Drilling Holes In Stainless Steel Sheet

Stainless steel is one of the hardest substances on earth.

Drilling holes in stainless steel sheet.

Because so many people ask how to drill through stainless steel we decided to dedicate a page to this topic. Stainless steel also known as inox steel is an alloy of steel with a minimum of around 10 5 chromium based on its mass it is known for its corrosion resistance high heat resistance and high ductility. The least expensive twist bits are made of high speed steel hss and these basic bits are just fine for most metal drilling tasks. And for that reason you don t have several ways to cut a hole in it.

Moreover there are several ways of doing that. Carbide tipped will drill almost any steel hard stainless or mild. Drill bit is hard to. After starting out with a bi metal bit and not having much success steve l.

Pro drills all steel con blunt tip requires extreme pressure to produce cuttings. Certainly of all the metals out there stainless steel is the one that seems to cause most problems for people when it comes to drilling. This characteristic makes it challenging to break the chip which is especially important in a drilling operation because the chips need to be broken and evacuated from the hole as quickly as possible to reduce the chance of recutting. After measuring and checking and finally marking with a sharpie where all the 12 holes were to be drilled i set out to drill the holes.

Stainless steel actually is designed to bend a little bit before it breaks. No drill hard plate anti drill plate 440c stainless steel pro good for hand drills and most drilling applications con has limits with hardened steel. Steve parente shows how to easily drill large holes in stainless with a step bit. If you ll be drilling a lot of holes or need to drill through hard abrasive metals like stainless steel or cast iron spend a couple bucks more for black oxide or a cobalt steel drill bit for metal.

I recently drilled 16 quarter inch holes through 3 16in stainless using a standard hss bit and when i was done the bit was still sharp and usable. If you follow these suggestions you can quickly drill stainless using a standard highspeed steel bit that you can buy in any hardware store. Cutting holes in metal sheets is pretty easy.