How can it be so hard to put holes in something?

[Razzledazzy]

So this was my first attempt at trying to poke holes in a catchcup/temporary container. I tried a drill, which left too sharp an edge, tried the nail method, which worked..... too a point. It started leaving black rings around the melted holes after the third hole.

What mystical methods are you guys using where you don't get this result? The black holes don't bother me aesthetically- but will they bother the T?

 

[PanzoN88]

Thumbtack

 

[BoyFromLA]

A soldering iron.

 

[basin79]

A soldering iron is your best friend for putting holes in plastic. Very quick, clean (no need to sand as there's no rough edges) and zero clean up.

A word of advice though. Don't buy the cheapest iron. Pay more for a good quality one.

 

[cold blood]

The first thing I learned about enclosures was....don't use things with thick plastic....period.

A deli cup is easily ventilated with a pin or tack....from there just go through those pin holes with a toothpick to make them uniform.


Save that kind of plastic for leftover food.

 

[Draketeeth]

If you have a damp junk cloth, you can clean off your heated item after a couple of holes, removing the residue. That helps prevent the black.

 

[Razzledazzy]

A soldering iron is your best friend for putting holes in plastic. Very quick, clean (no need to sand as there's no rough edges) and zero clean up.

A word of advice though. Don't buy the cheapest iron. Pay more for a good quality one.

See, that's like the one power tool I don't own. I've got uh... like a wood burner? For burning things into wood. There MIGHT be a way to use that (if I'm willing to sacrifice a toolhead to the plastic gods.)

The first thing I learned about enclosures was....don't use things with thick plastic....period.

A deli cup is easily ventilated with a pin or tack....from there just go through those pin holes with a toothpick to make them uniform.


Save that kind of plastic for leftover food.

I just needed something to catch her in while I added some extra sub and made her hide into more of a burrow. Didn't have time to go out and get another thing today.

 

[Razzledazzy]

If you have a damp junk cloth, you can clean off your heated item after a couple of holes, removing the residue. That helps prevent the black.

I tried but it hardened really quickly. Maybe I just have get faster at doing this with practice.

 

[cold blood]

I just needed something to catch her in while I added some extra sub

Then you didn't need air holes.

 

[basin79]

The soldering iron I use puts holes through 3mm perspex effortlessly. Plus the point it came with is tapered so I can put tiny holes in tubs up to around 3mm.

 

[EulersK]

A Dremel works like a charm. But for melting plastic, I use a BBQ skewer. Never had an issue with black rings using that - maybe because it's food safe? Not sure.

 

[StampFan]

A Dremel works like a charm. But for melting plastic, I use a BBQ skewer. Never had an issue with black rings using that - maybe because it's food safe? Not sure.

Or the type of metal the nail was made of perhaps?

 

[draconisj4]

I use a drill for acrylic and a soldering iron with small tips made for soldering electronics on plastic. No black marks and the small ring of melted plastic around the holes can be removed fairly easily leaving a clean look. For deli cups I use either a push pin or a small awl from the inside depending on what I'm housing in it.

 

[Dave Jay]

Initially I thought to use a drill so I put electrical tape where I wanted the rows of holes to avoid the scratching I got when I drilled other tubs, the bit would skate a bit before biting scratching the tub and making the rows messy. The plastic melted onto the drill bit so I changed to a soldering iron but left the tape on. I found that I could remove the melted rings along with the tape with a bit of care, not that I bothered on later enclosures but it was a neat job. For the little slings where I wanted tiny holes I used the soldering iron tip very carefully, but didn't worry about making sure the hole was clear of melted plastic, I went back over them using one of those tiny electronics screwdrivers as a drill, that way I knew all the holes were tiny. Just using the soldering iron for tiny holes I found that some would be blocked by the melted plastic when the soldering iron tip was pulled back out of the hole but others would be too big because too much melted plastic was pulled out by the tip. Making a "dimple" with the soldering iron then clearing the hole using the screwdriver as a drill bit, or the drill is now my method of getting neat even rows of very small holes.

 

[NukaMedia Exotics]

See, that's like the one power tool I don't own. I've got uh... like a wood burner? For burning things into wood. There MIGHT be a way to use that (if I'm willing to sacrifice a toolhead to the plastic gods.)



I just needed something to catch her in while I added some extra sub and made her hide into more of a burrow. Didn't have time to go out and get another thing today.

I bought one on Amazon about a week ago for like $16 and its a full kit, use it only to make ventilation holes at this point lmao.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Pin for deli cups, drill for anything else, I used to use a soldering iron but switched to the drill because the holes look more tidy imo

 

[viper69]

The black holes don't bother me aesthetically- but will they bother the T?

You should paint the black a nice color green, black offends them.