On Mar 8, 7:08*am, " wrote:
On Mar 8, 3:30*am, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:









"Danny D." wrote:

What's the trick to drilling a hole through 1/2" thick stainless steel?

From my guardrail experience, I had bought titanium coated drill bits..

So I thought it would be easy to drill a hole in a stainless steel can
opener (for hanging on a loop outside by the BBQ cooler).

Nope!

I can't make a dent!
*http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12362068.jpg

What's the trick to drilling through stainless steel?

* *news:rec.crafts.metalworking would be a better place to ask. (Added)

You should have sharp drills with more relief that normal. *But you
can do it with regular drills. *Stainless steel work hardens so you
need to be cutting and not rubbing. *You *probably do not have enough
horse power to use a half inch drill with no pilot hole. *So start by
drilling a hole about an eighth of an inch in dia. *Be fairly
agressive and use some oil. *Any oil is better than none, but oil made
for cutting stainless is of course best. * You probably will not drill
all the way thru without stopping. *So when you stop retract *the
drill quickly. *Again stainless work hardens . *You want to be cutting
or not cutting. *No halfway .

After you have drilled all the way thru with the 1/8 inch drill, move
up to something bigger. *Maybe a 1/4 inch drill. *Followed by maybe
3/8 drill and finally with your 1/2 inch drill. *Again be aggressive.
Stainless work hardens.

This advice assumes you are using a drill press. *RPM needs to be
about 60 sfm. *So slower RPM with the bigger drills. *If you are using
a hard drill, good luck.

Dan

Agree with your comments about the drill bit relief angles, however he
probably only needs an 1/8" hole (1/2" dia SS rod on handle of opener).