drilling steel

Frank Fusco

Member
Messages
12,782
Location
Mountain Home, Arkansas
Not a wood working question.
I need a 5/8" hole in a piece of steel. I did drill a 33/64th" hole but, unfortunately, it will not work. I'm reluctant to order a $20.00 bit and pay for shipping for about ten seconds worth of drilling to open up this hole.
I do have a lot of masonry, carbide tipped, drills. Would it be disastrous to use one of those to open up this hole? I don't care if I ruin the bit.
 
Any plans for more than the one hole? If I dig deep enough in my "stuff" I know I have one made with a #2 morse taper on it. I just pop off my chuck and put the bit in the press. Let me know.
 
I've put a super heavy duty trailer hitch and some belly bar brackets on my F-350 to hold the camper. Lot's of big holes through fairly thick steel at awkward angles.

Things I learned:
1) Speed kills (the drill bits)
2) Keep the bit and hole lubed up with Cutting Fluid
3) A drill doctor drill bit sharpener can pay for it self in drill bits on one job like that.

I had a couple of drill bits and found that I could get about a hole and a half. taking sharpening breaks helped both me and the bits get the job done.
 
Thanks all. Yes, I got it done. Somehow, with Dale's offer I couldn't get my thinking past 'lathe' when he mentioned Morse Taper. Of course, I know most drill presses use MTs to hold the chuck. Oh, well. I believe I will keep my eyes open at junk shops for larger drill bits with MTs for future emergencies like this. BTW, the masonry bit worked OK to open the hole. I ran at 140 RPM and lubed generously with WD-40.
 
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