I have a new bike trailer, but my bike axle is a bit too large. Previously I drilled a hole out in a cheaper pressed metal bike trailer mount, but this one is way harder. Does anyone know a machinist who can do this? I’m really not sure how to make a dent in this. In these pictures, you can see the old mount and the new one. I just need to make the hole 2 mm larger in diameter. ...

Will a metal file make a dent in the metal? If it will you can drill it with a regular drill bit. Do you have a drill press handy? More than likely you’re spinning the drill bit way too fast and not applying enough pressure. You could use a hand drill but you’d want to clamp your part in a vise on a large table so you can push hard against it. If the drill bit stops making chips/cutting then ...

I can look for a file and try it, although that sounds very labor intensive, so I’d rather make that a last resort. I have a drill press available. I tried it, with no success. It barely scratched it. Would a sharper, harder bit get through it? The opinions in the room were mixed, leaning toward skeptical. I just found this, and this guy makes a pretty compelling case for de-tempering it. Has an...

Hey, couldn’t figure out how to private message, so just posting here. Would you be willing to test cut a ~15mm diameter circle into 1mm thick polypropylene? I just don’t know if a laser cutter can cut it. A quick google search tells me it can be done, but not sure what power is required. I’m making a device for biomedical research and just need to cut some holes out of the bottom of a polyprop...

While I have never personally cut polypropylene- I know it can be done. You’re only doing 1mm thick which will cut very fast with a 100W laser. In lightburn, you can use the Material Test Generator to find the right settings: [image] [image] -Kap

Cool, thanks for the tip! This is exactly what I want to do. If I can cut it with a 40W laser, I’ll just try using one of the cheap 40W units from Amazon.