Hi Guys,

Actually I have never had to do it, and trying for the first time I am running into difficulties.

Is there a way to drill a small hole into a small PE part in a precise manner without damaging/deforming the part itself?

Many thanks,

Adam

If the part is still on the PE-sheet I would try using a punch-and-die set.
Using an ordinary drill might work if you have a high speed machine in a small drill press. A hand-held drill suffers the risk of pushing into the material too fast, going through to fast (i.e. without cutting a circular hole).

It also depends on what you mean by small hole. If you drill an ugly 0.6 mm hole and then use reamers to widen the hole to the required size:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nZvhsggJBA
There are small handheld pentagonal and tapered reamers that can be used from 0.6 mm up to somewhere around 2 mm.
Since they are tapered you get a lot of sizes

http://www.micromark.com/micro-size-precision-reamers-set-of-6,6759.html

I think I gave seen a set somewhere with even smaller sizes, can't remember where though .....

Googled a little: down to 0.4 mm
http://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery-Tools/Broacher--Reamer-File-Set-Small-0.4-1.4mm---Set-Of-6-prcode-999-510
/ Robin

It really depends on the size of the hole you are drilling, but one thing for sure is you should always start with a small "pilot hole" or indentation in any metal piece. That will guide the bit where you want it to go.
VR, Russ

I've never had any problem drilling holes in etch. As Russ said, start with a small hole and work your way up. I used generic bits and a pin vice.

Hi Adam,
Apart form the wise advise above, I would do it over a hard wooden block to minimize the warping, and not pressing too much.

If you do not mind risking the drill bit, work first on a harder surface like marble or steel and afterwards go through over wood.

A piece of 2-3 mm thick aluminum or brass also works fine as backing, more consistent hardness than wood and softer than steel or marble.
/ Robin

And as long as you have a sufficiently hard backing and the part isn't too small, you can try annealing the PE to soften it and make it easier to drill.

Thank you all.

Unfortunately the piece is around 1 mm wide only and the hole shall be like 0.2 mm

Cheers, Adam

Drill bits: https://www.amazon.com/Carbide-Micro-Drill-0-2mm-Dremel/dp/B0087M1MIW

and then you will need a high speed precision drill press,
maybe something like this:
http://www.proxxon.com/us/micromot/38128.php

The tricky part will be to hold the little piece in place,
maybe solder it to some scrap circuit board or maybe one of these:


/ Robin