Drilling Through Stainless Steel Sheet

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Drilling through stainless steel sheet.

Stainless steel is not the hardest of metals in its natural form however as pointed out by chip lawson in his piece know how. Many people have drilled holes into plain old steel with satisfactory results. Drilling stainless steel is not as difficult as you may thi. They re just the thing when you need a perfectly sized clean hole in a steel junction box electrical service panel or even a stainless steel sink.

Drilling stainless steel stainless steel will work harden fairly quickly when heated and one sure way to increase heat is to drill fast. On and off drilling. There are also other steps to drilling this material that will make the process easier. For drilling it s common knowledge that treating it like any other metal and applying sustained pressure until the hole is complete causes problems such as overheating and occasional breaking of the bit.

But working with stainless steel can present challenges during fabrication keeping it clean and free of fingerprints and drilling through it efficiently. It may also cause clogging of the hole that may eventually lead to drill breakage. Drilling stainless steel is not as. Here is the right way to drill stainless steel.

The reason for this is that any buildup of chips within the hole can cause roughness along the wall of the hole. Using high speed drill bits or better is mandatory. In this first quick tips video i show you how easy it is to drill and cut stainless steel when you have the right magic potion. Step drill bits are designed to drill holes in sheet metal and other thin materials.

Drilling through stainless steel is much like drilling through any other type of metal but with a few key differences. When drilling stainless steel you may freely let the drilling chips get away from the hole that you are drilling. I set my drill press to its slowest speed or run my portable drill as slow as the trigger will allow.