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I need to drill a couple of holes in a very tight space. Material is stainless steel and shape is "Π".

I need to drill one hole on each inner wall to attach a springbar on it but it can't be done with a normal drill. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I am attaching a couple of pictures to make understanding easier. enter image description here

enter image description here

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  • Can it be drilled from the outside edge, fully penetrating the object? Or a sleeve inserted with holes already drilled?
    – user2448131
    May 13, 2017 at 0:18
  • no it can't unfortunately.
    – Asmo
    May 13, 2017 at 2:08

3 Answers 3

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Find someone with a dentist drill. Should have a small enough head to fit in your space.

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  • Will a dentist drill have enough power to put a hole in stainless steel? Thank you for the idea!
    – Asmo
    May 13, 2017 at 2:10
  • @Asmo, it will be no problem for a carbide or diamond bit. BTW, there are Dremel-type tools with a right-angle head if you can't find a dentist drill.
    – fixer1234
    May 13, 2017 at 3:59
  • Dremel type tools are quite large for such a low space. I'll try finding a dental drill.. Well I doubt I will find anything, so I guess I will have to buy one. Yet I dunno if the job to be done justifies the cost of purchasing. I am accepting the above answer for now, if anyone comes with a better idea feel free to post it. Thanks a lot!
    – Asmo
    May 13, 2017 at 4:51
  • @Asmo, ebay.com/bhp/dental-drill
    – fixer1234
    May 13, 2017 at 5:54
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I would drill through 1 side into the other then plug the drill hole. If that won't work some machine shops have plunge EDM machines but the hole quality is not as clean as a drilled hole. (EDM electro discharge milling ) a electrode could be easily shaped to make a hole up to 17mm deep.

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  • Thanks but drilling side to side is not an option.
    – Asmo
    May 13, 2017 at 4:49
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If things are so dire you're considering a dental drill it's well worth checking with local machine shops. You could also ship it out to a shop with the right equipment. Or, if appearance is much less important than functionality you could have it cut then welded locally.

Depending on the exact use case you could have a replacement fabricated. Several national fabricators will 3D print or machine parts from CAD plans. There's a menu for requesting quotes in Fusion 360, which is free for hobby use.

You could also have it cast at a foundry, I've no idea where that would fall on the price spectrum. I suspect it varies wildly from one shop to the next.

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