Drilling that Big hole in lens board yourself

[Bruce Pollock]

I can't help you on the correct size question, but here's another method that worked OK for me. I had a lens board already drilled out for a #0 and needed to fit a #1 into it. I looked at the hole boring idea with a fly cutter drill bit, but it will only work on a blank board - you need material at the center of the board for the drill to start in.

My solution (albeit primitive) was to trace a line around the existing hole to the correct size using a fine pointed awl. Then I got a small "sanding drill" which is like a drill bit, but it's about 1/2" in diameter and has sand paper around the outside. I put this in a drill press and slowly, carefully sanded out the inside of the opening until I reached the scored line. The finished opening was not a perfect circle (it's hard to exactly meet up with your scored line everywhere) but the lens fits just fine.

[Dan Kowalsky]

Thanks loads for this ton of information on this topic , Dan

[Darin Cozine]

If you are using wood, I have an alternative way to cut the hole if you have a dremel, router, or similar rotary tool.<br/><br/> 1. As said above, use a ruler to mark the center of the board. 2. use a compass to draw the correct diamerter hole. 3. drill a pilot hole near the edge. 4. Use a rotary cutting bit to cut the rough hole. 5. Use the barrel sanding bit or rough sandpaper to finish the hole. 6. Use fine sandpaper to smooth the edge.