The question of boring holes in stoppers is a good one. I have custom-bored holes of various sizes in all the type of stoppers, from plain cork
stoppers and black vulcanized rubber stoppers to the beige neoprene or green stoppers, all using my drill-press.
I wouldn't attempt drilling a hole into a stopper with a plain handheld drill, you really need a solid surface and a very straight axis to drill into
rubber. With a drill-press, use a wooden plank to put the stopper on and hold the stopper upside-down with a good pair of gardening suede gloves.
drill straight in the middle (or within 1/3 of the girth for multi-hole stoppers) and go all the way through down to the wood plank. If it's a big
hole, start with a smaller size pilot hole and then proceed with the final hole. A rat-tail file can be useful to refine the edges of your hole.
Use a smaller size drillbit than the item you want to insert into, so that when you are done and you slide your tube or probe ino the stopper, it will
be a snug fit (vacuum grease may be helpful to help inserting the tube).
I've done this many times and it works splendidly!
Robert |
)