Problem with Drill Press

Sean Jones

Well-Known Member
Hello,

I have a Harbor Freight bench top drill press that is driving me nuts. When I first bought the drill press two years ago it worked fine. I had no problems drilling holes multiple times in 1/8" 1095.

For about the last six-nine months I have been going through drill bits at what seems like an increasing rate. I even bought a Drill Doctor to sharpen bits with little success. Frankly I think I'm having trouble with that as well but that could just be me.

Today though I went and bought a brand new 1/4" Cobalt drill bit at Lowe's. I drilled six holes in 1/8" 1095 and then about 4 holes in a piece of brass. The last hole on the brass was slightly odd shaped from a previous attempt with a dull bit.

That brand new Cobalt drill is now not drilling at all. It simply chatters and makes a small impression no matter how hard I push. The tip looks chipped and basically destroyed. I've had several other drill bits do the same thing, though not all of them.

I believe the press is in alignment. It's bolted solidly to the bench top so I can't see that changing. I've got the drill press on it's lowest RPM of 600. I didn't use cutting oil today but I have before.

I'm at a loss as what to do. I thought it was the way I was sharpening my drill bits, but after today I'm not so sure.

EDITED TO ADD: If it helps to know, I can stall the motor when I push hard on a bit.


Any input or thoughts appreciated

Thanks,
 
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Drilling holes is something we all have trouble with, you're not alone. The cobalt drill bits is a good move as the high speed steel bits won't last on anything knife makers do except on handle materials.

I like the screw machine drill bits as they are shorter than jobber length and won't bend under pressure. I have a drill doctor and don't like it. I can do a better job free hand sharpening.

I have used "do-all drilling and tapping oil" for years and recommend it or "TapMatic" . Drilling dry works but not as long as using cutting fluid. The drill bits need to be sharp or else heat develops and can actually harden the metal under the bit.

The slowest speed possible. Also some blade steels are not soft enough to drill easily.
 
are you having to tighten the chuck extra tight? if you can stall the motor by pulling hard on the handle. you need to check the carbon brushs in the motor.
 
are you having to tighten the chuck extra tight? if you can stall the motor by pulling hard on the handle. you need to check the carbon brushs in the motor.

tightening the chuck extra tight seems to help, so yes. I'll take a look at the brushes tomorrow.

Thanks for the idea.
 
Drilling holes is something we all have trouble with, you're not alone. The cobalt drill bits is a good move as the high speed steel bits won't last on anything knife makers do except on handle materials.

I like the screw machine drill bits as they are shorter than jobber length and won't bend under pressure. I have a drill doctor and don't like it. I can do a better job free hand sharpening.

I have used "do-all drilling and tapping oil" for years and recommend it or "TapMatic" . Drilling dry works but not as long as using cutting fluid. The drill bits need to be sharp or else heat develops and can actually harden the metal under the bit.

The slowest speed possible. Also some blade steels are not soft enough to drill easily.

Thanks for the input Bruce. I have been wondering if the metal is getting hard. A lot of heat develops, particularly when my drill bits get destroyed like the cobalt one did today.

I think I will anneal my knife and see if that helps.

Thanks
 
If you are using bits that have been resharpened, I'll just bet that may be the problem. As well check your belt tension. Is it loose? If so take up the slack by moving the motor further back. Frank
 
I had that problem with mine. The pulleys had loosened. Check to see if the nut on the pulley shafts are loose. If so put a bit of finger nail polish on the threads and then tighten them up.
 
First do not drill without some kind of oil even if it not cutting oil . Next buy good drill bits , usa hss stamp on them is a plus .Cobalt or tin coated bits if not usa made are just sales leaders , crappy bits .drilling soft brass or copper is very tricky even though it soft . In my shop days I would take a small sharping stone and dull the cutting edge of my drill bit and it would go through soft brass like butter .Be sure to mark your bit for next time and don't try to cut steel with it . If you have a machine shop supply near you buy your drill bits there . If not go on line to get them .Never drill a dry hole in metal, and use good bits .
 
In my experience, drilling is as much about technique, as it is speeds, bit type, etc...

One sure sign of whether you're doing something wrong or right is the color of your chips. If your chips are turning blue, then you're overheating the bit AND the steel, possibly work hardening the steel in the process, and this will dull your bits in no time.

I hate linking to other forums, but I just recalled a great thread about this very topic:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/975598-Drill-your-holes

Hopefully that will help you.

I'd also make sure that your belts and pulleys are tight. Hard to drill a proper hole if you're stalling/slipping while drilling.

BTW... I doubt that your drill press motor has carbon brushes.
 
Thanks for the input. I've been buying most of my drill bits at Lowe's. I have two sets, Dewalt and Ryobi. I also have a few that I've bought from Boss Dog. Those do seem to last longer.

I haven't checked the pulley. I did check the belt a while back but not recently. I'll recheck both of those items today.

I will look at some of the chips that I haven't cleaned up and see if they are blued.

I'd like to get a better drill press but I think it's more me and my technique as ARCustomKnives mentioned.

I'll do some testing and see what I come up with.

Thanks for the help
 
Water is an excellent cutting fluid for brass and is least as good as the cutting fluids that are available. Frank
 
I checked the belt and pulleys those look fine. It does look like I've been overheating the steel and causing at least some spot hardening. I needed to drill one more hole in the current one I'm working on. So I chose a bit that was sharp and took my time with plenty of cutting oil, and I was successful after pausing twice to clear chips and let the steel and the bit cool down.

I was using synthetic motor oil earlier but the cutting oil I got from Boss seems to work better, though more expensive.

I don't believe the motor has brushes, so I haven't opened the motor. It's a 1/3 HP motor. I can grab the chuck with my bare hand and stall it, so I think the motor is simply going out. One of these days it will probably stall completely.

So with being more careful, and going slower I'll be OK until I can get a better press.

And thank for the tip on the brass Frank. It was harder to drill than I thought it would be.

I also realized I've been sharpening the bits incorrectly in my Drill Doctor. That has helped some also.
 
Like Ed, I haven't had good results with the drill doctor ether. I purchased the middle one and consider it a waste of money.
i have a 5' stone for my grinder that I sharpen the HSS bits on and a 5" diamond stone for my grinder for the Carbide drill bits.

I have never gottern more than about 4-5 years out of those low end HF drill presses. I really do better with a drill press that has a slow speed of 150-200 rpms for drilling knife steels.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
If you can stall the motor with your hand, you definitely need a new motor !!! Pushing the bit down, or trying to let the bit cut slow will cause you to burn out the bits and spot harden as you try to drill. Get a new motor or a new drill. Frankl
 
Thanks for all the drill doctor comments. Have been thinking about getting one for small diameter bits but guess I'll pass on that idea.

My opinion on the OP's drilling issues-

Unlikely that it's a problem with the drill itself. If the press turns the bit without slipping it's doing what it's supposed to do exactly like a more expensive machine will do.

The condition of your steel may be making things more difficult than necessary. Annealed steel, a sharp bit, and good technique for success. Proper speed and feed pressure for the material being drilled is critical ! First sign your bit isn't cutting it's because there is a problem so stop right then. Trying to force a dull bit in steel never works.

Low RPM and heavy pressure for steel. My guess on your issue would be not enough pressure and your dulling your bits far quicker than they should. As said if you squeal a bit you're going to have trouble with that hole.

I'm not an educated machinist or anything like that but drill all my holes dry.

I like cobalt bit's too. Short life on a cobalt to me is a sign of incorrect speed and feed or steel that isn't properly annealed.

I sharpen 1/4" or larger bits on my bench grinder but I'm not too successful on attempting to sharpen the small diameter stuff.

Proper speed and feed and you should get nice little curly cue chips. If you don't get those with a sharp bit you haven't found the sweet spot for that sized bit IMHO.

-Josh
 
Never use lubricating oil on a cutting tool. The drill will try to slide instead of cutting and drill way oversize.

Use cutting fluid or tapping fluid on steel. Water on brass, or cut it dry.

Sharpening drill bits by hand takes a lot of practice to master. You have to understand the angles involved.

I buy the cheapest import drills available and have been for my 25 years of knifemaking. Proper speeds and feeds and sharpening makes them last for years. My latest set ( purchased years ago) came from the harbor freight store.
 
While I don't believe the drill doctor establishes the "best" angles on the bits (for metal anyhow), I actually have reasonable success using mine.
I will admit, I had to read through the instructions more than once, but once u figured out how to properly set up the bit, it works just fine.

I have one of the cheaper models too.


As for the OP stalling the motor... It is only 1/3 HP. It shouldn't be terribly hard to stall.
Now, I'm not saying you should be able to easily stop it with just two fingers, but it's not a very large nor powerful motor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
 
I must say the Drill Doctor works for me sometimes. I have to pay close attention and get it aligned exactly right. Even then sometimes they don't always turn out that well, but sort of OK.

I looked at motors and it looks like it would cost the same to get another cheap drill press as buy a motor

I've found a used Sears 15 1/2 " Floor Drill on a local website that I'm mulling over. Have to convince the wife first though.

In the mean time I'll take the advice given here and continue to work with what I have. I'm having better success with taking my time and backing off if it doesn't cut right away.
 
Follow up on this...I had time to normalize and anneal the three knives I'm currently working on this weekend. After annealing I drilled a hole in the tang of each knife with zero problems. The bit cut like butter. So I'm thinking the steel I have, 1095, either wasn't annealed correctly in the first place or more likely lost its annealing properties as I worked with it.

In the future I'm going to normalize and anneal after cutting out the profiles. I've been using a high-speed angle grinder to cut out profiles. I'm pretty certain the steel got overheated then.
 
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