drilling in copper????

Althouth against conventionsal wisdom, I find when drilling sticky, gummy material, very high speed, when using cobalt in the smallish sizes, will not stick and shatter. Use extremly light tapping plunges, and it cuts much like a high speed fodom, or dremal. having used this technique in the knife shop for over 30 years, I can vouch for its effectiveness. Most machinest will tell you "slow it down". Slow cuting and drilling is always the suggested method. Well old dogs:D , there are some new tricks. The only reason to use cobalt, and M-2, is for their superior hot hardness. Especially cobalt, but it is more brittle. If you want to use the slow method, use Hi-speed. cheaper, and less prone to breakage, M. Lovett http://home.earthlink.net/~michaellovett/ I could give a technican explination as to why this works so will, but it would take three Pages:p
 
All the Cobalt bits I've seen have a thicker flute than standard jobber bits. With this decreased volume around the bit it is harder to clear the chips or cuttings. Retract the bit to clear chips frequently.

I was taught to free hand sharpen many years ago. Generally the harder the material the larger the angle of the tip and vise versa the softer the less the inclusive angle on the tip. The Machinist Handbook has very good information on drill points and sharpening for different materials.

The softer the material the faster I cut. Chatter is not my friend.

Reheat treat the copper to half hard for fairly easy drilling.

This stuff works for me...Take Care...Ed
 
Thanks for the info guys, it all get stuck somewhere up in my head, i just hope next time i can remember where it is in there :D
 
Sorry I didnt get back to ya....Donna had a company picnic and dinner today and night.

Glad the crisco idea helped out..Looks like you can handle the job of drilling copper now:D with no problems..

You might want to go ahead and go all the way through and then drill the tang from both sides to set the pin.

Bruce
 
Terry, no need to go thru if what you had in mind will work.
The only reason I mentioned a hole right thru in the post that I edited was because I figured that the only way to remove the offending drill bit would be to try from the opposite side.

Most important thing is that you got your holes drilled, that is what it has been all about.

Also important for me is that David's method with the drill bit worked, I just never considered it in the past because I considered it to be opposite to the nature of the beast. So it does work in copper, you just proved it too.
I for one will go to bed more informed tonight so it has been a good day!:D
Crisco, who would have thought!
We also lured a few other knowledgable gentlemen out and got some other good opinions.

You do of course realize that you have a moral obligation to post a pic of this knife once it is done Terry.;)

Egg on my face on the biggest forum in the world!:eek:

Take care, happy that you got your holes drilled.

Mike
 
No egg miden,just the way it had worked for you.Like you said,I'm glad his problem was solved.I wish I could count the # of times something I tried didn't work.I just think it is great that people that share the love of the Blade can come together like this to get answers to challenging situations that come up.And usually answers come from some of the Best in the World,(I don't include myself in that group)I'm just like a puppy on the tit here at this point in time.Like I said,So Much To Learn--So Little Time !!
 
Thanks for the kind words David.
Yes, there are some great minds here and they are not selfish to share. We are lucky indeed.
See you on the forum.

Mike
 
Thanks for all the good info everyone. I have found in the past some things people tell me to try sometimes sounds off the wall and i dont think they will work, but i usually give them a try just to find out. Like spraying wd-40 on sticky residue and it wipes right off, take a heat gun and heat a lable on a shipping box til the lable turns black, it peels right off, engine wet and wont start after washing the engine, pop the distibuter cap and spray in some wd-40, it will start, stuf like that, things i never thought would work, but by goly they do, so i try to remember them and pass them on.

As soon as i finsh the knife i will post a pic, it just takes me forever to finish one cause i only work a little bit every now and then on them unless someone has ordered one, and since this one is for me, i wasnt worried about how long it takes. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top