Looking to drill a matrix of 3/32" diameter holes in 3/32" thick GPO3 fibeglass using my bench top drill press. One consists of 280 holes (35x8) and the other 234 holes (18x13). Center-to-center spacing is 0.265" (6.73 mm). I've made two attempts at a jig, essentially using 4 holes in a sqaure pattern such that I can drill the first hole and then use a pin to provide repeatable x-y spacing (drill a hole, slide over one "space" and insert pin - drill hole, rinse and repeat). The jig is an MDF "table" with a sliding fence that I can attach to my drill press table.
Using digital calipers to lay out the small grid and "eye-balling" to drill the pilot holes for the jig, my second attempt at a jig was about 0.08 mm wide on the x-axis giving me a compound error of about 2.7 mm by the time I hit the 35th hole. I'm using a centering bit to drill the pilot holes. I don't think I can do much better eye-balling things, though I might get lucky and hit things close enough at some point. I could probably live with something near or under 1 mm over 35 holes, which I think translates to approximately 0.001" accuracy.
So, I thought maybe I need a cross slide table for my drill press to get to an acceptible level of accuracy. Of course, that set off hours of Internet searching and reading discussions on what's a good table and a bad one. I'm more of a hobbyist in this area, and don't really want to break the bank. I was looking at this table as a possibility:
X-Y Table Assembly | Precision X-Y Table | LittleMachineShop
It seems to fit my parameters, however it is Chinese and I can't find any reviews. Most of the commentary here seems to go against Chinese products, but it's hard to find anything else. Figured this table, a clamping kit, and a combination center/edge-finder. Open to any advice regarding components and my concept for completing this job.
Using digital calipers to lay out the small grid and "eye-balling" to drill the pilot holes for the jig, my second attempt at a jig was about 0.08 mm wide on the x-axis giving me a compound error of about 2.7 mm by the time I hit the 35th hole. I'm using a centering bit to drill the pilot holes. I don't think I can do much better eye-balling things, though I might get lucky and hit things close enough at some point. I could probably live with something near or under 1 mm over 35 holes, which I think translates to approximately 0.001" accuracy.
So, I thought maybe I need a cross slide table for my drill press to get to an acceptible level of accuracy. Of course, that set off hours of Internet searching and reading discussions on what's a good table and a bad one. I'm more of a hobbyist in this area, and don't really want to break the bank. I was looking at this table as a possibility:
X-Y Table Assembly | Precision X-Y Table | LittleMachineShop
It seems to fit my parameters, however it is Chinese and I can't find any reviews. Most of the commentary here seems to go against Chinese products, but it's hard to find anything else. Figured this table, a clamping kit, and a combination center/edge-finder. Open to any advice regarding components and my concept for completing this job.