On Oct 31, 5:09 pm, "Will" wrote:
"David Merrill" wrote in message

For cutting 1/4 inch stainless (let's say 300 series) which of the bit types
should we be preferring:

- high speed steel
- uncoated carbide
- coated carbide

For hand-feed on a drill press, stay away from carbides. They work
much
better under controlled power feed. Cobalt HSS will give better life
than
standard HSS, but for your application, the difference probably
wouldn't
be noticeable. In a production setting of hundreds of holes, the
lifetime
issue is more important. Carbides will chip easily due to their
brittleness,
and hand-feed can certainly demonstrate that. HSS can absorb shock
from inconsistent hand-feed much better.