Step drill with broken stem

[sardine]

I'm retired and have no limits on my time , I will spend hours fixing things because I really enjoy getting a tool back to use especially if I have found it thrown away because someone else couldn't be bothered to fix it.

 

[Maker]

Not worth the carbide you'd break trying to machine it down.

 

[sardine]

Anneal it ?

 

[Bsmith]

Yep, I think turning on the oxy/gas would cost more than the drill is worth. I will be buying a better quality one because as I said before, I was surprised at how well it drilled in the pillar drill, probably around 1000rpm, I had one in days gone by that was absolutely useless so never thought of having another till I saw that one in Lidl and thought I'd chance it.
I was drilling like 2mm sheet, will they drill thicker mild steel, say 10mm?

 

[Erie Fred]

If you want to play around, make a shaft in the lathe with a socket to engage the top of the drill.
looks to be a small step you can make a slip fit on to (maybe 13mm dia ?) and then braze it on.

 

[6ply]

Yep, I think turning on the oxy/gas would cost more than the drill is worth. I will be buying a better quality one because as I said before, I was surprised at how well it drilled in the pillar drill, probably around 1000rpm, I had one in days gone by that was absolutely useless so never thought of having another till I saw that one in Lidl and thought I'd chance it.
I was drilling like 2mm sheet, will they drill thicker mild steel, say 10mm?

When drilling thicker sheet, you need to drill from both sides. Look at the depth of a step and double it. I've done it many times.

 

[Other Daniel]

When drilling thicker sheet, you need to drill from both sides. Look at the depth of a step and double it. I've done it many times.

Beat me to it...

 

[Agroshield]

I wonder at all the answers saying 'don't bother'. Once the first one of that form has been given, why do we need another ten saying the exact same thing?

After that, the question changes from 'how do I do this?' into 'if I needed to do something like this, how might I go about it?'.

Suggestions and ideas are never a bad thing because one day you might have something that looks similar and needs fixing but a replacement is not available to buy.

 

[Bsmith]

If you want to play around, make a shaft in the lathe with a socket to engage the top of the drill.
looks to be a small step you can make a slip fit on to (maybe 13mm dia ?) and then braze it on.

I probably won't but that is great repair idea.

 

[Erie Fred]

I probably won't but that is great repair idea.

You won't even need to grind the stub off, simply make the c'bore deeper.
Plenty of braze joint area as well.

 

[droopsnoot]

So, apart from the whole "just get another one", does anyone have any suggestion on how to sharpen one of these? One of mine is blunt at 10mm, but I often need to drill to 12mm to get a QMax punch in place and it's a fiddle to get past the 10mm step. I have got another one or two, but I just don't like binning stuff especially as it's only one part of it that's got the problem.

I can't use them in my bench drill, I tend to hold the panel in the vice and use a hand drill because the vibration in the bench drill is too severe. I expect that's at least in part down to it being a cheapo Aldi bench drill and maybe things aren't completely central.

 

[Kram]

does anyone have any suggestion on how to sharpen one of these?

Sharpen along the flutes, that will keep the same cutting diameter. This also works for taps and dies.