Drilling speed

Alain M-D

Alain M-D

Joined
Jan 20, 2002
Messages
237
Hello ! I have a very basic question...

I bought a Delta 14" drill press the last week.
I am a newbie into metalworking (and knifemaking...)
I would like to know some informations about drilling speeds.
In the drill press top cover there have suggestion about speeds (according
to drill size and materials).

- Cast Iron
- Soft Metal
- Mild Steel
- Hard steel

But, in which category are included the following materials?
(I hesitate for some)

Brass (soft or mild ?)
Aluminium (Soft ?)
Copper (soft or mild ?)
O-1 toolsteel ?
ATS-34 (Hard ?)
Nickel Silver ?
416 SS ?

I make somes test and in certain cases that made smoke
in spite of the use of cutting fluid.. Is it normal?

Thanks !
 
Alain, I just put my drill press on the slowest speed and leave it there for drilling everything. Never had a problem with it. I know when you're using carbide bits you're supposed to run them fast but I don't change the speed setting even for those. I'm a firm believer that the faster something is moving the faster you can mess up or get hurt.
 
With a handdrill I go as slow as possible on steel, since I don't use oil to keep the job cool. It works.
 
I've got a delta as well. I just set the pulleys for the slowest speed and always use cutting fluid. no problems at all--Dan
 
Don't worry too much if there is a little bit smoke. Pretty normal. That's a little bit of the oil being burned from friction. Just make sure your bit isn't getting too hot to burn the hardness out of the bit. I have a Craftsman 1/3HP and I run it at 620 RPM. It runs cooler and I think it cuts the steel just as fast I think. When you run the bit too fast, I'm pretty sure the bit doesn't cut any faster, just generates more heat and throws out little chips instead of the nice spirals (shows you are getting the correct feed rate).
 
Chang even that might be a little fast. I run very slow and rarely need any oil. Since I drill handle materials on the same drill press, and oil contamination is deadly for epoxy. I avoid it as much as possible.
 
Shucks, Jerry, you're right. Forgot that I use the same drill bit on the handle material and there might be some Cool Tool II left on it. I'm going to start degreasing them with acetone before drilling handle material.
 
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