Hydroponics Online Home Home Store Blog Forums FAQs Lesson Plans Pictures

Go Back   Hydroponics Forums Discussions > Hydroponics Discussion Forums > Hydroponics

Drilling holes for net pots, the correct way


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 06-23-2016, 08:52 AM
Davephan Davephan is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 10
Default Drilling holes for net pots, the correct way

I watched a YouTube video about Beginners in Hydroponics. The method to create the holes for the net pots shown in the video, in the top of the plastic storage container was horrible!

The best way to make the holes for the netpots is with a hole saw drill bit. Drill the pilot hole in the forward direction and the large hole in the reverse direction and you will have a clean hole. If you drill the large hole in the forward direction, you will not have clean hole.

The hard part is figuring out the correct hole saw sizes. I figured out the exact sizes needed. I tested different hole sizes using a compass and cardboard, and determined the exact sizes needed by trial and error.

For 3" net pots use a 75 mm hole saw drill bit, for 3.75 inch net pots, use 92 mm (3-5/8") hole saw drill bit, and for 5-1/2 inch net pots use a 5-1/4 inch hole saw drill bit. I could not find these exact sizes at any local stores, so I ordered the hole saw drill bits from Great Lakes Power Tools.

I trace the netpots upside down with a pencil on top of the plastic contain lid, then use a compass to find the exact center of each hole. A paper template would also work to find the center holes. After determining the centers, I erase the everything except for the hole centers.

Then drill in the forward direction for the centers, and reverse direction for the larger holes, you end up with perfect clean holes for the net pots every time. It's worth spending about $60 for several hole saw drill bits.

Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 06-23-2016, 10:37 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Lake Havasu AZ.
Posts: 1,855
Default

Hello Davephan

I do it a little simpler. Like you, I found it hard to find the right size hole saw sizes, and never seemed to have the size I needed. So I bought a rotary tool for $12 at the swap meet (I attaches pictures of it). So now I just make a template out of cardboard or something like a plastic butter container lid. Then I just draw a circle where I need it, and just fallow along the line with the rotary tool. No trying to find the right hole saw size, or trial and error to figure out what size works the best.

To center the circle where I want it, I make a dot where I want it to go, and make a hole in the center of the template so I can see my dot through the template. That makes it easy to center the template. To find the center of the template, I just use a ruler to draw two straight lines crisscross top to bottom, and side to side, where they cross is the center.

For softer materials like Styrofoam, I use a cheap handheld soldering iron to cut out the circles (or any shape I need). I also use the soldering iron to make holes in baskets instead of drilling them. It's much faster, easier, and wont crack the plastic if you press to hard with the drill. Just do it outside or in the garage so the smoke wont smell up the house. Also when you burn the Styrofoam instead of cutting it you don't get all those annoying little Styrofoam balls flying around all over.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	100_9578.jpg
Views:	959
Size:	83.2 KB
ID:	2958   Click image for larger version

Name:	100_0760.jpg
Views:	1018
Size:	46.1 KB
ID:	2959   Click image for larger version

Name:	100_9576.jpg
Views:	818
Size:	84.2 KB
ID:	2960   Click image for larger version

Name:	100_9534.jpg
Views:	916
Size:	89.0 KB
ID:	2961   Click image for larger version

Name:	100_9535.jpg
Views:	842
Size:	93.7 KB
ID:	2962  

__________________
Website Owner
Home Hydroponic Systems

Last edited by GpsFrontier; 06-23-2016 at 10:40 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 06-26-2016, 01:39 AM
Stan Stan is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 213
Default

Davephan, that's is exactly the way I drill holes for net pots and they all come out perfect. Forward for pilot hole and switch drill to reverse for the net pot hole.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 06-26-2016, 02:05 AM
Davephan Davephan is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 10
Default

The hardest part was figuring out the exact size hole saw drill bits to order so that the different net pots fit perfectly. I'm going to make a new container with 2 inch net pots for growing lettuce. A 2 inch hole saw drill bit works perfectly for the 2 inch net pots.

Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:51 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.