# How To Enlarge Round Hole In Thin Metal



## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

Any ideas on how to enlarge a hole in thin metal? The hole is about 1 inch diameter and I need to enlarge it to 1 1/8 inch diameter. I was thinking about using a rasp or file. I had also thought about sandwiching the piece between 2 pieces of wood that have 1 1/8 holes in them so the waste part of the metal would be exposed and doing it on the drill press with a roto zip metal cutting bit.


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

Try something like this...

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...&ved=0ahUKEwjVxMuc47vOAhVD3yYKHXPYB0sQwjwI7wE

...not necessarily from Walmart...


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

Nickp said:


> Try something like this...
> 
> https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...&ved=0ahUKEwjVxMuc47vOAhVD3yYKHXPYB0sQwjwI7wE
> 
> ...not necessarily from Walmart...


Harbor Freight is cheaper


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

Nickp said:


> Try something like this...
> 
> https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...&ved=0ahUKEwjVxMuc47vOAhVD3yYKHXPYB0sQwjwI7wE
> 
> ...not necessarily from Walmart...


Good idea. Thank You.

P.S. Is Harbor Freight out of the question too?


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

paduke said:


> Harbor Freight is cheaper


I buy stuff from HF and some ain't half bad. One big surprise was their $99 (sale price) hardwood flooring nailer.....did my whole house with no jambs or misfires. HF high speed stuff is a little scary....an oscillating multi tool blade broke apart on me.....the tool wanted to oscillate but the blade didn't.


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

On the job site there is a task that I enlarge a hole from 1/2" to 1" in 1/16" mild steel. I use the HF brand for the task. They have held up well. It will quickly cut sheet metal be careful or it will be too large.


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

paduke said:


> On the job site there is a task that I enlarge a hole from 1/2" to 1" in 1/16" mild steel. I use the HF brand for the task. They have held up well. It will quickly cut sheet metal be careful or it will be too large.


Weekend HF sale....just got their coupons. I am headed there. I'll pick up the bit.


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## bryansong (Mar 4, 2015)

Good thinking guys.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

w/ all the HF traffic and money it sends back to china, I wonder which community business or American manufacturer will fold next...


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

Stick
Is the tool even made in the USA? Blame Obama not me. Why? The biggest cost is energy. China has cheap manpower. We have an abundance of energy here We have had Obama stepping on the pipeline for eight years. You want clean manufacturing get the infrastructure in place that makes sense for investment in facilities. 
Where did china get all the machinery they use to make this junk? They bought a lot of it from closed US factories. Why did the factories close? It costs were to high. Cheap energy produced in the USA will return new investments stateside.
So please desist from guilt tripping those that buy at harbor freight


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

Stick486 said:


> w/ all the HF traffic and money it sends back to china, I wonder which community business or American manufacturer will fold next...


Would like to buy tools made in the USA but can't always find them and the ones that are available can be quite expensive. I would love high quality USA made stuff but can't always afford to pay the price.
For years I wouldn't shop in Walmart because of their employment and product sourcing policies.....then I realized my job was outsourced.....most large companies do it and the global economy is a fact of life.
I don't like HD or Lowes....would rather shop the mom and pop hardware stores and lumber yards.
I wouldn't buy an imported car for a long time but the American car quality was pretty bad.


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

paduke said:


> Stick
> Is the tool even made in the USA? Blame Obama not me. Why? The biggest cost is energy. China has cheap manpower. We have an abundance of energy here We have had Obama stepping on the pipeline for eight years. You want clean manufacturing get the infrastructure in place that makes sense for investment in facilities.
> Where did china get all the machinery they use to make this junk? They bought a lot of it from closed US factories. Why did the factories close? It costs were to high. Cheap energy produced in the USA will return new investments stateside.
> So please desist from guilt tripping those that buy at harbor freight


How about the labor costs here? When my computer job went overseas I asked what the cost difference was. I was told that the overseas cost was 1/3 of what it would cost to do the work here.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

don't shop from overseas... 
support the community the best you can...
the community will support you..
the more that do this more it will snowball..

American products are out there...
just look...


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## OPG3 (Jan 9, 2011)

My businesses are entirely based on US Manufacturing. We tried and setup a plant in Shanghai, China because we were quoted some prices that were very low and we had a tremendous workload in the Western US - there are numerous ports on the Pacific Coast of the US and _we thought_ it would work, but bottom line - it was more trouble than it was worth. Now, we're sticking strictly to US made. Freight costs can kill you in my business, so injection-molding near form assembly is also critical for my business.

Back to the subject at hand, I enlarge holes with tapered drift pins - like used by steel erectors to align bolt holes in steel members - these are available in a wide variety (I have an entire collection of them) of sizes. Put some emery cloth on the tapered part (use double back tape or glue) and bore until your heart is content, you will get there and your hole WILL BE CENTERED CORRECTLY if you're careful. If your drift pin is bigger than your drill chuck, you can use a hex wrench or a pipe wrench - it will just take a couple more minutes. Tapered bits and tapered reamers are also available in numerous size ranges.

I hope this helps!
Otis Guillebeau from Auburn, Georgia


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

What Jim said. Not just the US; pretty much all of the Western Nations.
Once the trade barriers were removed the stampede was on; it started long before The Big Owe.
Companies up here (Canada) simply went under during the 1980's Recession (more like a Depression).
Domestic clothing manufacturers in Canada just folded.
But yeh, massive amounts of red tape and regulations are destroying our domestic manufacturing.
Greedy corporations aren't helping.


Not the best source, but convenient...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt


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## kklowell (Dec 26, 2014)

That HF version is what I used to make holes in beer kegs for homebrewing. Those kegs are stainless steel so they're pretty tough. The bit held up for all the holes I needed though by the last it was getting pretty tired. Thin steel will be quick and easy with one.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

been to Panama...
take note...
wake up...


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

... *"We have met the enemy and he is us"* ... (Pogo, 1970)

We made our bed and now we have to lie in it...


(original reply deleted...much too long and lots of ranting and raving)


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

JIMMIEM said:


> How about the labor costs here? When my computer job went overseas I asked what the cost difference was. I was told that the overseas cost was 1/3 of what it would cost to do the work here.


1/3 per hour... how many hours it takes the overseas worker to do the work you did in 1 hour is another question. The saving is often not as much as the bean-counters anticipate.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Nickp said:


> ... *"We have met the enemy and he is us"* ... (Pogo, 1970)
> 
> We made our bed and now we have to lie in it...
> 
> ...


time to change beds... has been for some time...


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> time to change beds... has been for some time...


To clarify, slowly but surely we put ourselves in this position...

Slowly and surely we can get ourselves out of it...that's the point.

And I think it's the one you continue to make...


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

AndyL said:


> 1/3 per hour... how many hours it takes the overseas worker to do the work you did in 1 hour is another question. The saving is often not as much as the bean-counters anticipate.


When I was told that this would happen I asked if the overseas workers were familiar with the computer system and programs that they would be working on. The answer was 'no', so the overseas folks could get it totally wrong on the first try and have a 'do-over' and it would still be cheaper.
This is not a new story.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Nickp said:


> To clarify, slowly but surely we put ourselves in this position...
> 
> Slowly and surely we can get ourselves out of it...that's the point.
> 
> *And I think it's the one you continue to make..*.


exactly...


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

What determines the cost of a product? The costs of material and energy it takes to bring it to the point of exchange. Digital controlled manufacturing is underpricing manual controlled processes. Human energy is being supplanted by electricity energy driving robots. Future manufacturing will locate were energy and operating costs will be cheapest. I believe our wage differential will be offset by the cheaper natural gas and oil in Canada and the USA. So I say again get the foot off the pipeline.


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## bluewood (Nov 26, 2013)

I use Greenlee punches. I picked up a cheap set at Tandy (Radio Shack) many years ago. HF sells sets cheap sets now that work on thin stock.


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## Garyk (Dec 29, 2011)

Not to start an argument but I've never heard of China having unions making "unreasonable" demands. We have the people and the technology so cost has to be the contributing factor, maybe we just priced ourselves out of the markets. Watched a show once where the janitor was complaining about her $65,000 a year salary being too low (car maker). REALLY!! I buy American made as much as I can but I am also cost conscience and can't pay twice the price to do it. Could be we are our own worst enemy. The foreign countries can't steal a business where the profit margin is reasonable, the workers receive decent wages and the cost of their product is what the consumer can afford.


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

Thank You for your suggestions. I didn't have enough time to get to a store to buy any of the recommend tools but I had a few minutes to work on the project so I used what I already had. So I just put a grinding bit in my drill press and enlarged the hole. The metal was quite thin so it was a quick process and worked out AOK.


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

JIMMIEM said:


> Thank You for your suggestions. I didn't have enough time to get to a store to buy any of the recommend tools but I had a few minutes to work on the project so I used what I already had. So I just put a grinding bit in my drill press and enlarged the hole. The metal was quite thin so it was a quick process and worked out AOK.


all ok except the fight it started :grin:
:grin::grin:


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

paduke said:


> all ok except the fight it started :grin:
> :grin::grin:


Fight? I thought it was an exchange of ideas and information.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

JIMMIEM said:


> Fight? I thought it was an exchange of ideas and information.


me too...


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## RÖENTGEEP (Feb 18, 2014)

Nickp said:


> Try something like this...
> 
> https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...&ved=0ahUKEwjVxMuc47vOAhVD3yYKHXPYB0sQwjwI7wE
> 
> ...not necessarily from Walmart...


That link only opens a Walmart generic advertises :surprise: Do you have another link?


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

RÖENTGEEP said:


> That link only opens a Walmart generic advertises :surprise: Do you have another link?


Sorry 'bout that, Joseph...not sure what happened...

Try a Google Image search for "step drill bit" ...

The image I grabbed from Walmart was only intended to give an example of what the bit looked like...


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## RÖENTGEEP (Feb 18, 2014)

Nickp said:


> Sorry 'bout that, Joseph...not sure what happened...
> 
> Try a Google Image search for "step drill bit" ...
> 
> The image I grabbed from Walmart was only intended to give an example of what the bit looked like...


Ok, thank you Sir. :smile:


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

Many just just the drill bit of the one inch hole saw chucked into the 1-1/8" (or larger) holes saw to tie the two together, so the one inch can guide the 1-1/8" one.


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

The rest of the story is the fact we allow our markets to flooded with foreign products that compete with the very people our "representative" governments are charged with protecting.




Garyk said:


> Not to start an argument but I've never heard of China having unions making "unreasonable" demands. We have the people and the technology so cost has to be the contributing factor, maybe we just priced ourselves out of the markets. Watched a show once where the janitor was complaining about her $65,000 a year salary being too low (car maker). REALLY!! I buy American made as much as I can but I am also cost conscience and can't pay twice the price to do it. Could be we are our own worst enemy. The foreign countries can't steal a business where the profit margin is reasonable, the workers receive decent wages and the cost of their product is what the consumer can afford.


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