"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

"Todd Rich" wrote in message
...
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!

If this works out for your job, you could try the old gunsmith's trick,
which is to chuck a nail with a rounded point in the drill press and heat
the spot with friction. You don't have to get it red -- going through all
the shades of blue will do it. Then you can drill it with a good HSS bit.

Of course, it depends on how thick the material is, and whether you can
tolerate softened edges on the hole.

--
Ed Huntress


done this will cheap bed frames, protype, etc...

use propane blow torch, just red up the hole for drilling

bed frames...good for pratice, welding

xman