Drills?

I am new to this craft. What type of drill bits do you use for stainless? For carbon steel such as 1095? Cutting speeds and lubricant? Where do you get the drill bits?

Thanks in advance.

 

I like cobalt bits, but really most HSS bits are just fine when they are sharp and true.
Park Tool cutting fluid and the drill press set to its the slowest speed works good. I think mine is around 600 RPM.

Acklands-Grainger has decent bits. Most industrial supply/tool places will have good bits. You can get fractional or numbered.

(I love it when this happens.)



High carbon steel in its annealed state is usually pretty forgiving and machines well. Hardened steel is another matter.

Dan

 

Thanks to you both. I think I need to anneal my steel. Even the cobalt will not touch the metal. I am using an old saw blade. Still working on my small insulating brick forge from Wayne Goddard's book.

 

Oh ya, saw blade is going to be pretty darn hard. You'll want to anneal it before working it.

Dan

 

I just found out the hard way that using Canadian tire titanium drills on stainless bolsters just work hardens and breaks drills. One after the other snapped on me. I bought cobalt drills from TSC and it cuts stainless like butter. Frozen butter, but butter none-the-less.

 

Ya the titanium is only a coating on the surface. Once you sharpen them they are no better than any other cheap bit.

Good cobalts are the same steel through and through and worth every penny. A full 29 pc. index will really set you back. If that's not in your budget, try grabbing three or four of them in the critical pin sizes. They'll last a long time. If you're good at sharpening, even better.

I've had these three Vikings since 2014 and made a bunch of knives with them to date. They still rock holes in stainless like nobody's business. I recommend an F, a #12 and a #30 for common pin diameters.


Dan

 

Thanks Dan. Yeah, I grabbed three 1/8 cobalts and they work great. The learning curve is steep sometimes

 

I just made the rookie mistake of heat treating and tempering 3 matching knifes... before I drilled the pin holes for the scales...

I went out and bought a bunch of cobalt bits... not up to the task. I have dulled three so far and have not made a complete hole yet. is there a harder drill bit than cobalt?

Are there any other options? Any suggestion on how I resolve this? My blades are hand sanded to 2000 grit and ready for scales... except I have not got holes drilled. I would be really pissed if the only way to fix the issue is to anneal the blades, drill and then re-do the heat treat. Hand sanding is such a PIA... and they are looking beautiful right now... 1084 steel heat treated to non-magnetic, canola quench and tempered x2 at 400 degrees...

These are a request for a friend as a commemorative gift... he is supposed to present in January. I am afraid I do not have time to start over as I only have a few hours each weekend to devote to the project.

Thanks!
S

 

I have used a Carbide bit to drill hardened steel one time ( a few holes ) and I was successful. It was a 1/8 carbide bit and was quite expensive. I have managed to break that bit over the years but I don't remember on what. I just wanted to let you know that carbide might do it. If someone with more machining expertise than me would chime in you might get directions on how to use it...( proper speed etc. ) I think I broke it on hardened damascus because of the different hardness's of the layers of steel in it. (15n20 and 1095 I think) But I was successful with a single layer piece of hardened and tempered 1084.
Frank

 

Success, thank you Frank.

I needed to drill 12 holes in total 1/8 " 4 per tang...

Picked up a Milwaukee 1/8 -inch x 2 -inch x 3-1/2 -inch SHOCKWAVE Carbide Hammer Drill Bit
and a
Diablo 1/8-Inch x 2-Inch x 3-Inch Carbide Tipped Hammer Drill Bit for Multi Material Drilling

The Milwaukee was good for 3 holes before it refused to cut any more. The Diablo did the remaining 9 holes, but was really slowing down and screaming the last 2 holes.

Slowest speed the drill press would run - 540 rpm and solid down force. lots of pecking and plenty of cutting oil.

 

I'm really glad it worked out for you. One thing it did teach me at the time is to drill all the holes before I harden anything. LOL
Frank

 

Just wanted to mention that a Silicon Carbide ( green ) grinding wheel will sharpen carbide. Go slow and don't quench