Jim Wilkins wrote:
On Jul 26, 8:25?am, Todd Rich wrote:
I've got some 1095/15n20 damascus steel I'm working on and while it grinds
ok, I'm having trouble drilling it. ?I used a cobalt drill and a carbide
center cutting end mill and neither one seems to be doing a good job. ?
Even after I took the end I need to drill up to a dull red heat.

Any suggestions?

Are they dulling quickly or just not penetrating the metal? I've had
decent results with a HiRoc drill.

Just not penetrating. However, I realized after I posted this that even
though the metal gets softer when you heat it up, it doesn't revert to
its pre-hard state until you get it past the critical temperature. I can
drill them now, but it still kind of rough.

I'll check out the HiRoc drills. Thanks!