Drilling the toolhead on my Loadmaster for a light?

[Kappy]

I'm thinking about getting the skylight mod for my Loadmaster. The site claims that I need to drill through the center of the toolhead:

http://inlinefabrication.com/products/skylight-led-lighting-kit-for-the-lee-loadmaster

How difficult is it to do that? I have a drill press, but I'm thinking that in order to drill through aluminum, I need to have some kind of special bit? Is this going to create a lot of heat? I know nothing about fabrication, nor do I know how big a hole I would even have to drill.

[ar15barrels]

I'm thinking that in order to drill through aluminum, I need to have some kind of special bit?
Is this going to create a lot of heat?

Standard drill bit.
WD40 is a good lube for drilling aluminum.
There won't be much heat if the drill bit is sharp.
Aluminum cuts like butter with a hot knife.

[Kappy]

Standard drill bit.
WD40 is a good lube for drilling aluminum.
There won't be much heat if the drill bit is sharp.
Aluminum cuts like butter with a hot knife.

Thanks! Do I need any special bit? I have some of those titanium (gold colored) drill bits. Will that do the job? Supposedly it's thin aluminum.

[ar15barrels]

Do I need any special bit?

Standard drill bit.

[Darthyogurt]

Going to do this too!

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

[Kappy]

I'm not 100% going to do it. I may try to find some other lighting solution. Maybe a flashlight pointing down through an open spot on the toolhead. This is just a bit of thinking.

Part of it is that I had a run of .38s where some cases may not have gotten powdered. It could also have been a bit of left-over moisture from tumbling the cases. I had to bust up about 130 rounds, which is pretty damned annoying.

Also thinking of the Hornady Powder Cop instead.

[someoneeasy]

I ran a small section of LED lighting on my loadmaster. it sits on the left side of the press and gives me enough light to see into my case to ensure there's powder.

No need to drill or anything. I think the whole thing cost me like 5 or 6 bucks to do.

[stilly]

Standard drill bit.

Drilling through metal I was going to say that yes, aluminum is soft enough that a standard (but not dull) bit should be fine. Cordless or handheld drill maybe easier than Oh wait. No nevermind. I forgot the turrets come off.

Yes, drill press will work good. We used ATF though when drilling through metals and at other times we had some spray.

I will be drilling my Loadmaster soon to see if the shake brake makes a difference on priming.

Now that I am gearing up to do .45 acp on it too...

[romukom]

I have done that. My largest drill bit that I have is 1/2". I think the hole is 7/8" or 1" don't remember. I drilled a bunch of holes then I cleaned with a round file.

To be honest, when having a light above I could see everything, but it did not provide enough lighting at the critical station (bullet seating).
So, I went for the IKEA desk light that I can adjust where I need it.

[Whiterabbit]

1/2" hole is easy in aluminum. Take your time, set the drill press to the slowest speed, and you'll be fine. Hose it with WD-40 if it looks dry. Don't overthink it.

Also, consider that you might get the 10 pack of LED lights from bass pro or harbor freight or wherever and you could accomplish the same thing for a buck fifty, just have to drill a different sized hole and you'll have to replace a couple AAA batteries every 2 years.