LP Hole Drill?

Someone on the Skottish forum has used a 7mm drill without problems.

On the few occasions when the hole is too small I have used a pair of sharp scissors. Hold the narrowest scissor blade vertically and place the lp on it. Rotate the lp once or twice. A little swarf is produced and easily brushed off. Check the lp on the turntable spindle and repeat if necessary using the opposite side of the lp. It's always worked for me and doesn't produce any eccentricity.

Judge, look on the flee bay site tapered hand held reamer about £4.00 or use a pair of scissors as Graham has mentioned.

How about rolling up a piece of sandpaper and spinning the vinyl on it.

Drewy posted:

How about rolling up a piece of sandpaper and spinning the vinyl on it.

Problem is you get sand particles on the lp. Not good.

sheffieldgraham posted:

Drewy posted:

How about rolling up a piece of sandpaper and spinning the vinyl on it.

Problem is you get sand particles on the lp. Not good.

Good point, I did think of that after posting it, thought I'd just give it a rinse afterwards.

sheffieldgraham posted:

On the few occasions when the hole is too small I have used a pair of sharp scissors. Hold the narrowest scissor blade vertically and place the lp on it. Rotate the lp once or twice. A little swarf is produced and easily brushed off. Check the lp on the turntable spindle and repeat if necessary using the opposite side of the lp. It's always worked for me and doesn't produce any eccentricity.

I do the same. It usually takes very little shaving to go from too tight to perfect, so be careful not to overdo it.

In about twenty seconds of googling I found a 7.3-mm drill bit for < $5 on Ebay (shipping included). If the handle is an issue I suppose you could wrap some duct tape around the upper shank for a better grip. Alternatively you could use the drill bit itself to drill-out a blank handle (wooden dowel?) then glue it in.

sheffieldgraham posted:

On the few occasions when the hole is too small I have used a pair of sharp scissors. Hold the narrowest scissor blade vertically and place the lp on it. Rotate the lp once or twice. A little swarf is produced and easily brushed off. Check the lp on the turntable spindle and repeat if necessary using the opposite side of the lp. It's always worked for me and doesn't produce any eccentricity.

Yep, that's what I do too, works fine.

tonym posted:

sheffieldgraham posted:

On the few occasions when the hole is too small I have used a pair of sharp scissors. Hold the narrowest scissor blade vertically and place the lp on it. Rotate the lp once or twice. A little swarf is produced and easily brushed off. Check the lp on the turntable spindle and repeat if necessary using the opposite side of the lp. It's always worked for me and doesn't produce any eccentricity.

Yep, that's what I do too, works fine.

Me too.

C.

I find the contoured body of a Parker ballpoint pen is ideal for the job.

Change to a Roksan, Xerxes or TMS? A removable centre spindle and a better aural experience.

Nick from Suffolk posted:

Change to a Roksan, Xerxes or TMS? A removable centre spindle and a better aural experience.

But if the hole in the record's  too small, won't the removable centre spindle become the unmovable centre spundle?

Nick from Suffolk posted:

Change to a Roksan, Xerxes or TMS? A removable centre spindle and a better aural experience.

As a TMS user, I use the spindle to centre the record, otherwise it tends to wobble.

The writing end of a Biro works nicely - it's cone shaped so one pushes it in and turns it until the hole is slightly expanded (don't want it too big). If it's still too small repeat.

Biro works well for me too. It usually doesn't take a lot to make it big enough and that's what is good about the biro - with scissors or a drillbit there is the risk of going too far .........

Sten posted:

Biro works well for me too. It usually doesn't take a lot to make it big enough and that's what is good about the biro - with scissors or a drillbit there is the risk of going too far .........

Another endorsement for the biro trick. No swarf or particles to deal with.

I use a very sharp carpet knive and Turn it around once of twice, that works for me. Christoph

joerand posted:

In about twenty seconds of googling I found a 7.3-mm drill bit for < $5 on Ebay (shipping included). If the handle is an issue I suppose you could wrap some duct tape around the upper shank for a better grip. Alternatively you could use the drill bit itself to drill-out a blank handle (wooden dowel?) then glue it in.

Doh! Such an obvious thing to try!  

I bought a 7.3mm drill bit for £2.75 with free delivery.  I just didn't think drill bits came in 0.1mm increments.

Thanks for the input.  

I have a chuck with a hex fitting, that I can fit into a small socket set to give a T handle if I need more cutting torque.

In the US there are nominal size drills, number drills and letter drills. An example of a nominal drill would be a 1/8 drill which measures .125, the closest number drill (#30) is .1285 and the closest letter drill is an L which is also .1285.

http://www.smithbearing.com/im...-FractionalChart.pdf

Judge posted:

joerand posted:

In about twenty seconds of googling I found a 7.3-mm drill bit for < $5 on Ebay (shipping included). If the handle is an issue I suppose you could wrap some duct tape around the upper shank for a better grip. Alternatively you could use the drill bit itself to drill-out a blank handle (wooden dowel?) then glue it in.

Doh! Such an obvious thing to try!  

I bought a 7.3mm drill bit for £2.75 with free delivery.  I just didn't think drill bits came in 0.1mm increments.

Thanks for the input.  

I have a chuck with a hex fitting, that I can fit into a small socket set to give a T handle if I need more cutting torque.

I would't recommend using a drill to enlarge the hole, I doubt the hole would be centred correctly or square.

I'd use a 3 - 12mm taperded reamer. Alternate removing a small amount of from either side.

Use the drill you've bought as a gauge.

I like the reamer idea, but I've decided to try a new method. It involves a Remington Model 700 Mountain rifle with .280 caliber bullets (7.2mm in width).  With a 4-power Leopold scope, am thinking 50 meters will work nicely.

And yes, my post is 4 days late.