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pilot28906

Well Known Member
I have been practicing some drilling, deburring, and dimpling with some scrap pieces that came with the Emp. kit. I have drilled a nice row of holes with a #30 drill bit, deburred them, and dimpled with 1/8" dimple dies using my DRDT2. However, my Cleco's will not work (copper color) after the dimpling. I think the dimple dies should come tight together at the bottom of the stroke. Is this correct? Also, how much is the hole supposed to open up after dimple? I havn't measured, but the hole after dimple is larger than after drilling. Should I open up the dies at the end of the stroke or tighten them closer at the end of the stroke? Any suggestion would be appreciated.

John
 
You want the dies to close at the end of the stroke for as crisp a coining effect of the aluminum as possible. With a DRDT-2, there's basically no such thing as over-dimpling.

Clecos...not all brands are created equal. Some have a slightly narrower diameter that work great in plain drilled holes but not in dimpled holes. Dimpled holes do end up getting stretched open slightly -- by design -- and crummy clecos slip.

I use Wedgelok clecos exclusively and have no issues. If anybody tells you to use a smaller drill bit to fix a cleco problem, ignore them!
 
Copper Cleco's

I've always used the copper cleco's for #30 holes - both before and after dimpling. Prior to final drilling, they are a bit tight sometimes tho. After they got quite a bit of use, the odd one would eventually fail to hold the work after the dimple, that's when I just tossed it. I've never used nor owned a red cleco -first i've heard of that size.
 
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