hard stainless

T

Tom Buchanan

Joined
Mar 27, 2005
Messages
101
need a little help here,guys.making a set of bolsters today,and trashed three 1/8 drill bits on this stuff.harder than the hubs of hell.it sawed ok,but drills awfully hard.it was given to me by a friend at work,so i don't know what it is,other than its non-magnetic.reckon i can anneal it?FART(for all replies,thanks)tom
 
If its non magnetic I'd guess its an austenitic stainless (300 series?). Anyway, its probably work hardened but they aren't hardenable in the same sense as blade steel, so I'm not sure how you would go about annealing it.

I suppose you could try carbide bits.

How fast are you running the drill, and are you using coolant? From my experience, this type of steel is kind of gummy and hard on bits compared to tool steels. You definitely want to have some sort of coolant, and will want the drill to be running pretty slow.
 
Yes, sounds like it was work hardened 300 series. 301 will work harden VERY fast but all the 300 steels will if the proper drilling isn't done. Properly sharpened bit ,proper feed and speed .You did something wrong because it should drill without problems
 
I use 303 stainless for a lot of fittings. When drilling, you need to take little pecks at it, and always use a sharp bit. Use either slow speeds or lots of coolant. Never try to bull the bit through the work, especially at the end of the hole when there is the most built-up heat and the least amount of coolant. Just go easy and concentrate on the bit cutting nice little curls and you should be fine. :)
 
i changed the speed on my drill press,and made a world of difference.thanks fellas.....when you don't know,you just don't know.have a good one.
 
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