Machine shop near Seattle?

[ferret30]

Hey folks, I've been having some trouble with my anchor roller project. I want to make 4 holes through a Lewmar pivoting roller so I can insert a pin and lock the pivoting component. I followed some suggestions on this site and ordered titanium bits, cutting oil and a center punch, as well as a 3/8" hitch pin. I used this stuff with my corded drill and wound up making a divot in the metal, no progress.

I think at this point I'd just like to hire it out to someone with a drill press and good bits. Any recommendations around Seattle for shops that do small jobs like this? I emailed a few in Ballard that I could find websites for and no responses (not even negative responses) since I emailed 3 days ago.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

[CougarMtn]

I'm not in Seattle, but if it will ship in a small or medium USPS flat-rate box, I can do it in my machine shop here in Oregon, for the cost of return postage.

[turtleblues]

J&D Equipment repair in Burlington does a lot of work for me at the plant. Good and reasonable. 360-661-3214

[ferret30]

I got a response from one local place and thought of another, so I'm going to swing by these places in the morning. One is a propeller repair shop that should be able to drill stainless (right?), and the other is a machine shop that was recommended by a local engine head repair guy.

I'm imagining it'll cost more than I paid for the roller on ebay, but at least it'll probably work better than if I kept buying exotic drill bits and trying to eyeball it! Someone's got to have a drill press and a set of carbide bits!

CougarMtn, I really appreciate the offer and I might take you up on it but I'm trying to see if I can get it done before the weekend so I can install it!

[ferret30]

We had to go to Stone Way hardware tonight for something else and I got a little side tracked and looked for metal bits since the ones that came from Amazon were such crap for what I was doing. I ended up getting 3/16", 9/32" and 3/8" cobalt bits, not as expensive as I had imagined. They immediately performed better than the "titanium" ones, dug in and went through, maybe 2 minutes per hole with a slow speed and constant oil application.

The holes all line up and the stainless quick release pin is coming tomorrow. Finally I can put the roller on the boat! We'll see if the weather cooperates since I need to fill holes from the old roller and drill/epoxy/redrill new ones.

Thanks for the help!

[rogerbum]

That's good to hear. I was rather suspecting that the problem was crappy drill bits but I was afraid to say that given that you just bought them. Now that you have good ones and have done some drilling in stainless steel, the next time it will be easier.

[Sea Wolf]

ferret30-

I'm glad it worked out for you!

There's another lesson here that's worth pointing out.

If one's going to be fabricating parts for marine use in stainless steel and other metals harder than aluminum and brass, a drill press is an indespensible tool of the first order, along with a set of very hard drill bits and a center punch and countersink.

Cuts can usually be made by hand with a hacksaw if one doesn't want to buy a metal band saw. An air powered cut off tool is a good substitute, though, and much cheaper.

A bench grinder is another useful tool that won't add too much to the investment list. Don't use a regular wire brush wheel on stainless though, as the regular steel will weld with the stainless, break the microscopic welds, and leave a mixed metal residue that rusts! Get a stainless wire brush, or finish the grinding off with emery paper, or with an air powered right-angle die grinder with an abrasive pad.

A decent air compressor will power these pneumatic tools, and open the door to a lot of other tools and uses, including spraying paints, spraying insulation, uses in cleaning, blowing out fuel and brake lines, powering pneumatic wrenches, using pneumatic jacks, powering pneumatic riveters, etc. (Lots'a fun toys!)

Joe.

[Adeline]