<p>Found one source for small “doweling jigs”, the Telco 06120TK, on <a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B00K0QO9AG" rel="nofollow noreferrer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Amazon</a>, $1.50 per bushing in packs of 10. Not the neat, press-in kind, they thread into a 1/2”-20 nut, but they are tempered steel.</p>
<p>They are a little thick and tall, which would make the template thick and tall, but the printed template could be cored out so it doesn’t have to be a solid, thick piece of printed plastic on top of the box.  The threaded bit would make them reusable though.</p>
<p>The search was helped by putting in the ID you want (1/8” in this case), and getting into the woodworking category, rather than business/industrial.</p>
<p>Edit: Here's a design for 3D printed drill template with the doweling bushings.  For the holes that were too close and interfered I'm going to try the suggestion of using pressed in 6-32 steel nuts, but drill them out.<br />
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/JQHjP.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/JQHjP.png" alt="Drill Template" /></a></p>
<p>EDIT #2:After drilling a test with the 3D printed drill template, results are underwhelming.  The hole pattern is a little undersize, about 0.5%, which has made the holes on opposite sides of the drill template out of tolerance by about .015&quot;, not great for matching a PCB.  I believe the issue is plastic shrink, which is expressed as a percentage, an error that ends up as a multiplication of size.  So the 3D printed drill template, as shown, not reccommended for tight dimensional tolerances without experimenting dialing in the scale with the filament to be used.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-05T19:19:28.003Z
2021-09-08T03:43:59.683Z
2021-09-08T03:43:59.683Z
ChinchillaWafers
<p>I’m gearing up for making batch of 30 or so drilled aluminum enclosures (guitar pedals!), and getting the holes drilled accurately is a challenge. I’d like to make a 3D printed drilling template that fits over the box. The plastic alone is too soft to keep from getting deformed by repeated drilling. I’d seen these steel bushing inserts machinists use for their drilling templates. I’d love to use the kind with knurls or ridges so they press into the plastic and won’t get loose and spin.</p>
<p>The only problem is they seem to be unusually expensive- \$8 apiece at <a href="https://www.mcmaster.com/drill-bushings/drill-bushings-for-plastic-6/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">McMaster Carr</a>.</p>
<p>The one other question here about these mentions “castable bushings” but are similarly rare and expensive.</p>
<p>Is there a less expensive part that would work well with plastic? Or a clever method for getting an accurate 3D printed drill template that would stand up to repeated use?</p>
<p>This would be used with a drill press and I would be happy with 0.125” (~3.2 mm) drill bits, or similar size, for pilot holes, and drill the holes to various final sizes as a second operation.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T23:26:30.953Z
Use appropriate sized nuts?
Ron Jensen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T03:33:53.760Z
@Ron, yeah, seems like most of the improvised solutions have threads, but there is only a little bit of material on the edges of the threads that the drill would contact. Brass heat set inserts, or the special flanged steel bushing with machine threads that pokes into a piece of wood.
ChinchillaWafers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-05T08:45:59.403Z
What sort of drill sizes do you intend to use?
One thing that comes to mind would be printed threads which you screw heat breaks into. That's usually limited to ~4mm or ~6mm though.
Or maybe 3-4 normal spacers along the length of your tool which you'd insert from the side?
towe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-05T12:46:15.033Z
Are you using a hand-held drill or a drill press? If the latter, you could make a jig that the part fits against instead of having to guide the drill bit.
Andrew Morton
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-05T18:36:36.427Z
@towe that’s an interesting idea of screwing something in. Heartbreaks are too long and even the Chinese ones are ~$7. Screwing something in, especially if it had a collar to stop it would work. The drill press spins righty tighty so it wouldn’t unscrew it. Could tap the threads or make a pocket for a nut on the inside face.
ChinchillaWafers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-05T18:43:52.113Z
@Andrew Morton, yes, drill press. I had previously done what you were talking about, by drilling a “master” with pilot holes, and then using a fixture to hold the box in place, and drill all of that one hole for all of the boxes, then move the fixture for the next hole, repeat. It did work but the opportunity for drift and messing up the same hole location over a batch of boxes made me nervous.
ChinchillaWafers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-05T18:48:01.313Z
@towe I’d like to just drill pilot holes, 1/8” or 3mm, size not too specific, since it gets drilled out larger.
ChinchillaWafers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-05T18:52:51.420Z
@ChinchillaWafers Would it be enough to use a plastic template and centrepunch the hole locations? I imagine a centrepunch wouldn't do the damage a drill bit would, but your experience may tell you otherwise.
Andrew Morton
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-05T19:06:21.097Z
@Andrew Morton re:center punch jig, that’s interesting. The longer the hole for the center punch the less it should deform. I guess the trick would be how tight you could get the punch in the hole without stressing the plastic, to keep the location tight.
ChinchillaWafers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-05T22:13:07.360Z
This question is basically a hardware recommendation/shopping question, which is [off-topic](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic).
0scar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-06T20:34:26.097Z
@ChinchillaWafers I realised that a transfer punch (with its cylindrical shape) would be a better fit than the typically conical shape of a normal centre punch.
Andrew Morton
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-07T05:47:59.340Z
@Andrew Morton transfer punch could be a good solution. It’d be an extra operation, but the template would be simpler and less labor to put together.
ChinchillaWafers
<hardware>
Making durable 3D printed drill templates?
ChinchillaWafers
# Making durable 3D printed drill templates?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-03)

I’m gearing up for making batch of 30 or so drilled aluminum enclosures (guitar pedals!), and getting the holes drilled accurately is a challenge. I’d like to make a 3D printed drilling template that fits over the box. The plastic alone is too soft to keep from getting deformed by repeated drilling. I’d seen these steel bushing inserts machinists use for their drilling templates. I’d love to use the kind with knurls or ridges so they press into the plastic and won’t get loose and spin.

The only problem is they seem to be unusually expensive- \$8 apiece at [McMaster Carr](https://www.mcmaster.com/drill-bushings/drill-bushings-for-plastic-6/).

The one other question here about these mentions “castable bushings” but are similarly rare and expensive.

Is there a less expensive part that would work well with plastic? Or a clever method for getting an accurate 3D printed drill template that would stand up to repeated use?

This would be used with a drill press and I would be happy with 0.125” (~3.2 mm) drill bits, or similar size, for pilot holes, and drill the holes to various final sizes as a second operation.

**Tags:** hardware

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Use appropriate sized nuts?  
> **username_0**: @Ron, yeah, seems like most of the improvised solutions have threads, but there is only a little bit of material on the edges of the threads that the drill would contact. Brass heat set inserts, or the special flanged steel bushing with machine threads that pokes into a piece of wood.  
> **username_2**: What sort of drill sizes do you intend to use? One thing that comes to mind would be printed threads which you screw heat breaks into. That's usually limited to ~4mm or ~6mm though. Or maybe 3-4 normal spacers along the length of your tool which you'd insert from the side?  
> **username_3**: Are you using a hand-held drill or a drill press? If the latter, you could make a jig that the part fits against instead of having to guide the drill bit.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 that’s an interesting idea of screwing something in. Heartbreaks are too long and even the Chinese ones are ~$7. Screwing something in, especially if it had a collar to stop it would work. The drill press spins righty tighty so it wouldn’t unscrew it. Could tap the threads or make a pocket for a nut on the inside face.  
> **username_0**: @username_3, yes, drill press. I had previously done what you were talking about, by drilling a “master” with pilot holes, and then using a fixture to hold the box in place, and drill all of that one hole for all of the boxes, then move the fixture for the next hole, repeat. It did work but the opportunity for drift and messing up the same hole location over a batch of boxes made me nervous.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 I’d like to just drill pilot holes, 1/8” or 3mm, size not too specific, since it gets drilled out larger.  
> **username_3**: @username_0 Would it be enough to use a plastic template and centrepunch the hole locations? I imagine a centrepunch wouldn't do the damage a drill bit would, but your experience may tell you otherwise.  
> **username_0**: @username_3 re:center punch jig, that’s interesting. The longer the hole for the center punch the less it should deform. I guess the trick would be how tight you could get the punch in the hole without stressing the plastic, to keep the location tight.  
> **username_4**: This question is basically a hardware recommendation/shopping question, which is [off-topic](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic).  
> **username_3**: @username_0 I realised that a transfer punch (with its cylindrical shape) would be a better fit than the typically conical shape of a normal centre punch.  
> **username_0**: @username_3 transfer punch could be a good solution. It’d be an extra operation, but the template would be simpler and less labor to put together.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2021-07-05. Score: 2

Found one source for small “doweling jigs”, the Telco 06120TK, on [Amazon](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B00K0QO9AG), $1.50 per bushing in packs of 10. Not the neat, press-in kind, they thread into a 1/2”-20 nut, but they are tempered steel.

They are a little thick and tall, which would make the template thick and tall, but the printed template could be cored out so it doesn’t have to be a solid, thick piece of printed plastic on top of the box. The threaded bit would make them reusable though.

The search was helped by putting in the ID you want (1/8” in this case), and getting into the woodworking category, rather than business/industrial.

Edit: Here's a design for 3D printed drill template with the doweling bushings. For the holes that were too close and interfered I'm going to try the suggestion of using pressed in 6-32 steel nuts, but drill them out.  
[![Drill Template](https://i.sstatic.net/JQHjP.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/JQHjP.png)

EDIT #2:After drilling a test with the 3D printed drill template, results are underwhelming. The hole pattern is a little undersize, about 0.5%, which has made the holes on opposite sides of the drill template out of tolerance by about .015", not great for matching a PCB. I believe the issue is plastic shrink, which is expressed as a percentage, an error that ends up as a multiplication of size. So the 3D printed drill template, as shown, not reccommended for tight dimensional tolerances without experimenting dialing in the scale with the filament to be used.


---

