drill press trick

butchesforge

butchesforge

Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
1,880
I know this has happened to more then one maker on here.I was drilling the holes for the pins on a full tang,and the bit stopped biteing,hard as woodpecker lips,wouldn't go any further,heat hardened!:(So I talked to my bud,Ray Clontz,inovator extroidinaire,the guy behind the tire powerhammer.:thumbup: This is for folks without a better means of rectifying this.He suggested,that I spot annneal where i was drilling,and I did,the best part,take a footswitch and plug your drillpress into it,turn on the press, then bring your bit into contact with the piece,put a good bit of pressure on it,then jog the press using the footswitch,don't know about you but my press won't go slow enought to drill tool steel.You don't let the press get up to speed,just tap the foot switch.Hey, worked like a charm!!:D-try it you'll like it--Butch
I guess I put this in the right place!?
 
Butch, curious to know if you're using drilling/tapping fluid or any sort of oil when you drill those holes?
 
I still have one or two carefully hoarded cans of Sears Roebuck Cutting Oil passed down from father to son (along with the CarbonTetra..). Strongly suggest something similar with hardened steel and a drill press.
 
Good cutting fluid should keep the bit sharper for longer and also will prevent overheating the steel, preventing work hardening. Tap Magic (or whatever it's called) is available at harbor freight and works great, but almost any sort of oil should work better than nothing.
 
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