Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of
drill bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4 mm
material.

Thanks, Charles

A laser will do it, but there will be a slight (0.1 mm) taper in the
hole. Single flute carbide drills will probably work if you have
everything clamped properly and use a slow feed with plenty of coolant.

Charles Morrill wrote:

Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of drill
bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4 mm material.

Thanks, Charles

I'd do it with my EDM. Piece of cake. There may be another way, but don't
know of it.

Karl


"Charles Morrill" wrote in message
news:200503181931191575%deichles@yahoocom...
Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of drill
bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4 mm material.

Thanks, Charles

Tim Killian wrote:
A laser will do it, but there will be a slight (0.1 mm) taper in the
hole. Single flute carbide drills will probably work if you have
everything clamped properly and use a slow feed with plenty of
coolant.
Charles Morrill wrote:

Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of
drill bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4
mm material. Thanks, Charles
Guy Lautard claims that a "Cole Drill" will do it.
Ken.

--
http://www.rupert.net/~solar
Return address supplied by 'spammotel'
http://www.spammotel.com

Brand 'spankin new carbide drill, very low speed (60 rpm) very high
pressure.

"Charles Morrill" wrote in message
news:200503181931191575%deichles@yahoocom...
Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of drill
bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4 mm material.

Thanks, Charles

Brand 'spankin new carbide drill, very low speed (60 rpm) very high
pressure.

Would coolant help here? I've heard coolant sometimes causes temperature
variations in Carbide bits used this way which cause microfractures or even
chipping of the tool face...
--


Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
http://www.autodrill.com
http://www.multi-drill.com

V8013

Know someone with a motorcycle in the NY Metro area?
http://host.mynocdns.com/mailman/lis...rides_yunx.com

Is that an edm that you made yourself or the commercial variety?
(Thinking about building one of those Home Shop Machinist versions one
day...)

Thanks, Charles Morrill

"Charles Morrill" wrote in message
news:200503181931191575%deichles@yahoocom...
Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of
drill bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4
mm
material.

Thanks, Charles


Charles,

If it is a 'one off' I'd use carborundum dust or preferably diamond
slurry. 'Valve grinding paste' from a car accessories shop will do.

Make a 4mm copper 'drill' - just a flat ended piece of rod. Mount it
in the drillpress, and build up a dam where you want the hole using
plasticene or putty. Fill the dam with a mixture of oil and the
abrasive, and bring the 'drill' down at about 100 rpm keeping gentle
pressure on the work. Every now and then raise the drill and lower it
to keep fresh abrasive at the cutting face.

You'll be surprised how quickly it works. Same technique can be used
to drill glass.

AWEM

On 2005-03-19 03:40:10 -0500, "Andrew Mawson"
said:


"Charles Morrill" wrote in message
news:200503181931191575%deichles@yahoocom...
Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of
drill bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4
mm
material.

Thanks, Charles


Charles,

If it is a 'one off' I'd use carborundum dust or preferably diamond
slurry. 'Valve grinding paste' from a car accessories shop will do.

Make a 4mm copper 'drill' - just a flat ended piece of rod. Mount it
in the drillpress, and build up a dam where you want the hole using
plasticene or putty. Fill the dam with a mixture of oil and the
abrasive, and bring the 'drill' down at about 100 rpm keeping gentle
pressure on the work. Every now and then raise the drill and lower it
to keep fresh abrasive at the cutting face.

You'll be surprised how quickly it works. Same technique can be used
to drill glass.

AWEM

Fascinating, many thanks to you and everyone. This one I have to try...

Charles Morrill

"Charles Morrill" wrote in message
news:2005031909553227590%deichles@yahoocom...
On 2005-03-19 03:40:10 -0500, "Andrew Mawson"
said:


"Charles Morrill" wrote in message
news:200503181931191575%deichles@yahoocom...
Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of
drill bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4
mm
material.

Thanks, Charles


Charles,

If it is a 'one off' I'd use carborundum dust or preferably diamond
slurry. 'Valve grinding paste' from a car accessories shop will do.

Make a 4mm copper 'drill' - just a flat ended piece of rod. Mount it
in the drillpress, and build up a dam where you want the hole using
plasticene or putty. Fill the dam with a mixture of oil and the
abrasive, and bring the 'drill' down at about 100 rpm keeping gentle
pressure on the work. Every now and then raise the drill and lower it
to keep fresh abrasive at the cutting face.

You'll be surprised how quickly it works. Same technique can be used
to drill glass.

AWEM

Fascinating, many thanks to you and everyone. This one I have to
try...

Charles Morrill


I'd be interested to know if Andrew has had success with this method in HSS.
I've used it often, in glass and ceramic, where it works reasonably well. I
once drilled the bottoms of 60 vases that were being converted into table
lamps and, by the end, I was getting through the ceramic in about 5 minutes.
You get some taper from top to bottom in the hole, but you do get a hole. I
use silicon carbide grit, 90-grit when I can, 120-grit when the 90-grit
tears up the edges of the hole. I've also used 200-grit but it's very slow.

However, I find that copper tube is not concentric enough to give me a good
hole. I turn and drill a piece of brass rod for the job since my early
experiments with copper tube. I also file some shallow notches in the end of
the "tube" to help hold the grit, with the coarser grades.

It's very, very slow in metal, in my experience. I used it to drill through
a HSS power-hacksaw blade, Sandvik, of unknown grade. It took me about an
hour to get through a 1/8" blade. Maybe there's a trick I'm not aware of but
I tried fast and slow, light pressure and heavy pressure.

The easy way to do this job is to have the HSS annealed and then drill it.
You probably can get through it OK with a HSS drill bit, but I haven't tried
it. I have turned annealed HSS, and, while it's still a b*tch to machine, it
does machine. I did that with a HSS bit.

You cannot just heat HSS with a torch to anneal it. Check Machinery's
Handbook or another good source for annealing info, if you go that route.
Re-hardening it is not for the ill-equipped or the faint of heart, either.

I'd prefer to leave it hard and find a way, given a choice. It's such a
simple EDM job that you may find a mold shop in your area that will do it
for you cheaply.

--
Ed Huntress

Drill in a flood of lube...forgot that part!
"Joe" wrote in message
news:KLN_d.9370$Ue6.3863@trndny04...
Brand 'spankin new carbide drill, very low speed (60 rpm) very high
pressure.

Would coolant help here? I've heard coolant sometimes causes temperature
variations in Carbide bits used this way which cause microfractures or
even chipping of the tool face...
--


Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
http://www.autodrill.com
http://www.multi-drill.com

V8013

Know someone with a motorcycle in the NY Metro area?
http://host.mynocdns.com/mailman/lis...rides_yunx.com

On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 10:18:17 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

"Charles Morrill" wrote in message
news:2005031909553227590%deichles@yahoocom...
On 2005-03-19 03:40:10 -0500, "Andrew Mawson"
said:


"Charles Morrill" wrote in message
news:200503181931191575%deichles@yahoocom...
Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of
drill bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4
mm
material.

Thanks, Charles


Charles,

If it is a 'one off' I'd use carborundum dust or preferably diamond
slurry. 'Valve grinding paste' from a car accessories shop will do.

Make a 4mm copper 'drill' - just a flat ended piece of rod. Mount it
in the drillpress, and build up a dam where you want the hole using
plasticene or putty. Fill the dam with a mixture of oil and the
abrasive, and bring the 'drill' down at about 100 rpm keeping gentle
pressure on the work. Every now and then raise the drill and lower it
to keep fresh abrasive at the cutting face.

You'll be surprised how quickly it works. Same technique can be used
to drill glass.

AWEM

Fascinating, many thanks to you and everyone. This one I have to
try...

Charles Morrill


I'd be interested to know if Andrew has had success with this method in HSS.
I've used it often, in glass and ceramic, where it works reasonably well. I
once drilled the bottoms of 60 vases that were being converted into table
lamps and, by the end, I was getting through the ceramic in about 5 minutes.
You get some taper from top to bottom in the hole, but you do get a hole. I
use silicon carbide grit, 90-grit when I can, 120-grit when the 90-grit
tears up the edges of the hole. I've also used 200-grit but it's very slow.

However, I find that copper tube is not concentric enough to give me a good
hole. I turn and drill a piece of brass rod for the job since my early
experiments with copper tube. I also file some shallow notches in the end of
the "tube" to help hold the grit, with the coarser grades.

It's very, very slow in metal, in my experience. I used it to drill through
a HSS power-hacksaw blade, Sandvik, of unknown grade. It took me about an
hour to get through a 1/8" blade. Maybe there's a trick I'm not aware of but
I tried fast and slow, light pressure and heavy pressure.

The easy way to do this job is to have the HSS annealed and then drill it.
You probably can get through it OK with a HSS drill bit, but I haven't tried
it. I have turned annealed HSS, and, while it's still a b*tch to machine, it
does machine. I did that with a HSS bit.

You cannot just heat HSS with a torch to anneal it. Check Machinery's
Handbook or another good source for annealing info, if you go that route.
Re-hardening it is not for the ill-equipped or the faint of heart, either.

I'd prefer to leave it hard and find a way, given a choice. It's such a
simple EDM job that you may find a mold shop in your area that will do it
for you cheaply.
Greetings Ed,
I've done the tubular abrasive thing to drill through stones and HSS.
What worked best for me when drilling through parting tools was to put
the abrasive ( Clover compound) on the part and bringing the tube down
hard on the part with the spindle off to press the abrasive into the
face of the tube. Charging the tube with abrasive this way worked
pretty well. The tube can be spun fairly fast without flinging all the
abrasive off. With stones I used a drilling machine that spun sorta
slow and automatically lifted the drill at regular intervals to allow
fresh abrasive slurry to enter the hole. It was real slow and the best
thing was to set it and check back later. Much later.
Eric

"Eric R Snow" wrote in message
...

Greetings Ed,
I've done the tubular abrasive thing to drill through stones and HSS.
What worked best for me when drilling through parting tools was to put
the abrasive ( Clover compound) on the part and bringing the tube down
hard on the part with the spindle off to press the abrasive into the
face of the tube. Charging the tube with abrasive this way worked
pretty well.

Well, that sounds like something worth trying. I'll remember that the next
time I have occassion to use the method. Thanks.

The tube can be spun fairly fast without flinging all the
abrasive off. With stones I used a drilling machine that spun sorta
slow and automatically lifted the drill at regular intervals to allow
fresh abrasive slurry to enter the hole. It was real slow and the best
thing was to set it and check back later. Much later.

I've never tried it with stone. Maybe I'll try it with some local stones
I've tumbled.

--
Ed Huntress
(remove "3" from email address for email reply)

It's a Southbend/Hansvedt 150B EDM that I restored, at great expense!!


"Charles Morrill" wrote in message
news:2005031900082827590%deichles@yahoocom...
Is that an edm that you made yourself or the commercial variety?
(Thinking about building one of those Home Shop Machinist versions one
day...)

Thanks, Charles Morrill

Use a cement bit... You can drill through a ball bearing with one....
Keep it sharp...

Charles Morrill wrote:
Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of drill
bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4 mm material.

Thanks, Charles

I've used a spearpoint glass cutting drill bit for a couple holes,
before it wore out. The kind available at most hardware stores. Took
about 10 min. to get through the first hole in a 3/16" planer blade,
longer for the second.

Ken Grunke

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I've drilled and cut it with a diamond drill/saw no problem - works best
under water (or oil or some lubricant)
"Ken Grunke" wrote in message
...
Charles Morrill wrote:
Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of drill
bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4 mm
material.

Thanks, Charles

I've used a spearpoint glass cutting drill bit for a couple holes,
before it wore out. The kind available at most hardware stores. Took
about 10 min. to get through the first hole in a 3/16" planer blade,
longer for the second.

Ken Grunke

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What I used was a solid carbide drill. I bought mine at MSCdirect.com

The drill and M2 or M42 - never found out - turned red hot - and so did the work.
Then the hole was drilled cleanly. I extracted the drill and allowed the
work and drill to air dry. The drill wasn't harmed. The hole was there.
I was making a form tool.

Martin
--
Martin Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
Ken Grunke wrote:
Charles Morrill wrote:

Is it possible to drill a hole in High Speed Steel? What sort of
drill bit do you need? I need to drill a 4 mm hole through some 4 mm
material.

Thanks, Charles


I've used a spearpoint glass cutting drill bit for a couple holes,
before it wore out. The kind available at most hardware stores. Took
about 10 min. to get through the first hole in a 3/16" planer blade,
longer for the second.

Ken Grunke

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News==----
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Newsgroups
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It must have been to late :-)

The metal I drilled was either M2 or M42. When I drilled it with the
solid carbide drill, in a drill press, the work and the drill both glowed red.
Both were air cooled. (not dry...) Seemed to be the way to go.
Martin
--
Martin Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
Martin H. Eastburn wrote:
What I used was a solid carbide drill. I bought mine at MSCdirect.com

The drill and M2 or M42 - never found out - turned red hot - and so did
the work.
Then the hole was drilled cleanly. I extracted the drill and allowed the
work and drill to air dry. The drill wasn't harmed. The hole was there.
I was making a form tool.

Martin


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