ing--tool.aspx

[az_gila]

That tool is good for evenly spacing holes, but no so good for a straight line.

Just use a fine point Sharpie pen, and carefully punch the hole locations on the line. Drill pilot holes at 1/16, and carefully adjust the drill angle to get the hole exactly on the line.

Note that folks looking at your work will not be able to visibly detect small variations in hole to hole spacing, but will be able to instantly see any holes that are not on in a straight line by viewing "down the rivet line".

This is the way all of the original kits were constructed.... pride of construction and craftmanship can be seen in how straight the finished rivet lines are on the old kits. When Van pre-punched... they all looked good...

gil in Tucson

PS If you want one of those tools... I'll sell mine for $36 including US shipping... It is one of the originals made by Kit Aircraft tools in CA, before Avery was even in business....

PPS Tom -- buy breakfast and I'll even deliver it to Chandler...

[painless]

One trick, if you are drilling a line of holes in some angle, for example, is to set up a fence on your drill press. Keep your part up against the fence and drill away. All your holes will be perfectly in line.

Regards,

[alpinelakespilot2000]

If you want a straight line of holes on a large skin that you can't put onto a drill press table with a fence like Jeff mention's, just drill the holes in a piece of stock using Jeff's method and then lay that over the skin and match drill.

[gbrasch]

Originally Posted by rvator51

Wondering what people have found is the best way to drill a straight line of holes in aluminum?

Tom, if you decide you need the fan spacer, I have one that I could mail up to you if you don't want to spend the bucks to buy one. Just let me know. Glenn

[Rick6a]

Originally Posted by rvator51

Wondering what people have found is the best way to drill a straight line of holes in aluminum?

Once the hole locations are established by using a straight edge, scale, fan spacer, fence, etc., it is a good idea to use a center punch, awl, or even an ice pick to slightly tap the hole locations thereby creating slight tic marks in the aluminum. Place your drill bit upon those marks. They can be helpful in preventing the drill bit from slightly "walking" across the work and ruining that precisely aligned row of rivets.

[rvator51]

Originally Posted by az_gila

gil in Tucson

PS If you want one of those tools... I'll sell mine for $36 including US shipping... It is one of the originals made by Kit Aircraft tools in CA, before Avery was even in business....

PPS Tom -- buy breakfast and I'll even deliver it to Chandler...

Hi Gil,
I already have the Avery fan spacer, but trying to find out a way to make the rivets line up better on the RV-4 non-punched skins. Not worried about the spacing but about getting the rivets exactly in line. Just a little out and you can (I can) notice it.
Are you going to be at the La Cholla pancake breakfast this weekend? If so, I will buy your breakfast.

[Rosie]

This is pretty low-tech but worked very well for me... I pulled a piece of string tight where I wanted the line then shot a light coat of primer over the string. Pulled the string off, measured out the spacing with a tape measure, marked dots with a sharpie, drilled holes then wiped off primer with acetone Rosie