On Fri, 31 Oct 2003 07:12:11 -0800, Eric R Snow
wrote:

Greetings Jamie,
As others have said, you are probably drilling mild steel. It should
be drilled at, in your situation, about 1500 rpm for a 3/16 drill. As
others have said, use cutting oil. You can get threading oil at the
hardware store. The dark, smelly stuff will probably work best. For
use with a hand drill you can just dip the drill bit in it and then
start drilling. Re-dip as needed. Watch the chips and if they are
turning color (blue, brown, etc,) slow down the rpm. For 1/8 thick
material and 3/16 dia. holes a drill bit that should work really well
is a "Bullet Drill". These used to be sold under the Black & Decker
brand. These types of drill bits have a pilot ground on the tip which
has a split point. Then the end of the major dia. of the bit looks
flat. These bits have a split point on the pilot which takes much less
pressure to get through the work. These bits are self centering. They
leave a very small burr. Run your countersink half as fast as the
drill bit.

Thanks, Eric. My hardware store does have the "threading" oil, so I'll
pick that up. Apparently, drilling oil (Duracut 260 seems right --
http://www.sunnysidecorp.com/metal_working_oils.htm) is harder to
find.

I do have some of those pilot-tip bits somewhere, so I'll try that on
some holes, and see how it does.

Thanks,
Jamie