But I’m quite sure that the air holes are going to be too small. I have a hand drill and a bench vice, am I going to be able to drill the holes bigger with just those or is a drill press necessary?
I would think the most important thing would be a wood dowel or something similar to prevent the cap from crushing under pressure. If you don’t put something inside the cap just the pressure from the drill could deform the cap, not to mention a vise
Good thought. I’m not too worried about it if I wreck it since it was so dirt cheap (actually technically free because they had a deal where you get 10% off if you bought two tanks or rdas, and the other one I bought was $20, so I ended up getting $2.10 off my order), but if I can make it work it would be cool.
Old toothbrush handle, dowel will work perfect too like @Duneatick mentioned.
Sharp Metal drill bit preferably HSS
Slow and steady drill through as straight and controlled as possible
VIP
Use either the drill bit to remove burrs (by hand) or use a dedicated burr removal tool
The toothbrush handle worked great because the part I drilled wedged into the plastic and as i drilled the heat melted the handle slightly holding it tight
Everyone covered the way I would do it with what you have.
I would only add that you may want to try it as it is first to see if you think it would work better with more airflow. With some atty’s the restricted airflow is what actually gets you better flavor.
I have had these things for years, an IGO-W was my first real RDA and my wife still uses them.
You want crush it so dont worry about a dowel and if im being honest i would suggest finding a real hardware store that might be able to do it for you because these things are SS and a PITA to drill through.
Needs:
Clamp
Cobalt or carbide tripped drill bit or better
Oil
Drill, a drill press would be moar betterer
More patience than i can muster
You will want to drill this very slowly using slight pressure, also oil the piece before drilling. I was being completely seriously when i said these are a PITA and if i had more i would take them to someone to drill for me. One of my problems was that i only have variable speed cordless drills and carpal tunnel, i just couldnt get them to spill slow enough and maintain that speed.
If you know anyone that works in a automotive or equipment repair shop, metal fabricating/welding shop anyplace like that could most likely drill them for you. With the proper drill bits and a good drill press it would not take them but a few min. to do both holes.
They are a pain to drill out as @Ken_O_Where stated some of the SS ones are very hard.I know some that could not get them drilled with a hand drill but I will offer this tip.If possible drill it out in many steps , just barely increasing the hole size each time.This makes it much easier and tends to help keep the bit from distorting the hole.
I have also seen some that prefer to enlarge the holes using one of the small Dremel hand tools with a carbide bit.
I know shipping will negate the bargain price but if you can’t drill them out yourself I would be happy to drill them for you at no cost.I have a milling machine so it takes less than one minute.
Also to add what @wvsanta offered if you have a gunsmith nearby he could drill them for you as well.They are used to drilling holes in round steel and have a good assortment of drill sizes.
Good luck
This would be the best way to go about it. I was looking around and i have a couple that are only half drilled through, must burned out the bits, hehe.
I used the a lot in the 15w range, i have a few that only have one air hole so i built single coils and would over fill the crap out of them by just leaning it to the side without an air hole.
@VapeyMama i can go check the bit sizes if you need a starting point.
I recommend the same, but will add that you should try it out after each drilling, I know - tedious, but if you make it too big, you may ruin the flavor it was designed to produce.
Also, please make sure you clean it WELL afterward. You don’t want a loose shaving to short it out, or sucking in any of it.