POF Ribs/Beams Nails

[Loracs]

Greeting, thank you for your time addressing this simple question. I'm planning on adding brass nails (using brass wire half-hard) to the ribs of the bluenose POF. The ribs are 5mm thick, and the nails will be 0.6mm. Since it is the first time, I'm wondering the following,

My question: Do you usually drill holes all the way thru the ribs? or just couple mm on both side?
Basically, can the drill bits (carbine) easily handle the task all the way? or is it asking too much and should drill lightly.

 

[rtwpsom2]

You are going to want to drill at least 4-5mm deep, I tried doing them really shallow and the CA couldn't hold the wire in when you went to sand down the nub. Carbide bits are easily capable of this but they really don't like deflection, so a drill press is a must. But if you have a drill press and carbide bits, you can easily drill the frames through. I buy carbide bits for like 10 for $8 and it's guaranteed I'll break one or two in a few hours of drilling, and it is almost always due to poor handling on my part. If you don't have a drill press, you can still easily drill them though with most rotary tools, but you should expect to break the bits a little more often.

 

[Loracs]

@rtwpsom2, a thousand thanks, greatly appreciated. Since I'm a little bit constrained by space, I got a multi-purpose stand that I can use with a foredom SR. I just set up the drill press configuration, which I hope will provide the stability for the small bits. This is the first time I will use it for that purpose... I will test this weekend. In the meantime, I bookmarked a 10x pack of 0.6mm bits for a future order. ;_)

 

[Bob Cleek]

Out of curiosity more than anything else, may I ask for what purpose are you using these metal fasteners? I presume it would be to secure the planking to the frames? If so, thanks really a hard row to hoe because you can't sand the hull planking with "nails" in it and, in any event, the metal plank fasteners on the real ship would all always be countersunk and plugged with the same species of wood as the planks, so they would be invisible at scale viewing distances regardless of whether you finished the hull bright or painted it. If your planks are properly spiled and bent, they should lay perfectly fair on the frames and PVA glue would be more than adequate to hold the planking in place.

 

[Loracs]

@Bob Cleek, greeting. I planning to use the nails for something like this (only for the look). I realized that treenails should be mostly wood plug... but I just want to have the ribs nails stand out a little since they will be seen at a sharp angle only. I copy a picture from @Canoe21 (without his permission, hopefully he doesn't mind) as illustration below for clarification. Finally, I don't think I will go thru the effort later with treenails on the hulls or the deck planks (too small at scale of ~0.3mm or less) ... but it is far down the road, I may change my mind. If so, indeed toothpick would be better to allow sanding.

 

[rtwpsom2]

@rtwpsom2, a thousand thanks, greatly appreciated. Since I'm a little bit constrained by space, I got a multi-purpose stand that I can use with a foredom SR. I just set up the drill press configuration, which I hope will provide the stability for the small bits. This is the first time I will use it for that purpose... I will test this weekend. In the meantime, I bookmarked a 10x pack of 0.6mm bits for a future order. ;_)

A fellow Foredom user. This is mine, I got it when I got my SR. I would prefer it be more traditionally pinion geared like most drill presses and mills, but it is what it is. The throw only drops the chuck 1", which is fine for PCB drills, but with normal bits you kind of have to jockey it around to find the sweet spot in the drilling range. I kinda want one of those Chinese drills everyone has been talking about lately.