Drilling steel
 

Any advice? Drilling holes in a steel car seat frame, tubular steel, i'd guess no more than 2mm thick. holes to be 9mm (third of an inch), i've read that drilling a smaller hole first, then working up to a larger one, is a good idea, as obviously is having a good drill bit (cobalt good?). high speed (RPM) seems generally recommended, a reasonable amount of pressure, lubricant seems a more debated issue. also been told that banging an indent into the steel before drilling, steel punches, are they?, is a good plan.

Re: Drilling steel
 

notch steel with anything

even nail and hammer

apply wd-40 to the bit like the one below


http://www.tradetufftools.com/index....oducts_id=1971

put in moderate amount of pressure on the drill

Re: Drilling steel
 

Drill a pilot hole, use a lubricating oil, and don't use high rpm's.

Re: Drilling steel
 

I�ve drilled a few holes� well a few thousand is probably more like it.

Two mm? you wont need any �lube� for that. Use some if you want to though.

Real good for �banging an indent�:http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=91080

Just hold the drill tight, and drill as fast as it will spin. The faster it is spinning the less chance of a hang up when you punch through. (Thin sheet metal only.)

Use moderate pressure.

If you don�t have a bit like the one in the earlier post, just use two standard bits, the first one half or less the size of the final bit size.

Fluids I have used for drilling:

Tap Magic
Rapid tap
WD-40
PB Blaster
Kroil
Motor oil
Hydraulic fluid
Marvel Mystery oil
LPS (penetrating fluid)
Air tool oil
Water
Coffee (yes)
Many others I cant think of now.

A 9mm hole in 2mm sheet metal is about as simple as it gets. Now go get it done.:beer:

Oh, and that will be two silver oz:9536:

OD