Drill Press?

Joetrain

Joetrain

Active Member
I have been having difficulty drilling holes in my steel latlely. It seems like my bits either dull too quickly or won't cut at all. I have been using a cordless drill with my steel in a vice, is a drill press the only way to do it right, or is their a less expensive way to drill holes. Maybe a different type of bit?
 
If you're using a plain set of bits, then you've probably dulled them already. I know I did that to a bunch of bits until I bought some carbide. Carbide bits are the way to go, and I don't know what kind of power you're getting with a cordless, but I always feel like a corded drill motor gets a little more power. I'm using carbide bits with a corded drill and I want a drill press next anyway. You might try cutting oil also, helps with the cutting and dissipates heat; if the tips heat up, the annealed steel may get harder to cut ... or so I think.
 
Laurence pretty much covered it. A good drill press will give more control over making the holes. You might have to get a floor model to get below 200 rpm. The added clearance will also help drill ends of handle blocks that are a little longer than usual. I don't have one of these but it's high on my want list. Another thing to try if the tang is too hard to drill is to draw the temper where you want to drill with a gas torch.

Doug
 
You don't have to get solid carbide drills you can get carbide tipped drills they are cheaper that way. We use them all the time at our machine shop they work great and help cut cost
 
If you are getting blue swarf you are turning to many RPMs.
I'm in the process of replacing the motor on my drill press with a 3 phase motor hooked to a VFD with reversing switch. Reversing so that I can tap my threaded holes.
 
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