Drilling

[Coo]

Okay, I'm gonna admit something - I obviously can't drill properly.
There done it, dont feel good ... so help me please !!!

I seem to have a problem keeping drillbits sharp and useful, talking about boggo diy standard hss bits usually bought in kits.

So back to basics, put drillbit in drill, approach workpiece and 'drill'.

I think I should use pressure to help push the bit into the piece, but not too much ?
Also what speed ?, too much just turns the drillbit into smoke !!

Should I drill slowly with just enough pressure to see shaving start to come off ?
...or am I just using crap drill bits and they're partly at fault ??

any links to a decent set of drillbits that are decent?

man thanks all !

 

[rtbcomp]

A couple of tips I find useful,

1) use a proper cutting fluid, I like Rocol products.

2) applying more pressure makes the bit dig in and cut rather than rub the surface and go blunt.

 

[Luke]

What material are you cutting? what size? what size hole? what preperation/marking out do you do?

 

[bawjaws]

coo, crap bits are useless, engineering agencies has heller hss drill bit pack for a tenner, 1-10mm in 0.5mm steps, a bit deer but it saves you money on ****e drill bits and stress in the longrun, ive got some and theyre good, and stay hard when sharpened too, or mabee even try clarik in dalgety bay.....,

other than that, centre punch the material before drilling, spray a bit of cutting fluid (or even wd40 or 3in1) and keep good pressure so the bit cuts and doesnt just slip/heat up.
for holes 8mm+ i usually use a pilot drill first, alot quicker this way.

a pillar drill's a life saver compared to a hand yin by the way!

 

[Coo]

So if the bits are decent it should cut in better...

Just general tips Luke - fed up looking in the drill bit box and having knackered bits...

I'll try the Heller bits cheers bawjaws.....and am looking out for a decent pillar drill !

cheers all...

 

[Luke]

Just general tips Luke - fed up looking in the drill bit box and having knackered bits...

Buy a bench grinder then. It's very handy to be able to re-sharpen your own drill bits.

I have my drill at the lowest speed it'll go, and sometimes that isn't slow enough, for big holes.

I think a reasonably sharp drill bit, a decent, but not silly amount of pressure, and a bit of patience are all that is needed.

6" spiral swarf is a good sign that it's going alright

 

[Arsonista]

Dormer drills are good. Spend time on your sharpening technique. Know what a sharp drill looks like.

 

[English Steve]

Yep, Dormer are good and not too expensive.
You can look up the correct cutting speeds on Google, for the size of drill and the material you are cutting. Always keep some pressure on the drill - if it spins and builds up heat it will harden the metal you are drilling which will blunt the drill bit. A bit of coolant always helps, even a squirt of WD40 is better than nothing - I often use ordinary oil if there's some left in the can.

 

[brightspark]

sherwood dormer cleveland guhring presto all good makes jobber drills look up cromwell tools .they do sets on offer quite often .use rocol cutting compound if drilling a lot of metal. axminster tools do a drill grinding jig atachment for bench grinders £11.99 dont bother with the rawlplug ones there dross and dearer.i bought one for 10 quid carboot sale wasnt a bargain cos its gonna get given away

 

[Luke]

I find the sharpening jigs mostly rubbish. It's not hard at all to do it by hand and get good results, especially if you can get in to the habit of keeping the drills fresh, re-touching them often.

 

[brightspark]

i grind drills freehand but most people cant so the jigs the next best option but for presision work especialy with small drills i use jig . i modified the base on mine to give fine feed as its more acurate

 

[fluxcored]

Is there perhaps an idiot's guide to drill sharpening by hand? This is still something of a black art to me.

 

[Luke]

check out this sketch, Done by a guy called SimonR on there.

 

[Ratty]

Personally I'd go with a pillar or bench drill every time, you need that downward pressure which you just can't get with a hand held. Even a small cheapo bench drill is worth getting if you can't afford a good one, it'll save you no end of blunt drills. The other thing - if you only have a hand held drill - is to start with a small drill and work up slowly. When I can't fit what I'm drilling into the bench drill throat I'll use 4 or 5 (or more!) sizes of drill to creep up to the size I want, and try and keep a firm, even pressure on the drill (push with all your might!). Cobalt bits - even the not too expensive ones - tend to last longer than the average hss.

 

[Coo]

cheers for the advice guys....will get better bits and take more care with them !

love that sharpening diagram :lol: