Drilling a new hole through metal

[S. Heisley]

Saw this and thought it might be helpful to some of us:

https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/tip ... VQpEU1uwtg

 

[TimC-TNT]

Thanks for that Sharon. I've been drilling metal for years and learned quite a bit from that article.

 

[tomhawk]

I have found drilling holes in metal to be one of my least favorite tasks. This article covers many important concepts.
One problem I have had is that the drill bits get dull after some number of holes. Using a dull drill is most unpleasant.

There are different grades of drill available. Some retain cutting better than others. I don't think this is completely obvious when you buy them.

for example I noticed that Harbor freight has two brands. The Bauer brand costs about twice what the Warrior brand does. I had been sticking with the cheaper version but I bought a batch of Bauer drills. These were remarkably better. Definitely worth the price difference. Based on all the advertising I would never have guessed.

Do folks have some recommendations of better drills? I feel pretty ignorant about this.

I have seen various methods of sharpening dull drills. Is that something folks have opinions about?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Tom&Shelly]

I keep a separate set of numbered bits for drilling though metal, only, with the drill press, only, and cutting fluid (oil). Took a couple of tries to explain to Shelly these bits are not for drilling in wood. She seemed to have trouble understanding wood dulls the bits--think she thought I said that backwards--and saw-dust holds moisture which helps ruin the bits. Finally, I showed her what that set of bits cost to get her attention. (Don't tell her I told you about this!)

The last time I had to drill in steel was when I hung peg-board on our garage walls last month

Can't use a drill press for that, and I didn't want any cutting fluid soaking into the board. The solution was to use a cheap brand new jobber bit, which I threw away at the end of the project.

Tom

 

[DrewsBrews]

I have gotten a ton of experience drilling metal recently.

I drilled some thick stainless steel. Standard titanium nitride coated bits would not even begin to make a hole with a drill press. It might as well have been a ball bearing on a stick spinning on the surface. I had to go get cobalt steel bits. Those did the job. I still had to step through every incremented size to get to the finish size. If the bit size jumped up too much the squeal would let you know that was not gonna happen without killing the bit in the process.

Recently I have been drilling a few hundred holes in 1/8" angle steel for pop rivits. I buy the large cheap bit sets from menards because they come with bulk of the same size in the smaller sizes and I realy punish them. They have been kicking some tail on this project! I break more bits from accidentally applying side force than they actually dull. Some have made many dozens of holes and are still going.

https://www.menards.com/main/tools/...e/81874/p-1535005667738-c-10079.htm?exp=false

So moral of the story is: Use cheap bits if that does the job. If it can't do it you are gonna have to spend some money. Just be sure of what you are spending the money on so you don't end up getting the same thing in fancy packaging.