Drilling stainless?

[Rich H]

Afternoon all,

Had a search but found nothing...

For drilling 16 gauge stainless plate am I correct in thinking it is slow with coolant and heavy feed to stop it work hardening?

Last time I used a centre drill and it worked well but I broke the one I was using and can't find the spares...

I need to drill 30 off 8mm holes using my cheapo pillar drill and 6 larger holes up to 20mm. Not worried about finish as it's going to be roughed up and embedded in fiberglass anyway.

Cheers
Rich

 

[mike os]

main thing is to drill as fast as practical and not stop or ease off

 

[piman]

Hello Rich,

as above but consider a hole saw for the 20mm holes as it's so thin. Good quality drills will last, but you'l be forever sharpening cheap ones.

Alec

 

[Welderpaul]

Heavy feed in thin sheet is likely to cause you problems with the drill snatching and jacking up the material. Snapped drill bits ahoy.

 

[Wedg1e]

I'd go with slow speed and peck-drilling... keeps the tip cooler.

 

[mike os]

& work hardens the steel.......

16g should be ok at 8mm...... 20 as suggested may grab, & a hole saw is not a bad idea

 

[langy]

Drilling thin sheet is a lot easier if you clamp a piece of ply either side and drill through the lot.

 

[davenport]

not sure on speed but we dont go that fast at work... probably bang a 2.5 or 3mm thru first before the 8...

20mm definatly holesaw or it`ll end up like a 20p piece...

avoid WURTH drill bits. there pony!!!!

 

[Rich H]

Cheers guys,

Made a start last night, my freshly sharpened (If a bit squiffy) bosch 8mm banged straight through then someone trned up and I got pulled away. I hope to get the rest done later today.

I'll have a go at working up to the 20mm (8/15/20) drill if it goes wrong I'll grind it out with a TC burr.

Thanks
Rich

 

[brookie456]

avoid WURTH drill bits. there pony!!!![/QUOTE]

Agreed! We buy a fair bit of Wurth stuff which is excellent, but the drills especially in the boxes are poo (and really expensive), although the drills with the Time-Sert kits are good. If you're filling in the missing/broken bits of a set, the Wilko's singles (NOT the sets), are good, have had 3 x 2.5mm as pilots for 6 years and they sharpen all the way back, unlike some of of the more costly. Would still like a proper set of old Dormer/Presto etcplease

 

[Rich H]

Holes drilled satis, went through easily with my wonkyly sharpened drill, a bit triangular due to the crap sharpening but not a problem for the task at hand!

Rich