Tips for drilling metal

[psycho_fling]

hi all

just wonderd if anyone could give me some advise on drilling metal using a pillar drill?

cheers alex

[jamesb]

what metal?
how thick?

As james says the metal and how thick would be useful but some standard things apply no matter what,

1) Ensure that your drill bits are sharp. It is best to use high quality ones as these will require sharpening less often.

2) Make sure that the hole will drilled where you want it. Sounds a bit obvious but a few mm here and there can put everything out of place.

3) Use clamps to secure the metal to the plate below the drill bit. Believe me (speaking from experience here) holding it in your hand may seem like a great time saver but in the long run when you have to go find some bandages and clean up the red stuff on the drill etc it really isnt.

[geoff]

Also dont forget the basic rule that the larger the hole the slower your drill speed needs to be.
Some materials sush as stainless steel or Ti have additional requirements with things like feed rate/cutting speed and cooling/lubrication.

and wear eye protection..

to get the hole in the right place its worth making a dent with a centre punch too.

[woody]

Always center dot the position of the hole .... also pre-drilling a small pilot hole will help if you have trouble drilling a large hole.

Wear goggles, especially when using coolants.

[geoff]

Amen to that Kane! That stuff in the eyes is not recomended!! (I Know!):sad:

well i have two things to drill, first stainless steel of 2.2mm thickness, and i think its stelland 1.2mm. the drill bit are titanium coated, and thebit is 4.5mm thick.

thanks alex

[ewan]

Note from general experience: A titanium coat drill bit will more often than not, with cheap variations at least, be no more effective as the equivelent plain HSS bit. If the HSS bit is cheaper, get that instead. Think of a titanium coat of cheap bit standards as some paint that the manufacturer adds to make the buyer pay more