What's the secret to drilling through 1/4" angle iron?

   / What's the secret to drilling through 1/4" angle iron? #31  
Some good advise, and some not as good IMO.

For starters you need good quality bits, as has been mentioned several times. I dont know what home depot offers, but dont strike me as a place I would buy drill bits for anything other than wood.

Mag drill is probably out of the question. They dont do well horizontally unless you have ALOT of metal for the magnet to get a hold on. 1/4" angle isnt enough.

Forget the pilot and stepping up. If the 1/4" bit is a split point bit (and most are) a pilot is not needed at all. Infact with a pilot, it makes all the subsequent attempts to enlarge the hole real grabby with the drill, as you are only trying to cut with just the outer tips of the bit. Going from 1/16 to 1/8, I bet you would break just as many 1/8" bits as you do 1/16

What you need to do is learn to read the chip. First step is pressure. You want enough pressure to actually remove chips, and not flakes or dust. Heat is removed in the form of chips. Smaller chips is less heat removed and you end up toasting the bit. Next step is speed. For that you read the color of the chip. Blue is bad. Straw color is good. Silver bare metal color isnt bad either, but you could go faster.

Simply put, the more pressure you give, the larger the chip, the more heat is removed, and the faster RPM you can go.
Less pressure removes smaller chips and results in a hotter bit and part, thus you have to go slower.

On a drill press drilling 1/4" steel, I'd be running ~1200RPM and enough pressure on the handle that it would take maybe 2 seconds tops to punch through. But you aint gonna do that with a hand drill.

And when it comes to lube, as a general rule I dont use lube on anything under 1/2" diameter and less than 1/4" thickness. If drilled right, it just isnt gonna get the part or bit hot enough to hurt anything, thus the lube is not needed IMO. Getting proper chips removes more heat than lube will.
 
   / What's the secret to drilling through 1/4" angle iron? #32  
From the good advice I read on page one I'd just add making a 'pilot' hole always made it easier for us.
 
   / What's the secret to drilling through 1/4" angle iron? #33  
The only time I like a pilot hole is bits larger than 1/2" that are chisel point bits. The pilot only needs to be the thickness of the chisel or slightly larger. Typically 1/4" is my go-to for a pilot. I would never dream of piloting a 1/4" hole, let alone piloting, stepping up, then final.

Got a whole drawer full of bits at work, probably 300+ jobber bits under 1/2", and probably 100 silver and deming bits between 1/2-1" all with chipped corners on them from people thinking they have to step up 1/16 or 1/8" at a time.
 
   / What's the secret to drilling through 1/4" angle iron? #34  
The only time I like a pilot hole is bits larger than 1/2" that are chisel point bits. The pilot only needs to be the thickness of the chisel or slightly larger. Typically 1/4" is my go-to for a pilot. I would never dream of piloting a 1/4" hole, let alone piloting, stepping up, then final.

Got a whole drawer full of bits at work, probably 300+ jobber bits under 1/2", and probably 100 silver and deming bits between 1/2-1" all with chipped corners on them from people thinking they have to step up 1/16 or 1/8" at a time.

I need to get a drill doctor. My bits are obviously too dull.
 
   / What's the secret to drilling through 1/4" angle iron? #35  
I've drilled and tapped thousands of small holes in heavy steel at odd angles over my years at my employer retrofitting old and installing new machinery. I was fortunate to have access to good drills, magnetic drill presses, good bits, etc....

The OP wants a simple, fast solution for a hand-held drill. I gave him one for twenty bucks and he can even get the hole size he wants. ;) :laughing:

I agree with you that your solution is better if he wants to spend the money. And better bits are just, well, better. :thumbsup: But they cost more. No free lunch.

I got that the OP was kind of a newbie at drilling, and for that, I HIGHLY recommend against using 1/16" bits. It adds a LOT of time to the job when a 1/16" bit (or 3/32 or 1/8") breaks off in the hole and 1/16" would be particularly troublesome. It takes a lot of experience to avoid breaking a 1/16" bit in 1/4" deep hole, especially 40 holes.

40 holes in 20 minutes (Blair) .vs. 40 (or 80) holes in 60 minutes (twist),,,,, kinda resembles a "free lunch". :thumbsup:

For those who enjoy free lunch, there's also a 16 peice kit for $148 that has 1/4". As much as I enjoy these cutters I wish I bought the 16 pc kit. Agreed this might be decadent kit for a guy who just needs to get his trailer setup.

I'll bet he's bolting down deckboards, and I bet,,,,, 5/16 is a better size, especially if it drills easier - just a hunch. A guy will need a variable speed drill motor to run these holecutters, ideally a 3-speed variable.
 
   / What's the secret to drilling through 1/4" angle iron? #38  
I have to drill 40 quarter inch holes through 1/4" angle iron with a hand drill. I've tried most of the different drill bits that Home Depot sells and they usually get too dull to drill after 2 holes.

Is there a better drill bit I can buy or am I doing something wrong in the way I am drilling?
tallyho8, Drilling a pilot hole for a 1/4 bit is a verry special case and only applicable to get around problems with hard material. And [bummer] the small pilot hole itself would be difficult to accomplish reliably. IF your angle is just regular steel it should be possible to drill reliably by hand in one pass.
... To give yourself an advantage I would try to buy one of the 1/4" DeWalt pilot point drillbits. They drill extremely well with lo effort. To lube / cool, dip the tip in a shallow pool of lube about every 30 sec. ... As LD1 said, read the chip. Press hard enuf that the tip makes constant progress - no skating because it will dull it. Ill guess that you need 20 or 30 lbs pressure and 300-800 rpm. Learn to read the feel of imminent break thru and ease pressure so you dont chip the drill tip.
larry
 
   / What's the secret to drilling through 1/4" angle iron? #39  
TallyHo, betcha didn't really expect over 1,000 views and almost 40 responses, eh?

:reading:
:scratchchin:

- Jay
 
   / What's the secret to drilling through 1/4" angle iron? #40  
It takes a lot of experience to avoid breaking a 1/16" bit in 1/4" deep hole, especially 40 holes.
I forgot to add this. We do break a lot of bits. We don't do anything fast, just right the first time. We do have a lot of company supplied drillbits to choose from, HSS, Cobalt, Carbide. 1/16th pilot holes are for precision holes with a .010 tolerance, like per blueprints. 1/16th pilot holes is what I am comfortable with.
hugs, Brandi
 

Tractor & Equipment Auctions

UNUSED 3/4 in. Polyester Arborist Outdoor Rope (A50860)
UNUSED 3/4 in...
SCAN FOR HAULING AND FINANCING INFORMATION (A50458)
SCAN FOR HAULING...
2023 AGT Topcat Stump Grinder (A48837)
2023 AGT Topcat...
2019 Ford F-550 V-Mac DTM70 Air Compressor Flatbed Truck (A48081)
2019 Ford F-550...
1997 CATERPILLAR CS-563D SMOOTH DRUM ROLLER (A50458)
1997 CATERPILLAR...
1998 CATERPILLAR D250E OFF ROAD DUMP (A50458)
1998 CATERPILLAR...
 
Top