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drilling spring steel
- Thread starter J. Dicks
- Start date
- Replies 11
- Views 43,765
traytopjohnny
Stainless
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2005
- Location
- cincinnati
If you just need one or a few, I grind my holes in spring sreel by hand with a dremel tool just so as not to induce any stresses in the metal.
tattoomike68
Stainless
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2002
- Location
- home
you can drill it with high speed steel drills, just turn the drill slow, heavy on the feed and oil it up good.
If it screams and barks at you stop and go to carbide before it workhardens.
the holes I drilled were about like drilling T1 or plow steel.(a little hard, but not bad)
If it screams and barks at you stop and go to carbide before it workhardens.
the holes I drilled were about like drilling T1 or plow steel.(a little hard, but not bad)
tattoomike68
Stainless
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2002
- Location
- home
if it were "super hard" it would bust and fail the first time it was used.
"hard" is not always good.
"hard" is not always good.
don't be reluctant to use carbide end mills (center cutting in your case), the Chinese may be the best quality of them all because they have so much tungsten (or whatever the stuff is) over there, while being the cheapest.
you can cut cobalt end mills with a carbide end mill using high speed, so hardness is no problem for carbide and they don't break that easy either
With the high quality carbide end mills of today, I always use carbide as the first choice, working my way down to cobalt and HSS. Sometimes HSS really is better.
you can cut cobalt end mills with a carbide end mill using high speed, so hardness is no problem for carbide and they don't break that easy either
With the high quality carbide end mills of today, I always use carbide as the first choice, working my way down to cobalt and HSS. Sometimes HSS really is better.
Konrad
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2003
- Location
- Edmonton Alberta Canada
I use the cheap masonry bits for things like that, but sharpen it first!
Konrad
Konrad
project
Aluminum
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2005
- Location
- Helena, MT
I drill car leaf springs all the time for larger center pins. use cobalt bit, very low speed ,lots of oil and heavy feed. HSS will do fine for few holes but if you got a lot to do switch to carbide or cobalt.
HuFlungDung
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2005
- Location
- Canada
Right on, Konrad. Also, if you mess up a masonary drill, you won't cry or grind a quarter of an inch off your teeth. For masonary use, the carbide insert brazed into the drill body does not (typically) have any cutting clearance. Hence the need to give it some. You should know how to sharpen an ordinary drill by hand first, and succeed in making it cut.
Don't use a pilot hole, either, it just adds chatter, and a problem with chipping on breakthrough. Drill into a piece of aluminum as a backer, and the masonary drill will survive quite a few holes.
Don't use a pilot hole, either, it just adds chatter, and a problem with chipping on breakthrough. Drill into a piece of aluminum as a backer, and the masonary drill will survive quite a few holes.
Nanpantanman
Plastic
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2017
If at first you don't succeed, slare wob.
Here's what I have done to drill thin spring steel... A spear-point glass and tile drill! Really! You have to be super steady and apply a lot of feed pressure. As soon as the tip starts to show through on the other side, stop and turn the workpiece so that you can drill from the other side. And the speed has to be soooo slow... About 60RPM max, I'd guess. The knack is not to let the drill chatter or bind, as this will chip chunks off the spear point. I've just done some 4mm holes in 0.9mm thick spring which I finished with a needle file after drilling 3mm with the glass drill. I've been told that if you can get the drill cutting within a pool of turps or WD40 or any similar lubricant, the tip is less likely to shatter. Use blu-tack to make a little pond around where you need to drill. Of course to do this you need to drill vertically.
Here's what I have done to drill thin spring steel... A spear-point glass and tile drill! Really! You have to be super steady and apply a lot of feed pressure. As soon as the tip starts to show through on the other side, stop and turn the workpiece so that you can drill from the other side. And the speed has to be soooo slow... About 60RPM max, I'd guess. The knack is not to let the drill chatter or bind, as this will chip chunks off the spear point. I've just done some 4mm holes in 0.9mm thick spring which I finished with a needle file after drilling 3mm with the glass drill. I've been told that if you can get the drill cutting within a pool of turps or WD40 or any similar lubricant, the tip is less likely to shatter. Use blu-tack to make a little pond around where you need to drill. Of course to do this you need to drill vertically.
EmGo
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2018
^ Necropost 
I have had okay success drilling thin hard stuff like spring steel or a nasty used stainless brake rotor with just a center drill. Just keep going through ... surprised me the first time but works decent, considering.
I have had okay success drilling thin hard stuff like spring steel or a nasty used stainless brake rotor with just a center drill. Just keep going through ... surprised me the first time but works decent, considering.
