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Dry drilling stainless?

Tichy

Aluminum
Joined
Jan 1, 2019
We have some prototypes coming up. This will possibly (make that very likely) turn into a regular job where we'll make thousands and tens of thousands of parts.

The previous version was non-stainless steel. We went from running with coolant drilling those, to air cooling at the request of the customer.

This is stainless. Recycled stainless, as cheap as you can get it. I'm assuming around 304 quality but I'm also assuming quality could vary wildly.

The customer would prefer if we could machine the parts dry for some reasons unimportant to the question. If not, oh well.

We are talking 4.6, 5.0, 5.2, 6.2, 10.2-millimeter holes through 8 millimeters stock. So, it really isn't deep drilling.

For cheap non-stainless steel we've used Kennametal solid drills, they worked like a dream.

Is dry drilling stainless with through-spindle air cooling feasible in this setting, and if so what are your tips?
 
If you're careful you'll get a hole, right up to the break through. When it get very thin, it's going to kick your ass.

Worst case, I would use water. But it'll boil off fast, so you need a lot.

R
 
my experience with cheap 304 is run it slower and with less feed than any chart tells you, especially with no coolant. Start really slow, and ramp up a little at a time. The metal and the tool will quickly tell you when you are too fast. And expect to go thru drill bits.
 
Is dry drilling stainless with through-spindle air cooling feasible in this setting, and if so what are your tips?

"mystery" SS?

Drilled dry?

Breakout a Royal Bitch Kitty?

Well.. it's THIN, yah?

Get wet. Sort the fees for uber-cleanup with the customer as part of the job.
It will be one HELLUVA lot less costly than drills. And time.

Not as if you were trying to clean balsa-wood, burlap, or toilet-paper.
Stainless will stand up to serious cleaning and come out CLEAN. Cheaply, as well, compared to a whole lot of other metals.

ELSE no-bid. "Economic suicide" is not a technical skill worth pursuing.
 
caustic ultrasonic cleaning, rinse than passivating treatment is common on stainless steel parts. it actually makes then more resistant to rusting
.
hot caustic breaks down organic carbon based chemicals. literally can take paint off steel in a few minutes. there are some chemicals that leave a residue than has to be rubbed off, often using soft abrasive like bon ami cleanser (feldspar), or has to be sand blasted to remove residue
.
some use a sand blaster with baking soda. that is the abrasive is actually softer than most metals but hard enough to clean dirt or residue off.
.
some put parts in a oven to boil or burn off any liquids residue that might be in micro cracks in the metal
 
We have some prototypes coming up. This will possibly (make that very likely) turn into a regular job where we'll make thousands and tens of thousands of parts.

The previous version was non-stainless steel. We went from running with coolant drilling those, to air cooling at the request of the customer.

This is stainless. Recycled stainless, as cheap as you can get it. I'm assuming around 304 quality but I'm also assuming quality could vary wildly.

The customer would prefer if we could machine the parts dry for some reasons unimportant to the question. If not, oh well.

We are talking 4.6, 5.0, 5.2, 6.2, 10.2-millimeter holes through 8 millimeters stock. So, it really isn't deep drilling.

For cheap non-stainless steel we've used Kennametal solid drills, they worked like a dream.

Is dry drilling stainless with through-spindle air cooling feasible in this setting, and if so what are your tips?



Regular machining sure, but I wouldn’t suggest doing that while drilling, good way to heat it and harden it making it burn up bits faster.
Its stainless, just clean it after.
 








 
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