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J

jlr102846

Joined
Apr 6, 2006
Messages
22
Howdy Folks.

Though Ive been messing around with knife makin' awhile, mi health limits the time each day that I can work, and as a quadriplegic, my paralyzed hands slow me down. But anyway, I hope I can pick some brains here for advice. Today's nagging problem has me in a frazzle. I'm trying to drill a 3/16th'' hole through the tang of a blade I'm making out of O1 Steel, and before the drill gets 1/2 way through, the steel gets so dang hard that it seems like nothing could pentrate it.
NO amount of force on the drill press handle will budge it deeper. I ordered some cold drawn W2 thinking a different hardening type steel might help, but nope, again.......12 way in it's hard as rock? What am I doing wrong?

Please advise me.

JIM
:jerkit:
 
you might wanna go to one of the custom forums with the questions, i just buy knives no makers experience, good luck
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

moving-van.jpg
 
jlr102846,

you would be better served going to the "questions and answers" section,
there are a lot of gents with an incredible amount of knowledge that they unselfishly share.
That being said, I happened to stumble upon this thread and I think I can help you.
Very important is the speed of your drill bit. If you spin it too fast the bit will get blunt andthe steel will work harden.

Try about 600 rpm on the drill bit and use some coolant, even dishwashing liquid or regular oil will do. When it screams it is not happy.
Better you keep the rpm a bit low than too high.

Good luck, and in future try the section I mentioned, you will get all the help you need there.:D

Mike.
 
jlr102846,

my apologies, I see your thread did get moved here, welcome. You are in the right place.:thumbup:

Mike
 
Jim, as Miden suggests you should be able to drill thru 0-1 easily at 500 to 600 RPM.

You're evidently running the drill too fast, trying to force it, or you're trying to use a dull drill. Since you've burned the drill at least twice, use another drill.

Running a drill too fast in steel burns the bit, dulls it, and softens the point. Throw that one away.

You should adjust your speed and feed rate until you get a uniform steel colored chip. Blue chips are a no-no using HSS drills.

And that reminds me of another thing. Make sure you buy high speed drills, not cheap carbon steel bits.

I'll help you any time. :)
 
Don't waste your money on high speed drill bits for any metal other than aluminum. Cobalt or carbide, 500 rpm is still pretty fast if you want maximum tool life and will create problems with air harde steels. If you do not have a cooling system, use squirt bottles and lotts of coolent. Cobalt bits will take care of about any drilling task of un hardened steels. If the bits are not sharp do not even attempt to use them, you will just harden your work and make things worse. I also have a set of carbide dagger drills that will even cut heat treated steel (though I try to avoid that). Carbide bits require that you use a press and that the work be firmly clamped in place. Carbide bits are very hard and BRITTLE, therefore thay break easily, if you take care of them they will last a very long time.

Leon Pugh
 
I had this problem before, iasked one of the millwrights (mill mechanic) where i work what i could do. He told me to try changing the angle on the drill bit and make it a little flatter so it would bite better. I tried it and it worked for me. hope it helps.
 
one time I had this problem but i didn't realize I had the depth stop set to high. I felt like a real dummy.
 
Was the blade forged or stock removal? I had this problem recently, and from what it sounds like the steel was improperly annealed (by me). That was with a forged blade though, and DIY annealment. If it was stock removal, I'd go with the drill-too-fast line of explaination. -Matt-
 
i like driling with cool tool but if you use a slow speed you realy dont have to use it now that said i havent drilled anything over 1/4 in knife steels
ive have 3 drill bit sets and i seem to keep reaching for the dewalt setnot because there the bestest bits out ther but because they worke just fine fro me and if i hurt one so what
ooo also on some of the thicker stock or pain in the but metals (read ti and nic silver) i drill like 3 sec then clear chips and drill some more repeat till finished i use cool too on that type of work
hope that helps some and BTW feel free to ask ?s thats why most of us are here
ooo and the search works better if you use the advanced setting and search in this subforum
butch
 
I'm pretty much in agreement with other folks here. You were likely running your drill too fast. With the bind you're in now, you can finish that hole with a carbide tipped masonry bit. Run it slow, use a fair amount of downward pressure, and make sure you put a sacrificial piece of scrap steel behind it. If you don't, when you come through the back of the piece drilling you WILL snap the carbide tip off of the bit. I use a scrap of 5/8" thick mild steel for this since I know I won't "accidentally" go all the way through it and snap the cabide tip off.

Good luck!

-d
 
joe9knives said:
one time I had this problem but i didn't realize I had the depth stop set to high. I felt like a real dummy.
Click to expand...

*$#@%!%^!!! I did that last week, I don't use the depth stop very often and those two thumb wheels slowly over the months by vibration have moved down to the bottom of the threaded shaft and I had about 1/2" of travel. I brought the bit down to the steel and I had about 1/16" of travel left.
 
Ilovetoolsteel said:
*$#@%!%^!!! I did that last week, I don't use the depth stop very often and those two thumb wheels slowly over the months by vibration have moved down to the bottom of the threaded shaft and I had about 1/2" of travel. I brought the bit down to the steel and I had about 1/16" of travel left.
Click to expand...

That reminds me of the time when I was a kid trying to drill a couple holes in an aluminum bracket with a hand-held drill (9/16 bit, I think).
I couldn't understand why it wouldn't drill. I eventually just mushed through one hole. The material was smoking hot!
About half way through the second hole, I realized the motor was set on REVERSE!!!
 
Yea, don't force your drill bit. Too slow a rotation is not good and too fast is WAY not good. Too fast and forcing will over heat which defeats the heat treat of the tool steel bit. Not enough down pressure is bad too. That only allows friction without much cutting which over heats and dulls the tool steel. Just enough pressure to cut optimally is needed. Use a cutting oil while drilling steels. For rigs like we have, where there is no automatic coolant applied by the machine, I just barely start my hole and periodically stop to apply a drop of cutting oil in the hole. I continue that until completely drilled through. Go patient with steel. Working steels requires that. Glad your making knives. Very time consuming. Very rewarding and usefull.


rlinger
------
 
Lots of good advice here. The spindle stop is one I would not have come up with . Good Tip :thumbup: Butcher Blk. mentioned a good one. The pecking of the drill bit serves several purposes. Breaking & clearing the chip is the most obvious , the opportunity to relieve some built up heat is another. 300 RPM would not be too slow for drilling tool steels ( per leon & decker ) like said you'll get better tool life , just watch out on break - thru. Either clamp your work piece down or make sure you have a stop set-up so you don't wack your hand with a part turned helicopter rotor .600'ish rpm if everything is optimum ( coolant , drill grind , material etc. ) is about right but in your situation I would slow her down even more. JCaswell , :D , I saw an apprentice go through a couple of new saw blades trying to cut a blk. of H13 tool steel once. He had put both blades on backwards,which isn't hard to do, it is just the difference between one flip of the blade. He spent about 2 hrs trying to figure out what was wrong :confused: and changing blades before finally getting that blk. cut.:)
 
Thanks. I have lots to learn. Do know of a particular drill bit brand that I should look for? Would tunsten carbide help? I think the bits I'm trying to use are cobalt, made in China. What about a good brand of files? These China-made files wear out on one blade.

Many thanx
Jim
:jerkit:

I'll help you any time. :)[/QUOTE]
 
Get a torch, heat it red hot while keeping the blade wrapped in a wet towel and drill it hot! :)

Ive had this problem with hot rolled steel. Almost like its case-annealed.
 
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