Fork drilling - recommendations?

Anyone drilled a fork here?

i can't find anyone to do it apart from mercian in derby as i am in nottingham.

Was wondering if its easy enough do it myself. There is a guide hole at the front but the back is not marked. I don"t have access to a pillar drill so was wondering if anyone had any tips!

or should i just send it off to be done properly.

Ta...

Might be cheaper to buy a new fork that's already drilled.

Extremely easy. Used a standard drill, took a while to go through but was spot on. Just mark where you need to go through after you've gone through the first side. I felt quite bad about ruining a never used pair of track forks but they weren't mine so didn't bother me......that much.

You'd be better off buying this:
http://njsframes.blogspot.com/2007/08/front-clamp-on-brake-kit-for-keirin.html

or a fork already drilled for brakes.

Drill a pilot hole first + perhaps a bit of lubrication / heat dissipation (spray gt85 or similar)

small pilot hole

v. important.

I've drilled two forks, steel and alloy, absolutely perfect, but the key is in the sharpness (ie.new! ) of the drill bits.

Easier than you think. Start small get gradually bigger till the bugger fits..... Also good to have someone hold the fork while you drill....

Buy an expensive metal drill bit (high-end HSS, Titanium, Carbide-tipped, Cobalt), or you may need two to three of the cheaper "generic metal" ones.

I drilled some carbon forks, which had an alloy crown with a normal drill from Argos for a tenner...It had a guiding hole which made it easy.

Just start off with a small good quality HSS drill bit and work your way up. 8mm on the rear, 6mm (I think) on the front for a modern brake calliper with a recessed nut.

don't drill them, buy another set.

you brakeless purists make me laugh

it's just some fuckin old steel fork, drill it put a brake on and ride the fucker (knowing you won't end up in a bush with an australian)

oops, forgot about ending up in a bush with an aussie. point taken

and i'm not a brakeless purist, you should know better than that :)

you brakeless purists make me laugh

it's just some fuckin old steel fork, drill it put a brake on and ride the fucker (knowing you won't end up in a bush with an australian)

the dude with a brake in front of me had brakes and dropped the bike. i merely avoided running over his head, no chance in hell i was stopping with or without brakes.

don't drill fork, there are thousands of drilled forks around, undrilled forks are rare and you are basically throwing money away.

i did this with some old chromed steel forks

i used a set of good metal drill bits and masked off the area around where i was going and it worked like a charm

just go really carefully and steady and don't rush from a small to large hole

DUH I just realised you're in Nottingham. Pointless advice I put here before editing.

best to use a slow spinning high torque drill with a nice new drill/sharpened drill bit. ive drilled forks with no problems whatsoever, didn't even remove the forks the second time. depending on where you are, i have the right drill that you can use.

Thanks Guys,

Think i might look for another fork! that way if i want to change back i can.

I like riding without a front brake but my best mate just got hit by a car (totally the cars fault) and had his left knee smashed into three & huge chunk taken out of his right calf.

It"s shit me up a bit and i am gonna run a front brake for a while.

brakes... cute.

Hi all

so i popped into my lbs to ask if they could drill a carbon fork for a front brake.. they refused based on a previous instance where they fucked up and the owner went mad.
which was fair enough..

my question is.. obviously i dont want to do this myself, can anyone recommend a shop in london that can or have drilled a carbon fork before? i know its not uncommon just wondered why its considered dangerous to do so.

thanks

if they are not already drilled, then they are not supposed to be. i wouldn't do it.

What Murtle said.

From my understanding when you expect to bolt anything onto a composite like carbon fiber you have to plan ahead when making it and bond something metal to bolt against like the dropout or have some sort of bushing tube placed inside. If it's not already drilled it will not already have this part in place. I may well be wrong on this one though.

As the illustrious murle says, most won't.

Some will explode (crack and fall apart), others will be fine. LBS has no way of know which it will be, so generally won't risk it.

What type of fork is it? Some (like alpina) have a blanking plate screwed on before the final carbon wrap, you can take out the screw and blanking plate and they are generally ok.

really?
shit.

it was a build for a mate and he needs a front brake.

They had an accident the last time they tried it...

I wouldn't either. I suppose thats why you see all those little metal sleeves that are put in during manufacturing. Hmmm - maybe if you got some bushes made up drilled the part and then glued them in it might be ok????

its this fork by leader (don't ask.. his choice).

http://www.leaderbikestore.com/pd_i806tr_only_for_track_racing.cfm