Recommendation? DRILL BITS!??

I

Ian Fifelski

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Oct 4, 2017
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528
I know that there have been many threads over this topic but I need some help.

I have never had a perfectly successful drilling through steel. I got that Milwaukee cobalt drill set thinking they were nice and better than any hss ones. I drill 1/16th into the steel and they just stop. That is in annealed med carbon. My dad just broke one today drilling through less than 1/8 inch steel from our project car.

Now here's my question:
I have a single speed drill press and that one speed is pretty fast. I really can't afford another one. I will be mostly drilling annealed 10xx steel from Aldo. That being said, what drill bits should I get? I don't have all the money in the world (at all:p) and I'd rather not buy bulk.

Thanks all
 
You're likely going to need to slow the drill press down, or get a slower one, or it won't matter which bits you buy.

Mine stays at 400 rpm whether I'm drilling 1/8 holes or 1/2 holes. I can drill a hundred holes before sharpening them.

If you're trying to wind through 10xx with a 1/4" bit at 2000 RPM, it's going to work harden and ruin your bit every time.
 
i like to use screw length bits made of M42 or M35. need to get your speed down or you will continue to have problems. if nothing else, get a basic variable speed hand held 3/8" drill, should be about $35.
 
I opened up the drill press to see if I could try to rig some pulley stuff up to slow it down and realized it is easily slowed. I was running at 3100, no wonder nothing was working.

The slowest I can get it is 620. Is this slow enough?
 
scott.livesey said:
i like to use screw length bits made of M42 or M35. need to get your speed down or you will continue to have problems. if nothing else, get a basic variable speed hand held 3/8" drill, should be about $35.
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Unbelievable steel , I have made some knives from both and they simply refuse to get dull . . .
 
Now use a bit of cutting oil. You don't need anything super special. You can get a 16 oz bottle of "pipe threading oil" at any Ace or hardware store for a few bucks. It will greatly improve drill life.
 
kuraki said:
Now use a bit of cutting oil. You don't need anything super special. You can get a 16 oz bottle of "pipe threading oil" at any Ace or hardware store for a few bucks. It will greatly improve drill life.
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Pork fat is better than any oil I have tried here .
 
I have bought hundreds of twist drills. I recommend that you look at buying a set of Norseman bits ( I think they are called black and gold) by mail order. They are high speed steel and American made and are super quality. I also buy reground tungsten carbide bits from a company online called drill bit city. You go to their site and link to drill bit city II where you can buy carbide drills in fractional , numbered or metric in ten pacs. They are short drills that very brittle but very sharp and will cut hardened steel. I have used these drills for years with great success. This is once again only opinionLarry
 
Learn to properly sharpen your drill bits yourself. It's not hard honestly. Just take practice like anything else. i like Norseman bits but I can drill a ton of holes with wal mart black & decker bits after they have been properly sharpened
 
Drillco nitro gold in screw machine length (300n if you're looking in their catalog) are my personal favorite. Norseman and morse marxman are right up there too. Cleveland, walter, and PTD are decent too, and still miles better than anything hardware stores sell.
Get a feeds and speeds chart and set your rpm accordingly. Use cutting oil or coolant (NOT LUBRICATING OIL)
Drilling steel is easy once you know how ti do it
 
Kentucky said:
Learn to properly sharpen your drill bits yourself. It's not hard honestly. Just take practice like anything else. i like Norseman bits but I can drill a ton of holes with wal mart black & decker bits after they have been properly sharpened
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Bingo.

Either that or buy a drill doctor. I bought a drill doctor years ago and haven’t bought a drill bit since. It’s super easy to use and sharpens them up to like new sharpness in a matter of seconds. Some folks don’t like them, but I love mine.
 
I recently bought a set of KnKut stubby bits. They cut so well I kick myself for putting up with crappy bits for soooooo many years!
 
I read a tip from Nathan the Machinist a few years back that helps me.
Drill with pressure. That way the bit keeps cutting. If you don't use enough pressure the bit skids over the steel without cutting and can workharden it
 
Seriously though, you can use the cheapest bit out there from a big box store. As long as it’s sharp, you’re using the right feed and speed rates, and you’re using cutting oil, a bit will cut. It will dull over time, but if you’re able to sharpen it, it should last for YEARS for non-production use. Buy a few bits in the most common sizes you use, and use one until it’s dull. Then grab a fresh one. Once all of them are dull, sharpen all of them up at once, and you’re good for another few months(depending on how long it takes you to dull a bit). There was one time a 3/4” bit was too long for my drill press and piece/table. I cut the bit in half with an angle cutter, ground it rough with my belt grinder, and then finished with the drill doctor. Good as new.

I mean it when I say, buy a Drill Doctor and you’ll hardly ever have to buy bits again. Bits can be sharpened by hand, but I never was able to get the hang of it. I found a drill doctor for $10 at an estate sale and was amazed. I have no doubt that all these high end bits are titties and beer, but unless you’re drilling hardened steel and need a carbide bit, there’s no point IMO. In fact, some of those fancy bits can cost as much as a drill doctor.

Luckily I found the drill doctor when I was reasonably new to knife making. Before that though, I had been using bits as consumables. I’d need a new bit every few knives. That added up quick and soon eclipsed the cost of the drill doctor.

I will say, I snagged up a newer model(350x I think) doctor and it was a little different in how it functions. I messed around with it for a few but soon just set it aside as I had a fully functioning older model(300 I think) that works great. I’ll check the models later to be sure. I’m sure the newer model I have works well too, I just didn’t have the patience at the time.

I’m not trying to sound like an infomercial or anything, but this was truly an “aha” moment for me and has surely saved me a ton of money over the years. I wanted to convey that. I just had my morning caffeine too :D
 
Specialty, exotic and expensive drill bits are all well and good, but I agree with JGCMW.
Drilling is all about speeds and feeds, and controlling temperature and pressure. It's very much the same with turning on a lathe, milling, or just machining steel in general.
Cobalt, Tungsten, and other high dollar steels will give you a wider margin of error, but unless you're cutting through hardened steel, a reglar HSS drill set should cover most tasks. Now, black oxide does tend to want to weld itself to aluminum, but other that that, using a good cutting oil, correct speeds and pressure should get you a few dozen holes before you might have to touch up your bit.

Keep an eye on chip color. Shiny to straw is good. blues and purples are bad (except perhaps at the very end of the hole where material is thinnest, it's hard to avoid sometimes). The sound of the bit in the steel can tell you a lot as well. Clear your holes and break chips when needed.

Drill doctors certainly have their place, but I'd also encourage you to pick up a drill sharpening gauge and learn to free hand as well. Drill docs will handle your average bit, but certainly not all of them.

I like moly dee as a cutting lube, but I suspect it's not much better than a gallon of sulfur based pipe threading/cutting oil.
 
Speaking of oil, just a little dab’l do ya.
So many guys flood it on...
A gallon can last a lifetime. Another option is stick lubricant.
I been using Do-All Toolsaver.
I like moly dee as a cutting lube, but I suspect it's not much better than a gallon of sulfur based pipe threading/cutting oil.
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