Drilling stainless steel.

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I Needed to drill some stainless steel, hi quality restaurant grade. So before I burned a  dozen bits, called a friend that does iron work. Neat tip.  Take a center punch, and grind it on 4 points, like a pyramid, then make the starting point. The bit will cut better then just the normal "dimple" made be a normal center  punch. If the bit starts to run dry (as in not cut), dimple again with  the punch.  I tried it tonight and drilled 24 holes in a 3/16 plate with the same bit with out sharpening once. This was with a hand drill, not a drill press. Just thought I would pass this along to the folks that don't have a dozen spare identical  drills in their tool box.  Wrench.
Reply:Great Tip. Will file in brain for future use .Bob.Miller Dynasty 200 DXMillermatic 211Hypertherm PM 600In Tool acquisition Mode
Reply:Great tip, thanks.  I have burned up many 1/4 bits on stainless.It's not what you can buy, it's what you can build.
Reply:Good tips but why not buy carbide bits ?I.B.E.W Electrician and Damn Proud of It !!!! .Virtus Junxit Mors Non Separabit http://www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org/
Reply:Ya larn somthin new every day!Gordie -- "I believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
Reply:Good tip! Another that many may already know is to provide good feed rates pushing into the steel to prevent work hardening. Just light pressure on a bit in SS will dull bits quickly. It should always be making a chip. If this has already been covered in some other post, please forgive me Good dayHave a nice dayhttp://www.weldingdata.com/
Reply:re: carbide bitsUsually not, unless it is for industrial milling machine or other RIGID drill press use and with the appropriate speed/feed.Cobalt drill bit would be 'better' for most other uses, including hand-held drills.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:We used to do this diamond point trick when I was serving my apprenticship in the steel works, Still use it today !Lincoln SP-170 MigHypertherm powermax 45Lorch T220 AC/DC TigButters FM 215 synergic MigKemppi 180 adaptive mig RULES ARE FOR THE OBEDIENCE OF FOOLS AND THE  GUIDANCE OF WISE MEN.
Reply:Originally Posted by MoonRisere: carbide bitsUsually not, unless it is for industrial milling machine or other RIGID drill press use and with the appropriate speed/feed.Cobalt drill bit would be 'better' for most other uses, including hand-held drills.
Reply:Nice tip!!  elmers glue work good on stainless, I don't know why.  makes holesaws last a lot longer.daye
Reply:lesser angle on the bit, thanks for the new tip,on the tip of the punch.Life is tuff,so be sharp  lincoln sp 100  cutmaster101  miller bobcat  miller 250 mig  $thousands in snapon
Reply:Originally Posted by transitA good set of cobalt bits, low rpm, constant pressure, cutting oil, dam around the hole for cutting oil.
Reply:Yes cobalt bits are expensive, however they always work and they really don’t cost that much. Once you use cobalt you’ll be spoiled.
Reply:Thanks for that cool trick tip. Haven't tried it yet but makes since.Miller TrailBlazer 251Miller HF-250-1Miller MaxStar 150 STLHyperTherm PowerMax 380 plasmaLincoln PowerMig 180Millermatic 252Miller Diversion 180
Reply:Originally Posted by transitYes cobalt bits are expensive, however they always work and they really don’t cost that much. Once you use cobalt you’ll be spoiled.
Reply:the thing with drilling stainless is to keep a decent pressure on the drill bit, Keep the edge cutting and don't let it just rub.Lincoln SP-170 MigHypertherm powermax 45Lorch T220 AC/DC TigButters FM 215 synergic MigKemppi 180 adaptive mig RULES ARE FOR THE OBEDIENCE OF FOOLS AND THE  GUIDANCE OF WISE MEN.
Reply:What do you guys use to make the dam for the oil  ??ChelaSydney, Australia - "Knowing is more precious than Having"Kemppi Minarc, 150 VRD- Small but capable- TIG / Stick
Reply:just apply alot of pressure and pulse the drill so it never gets hot if stainless gets hot it will crystalize and you will never drill a hole in it. that has always worked well for me and i work with stainless regularlyComplete Fabrication Shop specializing in pipe fabrication. Also offering heavy steel fabrication and sheet metal work.
Reply:The pressure and pulsing the drill on and off are the way to go. I drill a lot of stainless steel. And I am sure this works. Someone I know uses water, when the bit stops cutting he puts water on the hole. I do not like it because it ruins the drill press table. And in the field can be a pain. But it seems to work for him. I never even tried it. Other then with water soluble oils. Another fellow on the forum mentioned that to anneal stainless steel you heat it and put it under water. I once polished a stainless table. I did a very high speed polish on it that caused the surface to become very hard. So hard that even with the pressure and the starting and stopping I could not drill the surface of it. And I had a back cut on the bit. Meaning that the bit is designed to drill a hole without a lot of pressure on it. The things you learn. Ha-ha. I believe I did center punch it, to break the surface.        Sincerely,             William McCormick
Reply:HF Cobalt bits are cheap if you find them on sale and yep they work...I put a split point on them with my Drill Dr. BrandonLincoln Tombstone 225 A/C Steel StickerOld Victor O2/Acetylene setupMiller Syncrowave 250 Tig/PC-300 PulserMiller Millermatic 212 Mig HTP Invertatig 201 Giant Teck D50 Plasma cutterLots of HF grinders
Reply:Thank you so much for the post. It's really useful.demande simulation pret personnel en ligne - Pret personnel en ligne et de comparer les meilleurs taux afin de... La demande de prêt personnel en lignedemande simulation pret personnel en ligne
Reply:One point that was never mentioned about oil. Never, never use motor oil or any lubricating oil for machining, you want the tool to be cutting. Lubricating oil is just that, to keep ware down.
Reply:you don't use oil on stainless.. it impregnates it.. gets in the pours and stays.. then into your welds.. use water.. what dulls a bit is not friction, it's heat.. keep the bit cool and it will cut all day.. i usually sharpen my bits with a grinder (flapper disc).. i'll use a bit layin on the ground all rusty if i can sharpen it.. lol..if you're not livin on the edge, you're takin up too much room..
Reply:Well, I use Norseman drill bits (their black and gold super premium ones) with BoeLube for cutting fluid (keeps the bits cool and allows for good chip ejection and reduces galling.  I run at about 150-200RPM with solid steady pressure.  Never had a problem at all...Every once in a while, I'll also run either solid carbide (if I have one in the size and length I need) or I'll run indexable carbide drills.  Either of those options make everything else look slow and tedious...but obviously the cost of a solid carbide drill (never mind an indexable drill bit) is so high that you'd really have to need it to buy them.What I can say is that before I had found BoeLube, life was alot harder, cutting oils just didn't perform well and really didn't help with chip ejection off of the bits.  Before I picked up a set of the Norseman bits, life was even harder than before I found out about BoeLube.  The bits are sharp, smooth, perfectly straight, the coating they use prevents galling or binding of any material to the bit even in .999 copper or in aluminum...on stainless, they drill just like drilling into soft low carbon steel (in other words, smoothly with no chatter and they leave a nice clean smooth hole).--Wintermute"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." - John Lockewww.improvised-engineering.comManufacturer Agnostic:Blood----------Sweat---------Tears----|------------------|----------------|----Lincoln Red, Miller Blue, Esab Yellow
Reply:Originally Posted by chelaWhat do you guys use to make the dam for the oil  ??I tried your tip out this last weekend.  Worked great!  I'm a fan.The Lord has declared, "This is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man"  Moses 1:39Link: My name is John, and I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.-- ColdCreekWorks.com --
Reply:Originally Posted by transitA good set of cobalt bits, low rpm, constant pressure, cutting oil, dam around the hole for cutting oil.
Reply:If you ever want to make a dam for anything, look for duct seal.  It's just a sticky, moldable putty.  I use it when pouring Chockfast as a way of filling holes in the primary dams or fixing any pinholes that show up after pouring.
Reply:I sometimes have to drill hundreds of holes in 1 1/4" pipe. With a 3/4" or 13/16" bit. I just use a drill mag on the steel table, the pipe is tacked to, and I pilot hole them with a quarter inch bit, no oil, or bee's wax. Then I drill them either 3/4" or 13/16" right through. Never any oil or bee's wax. The bit can go 50 holes no problem without sharpening. But on a good day I can get 75 to 100 holes out one sharpening. The 3/4" bit I use is a half inch cut down shank silver deming bit. Oil can mess you up in stainless steel. I never ever use it, and I drill a lot of holes. I do use bee's wax for countersinking, or counter boring holes though. I use a lot of pressure and low speeds though. If I only have a small handheld high speed drill motor. I just use amazing amounts of pressure and I turn the drill on and off. Just for a second then off to a stop. In about four or five on and off cycles you are through 1/8" stainless steel. I have walked on jobs where the guys were buying all different kinds of bits, and not even getting one hole. The person who calls me knows me and has seen me pop holes in it like it wood. I put in a new cheap drill the guys working on it say won't even scratch the surface and I push it through the stainless steel. I do four or five more and they don't know what is wrong. Then I laugh and let them in on the secret. Pressure low speed. I do stainless steel rails all the time. And people see me drilling holes and they ask how can you do that? Ha-ha.        Sincerely,             William McCormick
Reply:Nice tip with the punch. As for cooling try compressed air. Tool shops sell flex tubes that can be pointed right at the bit tip. Very clean and you don't run out. Glasses/shield mandatory.CWB InspectorRed Seal B PressureArguing with an Inspector is like mudwrestling with a Pig.After a while you realize the Pig likes it.
Reply:Oil is great and all, but water is best for cooling.  I don't deal with machine tools often but I do have to work with annular cutters periodically.  Heat kills them faster than anything else (well, except trying to punch through .010" and .025" stainless steel shim stock layered between thick steel plate) and no cutting oil has the ability to remove heat that water does.  So, it's soluble oil and water for all of my annular cutters.