drilling a hole in a bracket General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[mountainmj]

I have some steel shelf brackets like the ones pictured. I need to increase the size of the hole to attach to the wall. Currently it's 5mm and I need to increase the size of the hole to 6mm. I have a hand held drill and I also have a Dremel 3000.

The bracket is about 5mm thick.

What would the best thing to use to increase the size of the hole?

Thanks

[slo101]

The drill should be fine for this job. When drilling steel make sure you are using a HSS (high speed steel) drill bit, or any other specified for drilling metal. Drill at a low speed and keep the drill bit lubricated with oil (this will make the bit last longer).

Hope this helps

If possible clamp the work piece down instead of holding it. Drill bits can bite into steel and twist the workpiece, causing injury if you're holding it.

Once you have drilled through with a 6mm bit. Use a larger one to remove any sharp edges from the new hole.