I have worked with some exotic materials and composites in the past, but I don't want to just cowboy up on this carbon fiber job. I essentially have to drill a number of "aesthetically pleasing" 3/8" holes in 0.060" wall thickness 1.35" OD Carbon fiber tubing. The placement is important, but the ovality tolerance is as wide as a barn door. I essentially don't want to have a bunch of loose fibers, delamination and/or crush areas in this part so I am welcome to any recommendations that any of you may have as far as:
1.) Approach- Pilot, Drill, Ream vs. spot and helical with a carbide end mill.
2.) Tooling- I'm assuming carbide drills/end-mills are "where it's at"? What geometry works best? Coatings?
3.) Speeds and feeds- obviously related to the approach from number 1 above, but again I have never worked with this type of composite tubing before.
4.) To cool or not to cool? I have flood and FogBuster available.
5.) Fixturing? I was thinking that my vise V-jaw would work fine, but are there any boogeymen that I need to be aware of there?
6.) Machine? I can use the 1100, 770 or some "gooder" manual drill presses to get this job done.
FYI- Total volume is 20 tubes with 2 holes precisely placed in each. Note that the holes don't go through both sides of the tube...it is an interesting design.
I can manage the dust issues and health and safety stuff so I am not concerned about that. Thanks, in advance, for your thoughtful suggestions!
Doug P.