MF RED in MT
Veteran Member
My HF drill press didn't scratch them. Slow, fast, oiled, didn't matter, it was not able to provide the torque on the slowest setting with the belt as tight as I could get it.
This is 3 pieces of 3/8" steel that I used for building my pallet forks for my bobcat. It took 40 minutes to get through like this: http://i.imgur.com/pQRDLoy.mp4
With my HF cheap drill press, I can drill a 3/8" thick plate on the slowest belt settings, and can drill a 1 1/2" hole using a Milwaukee metal hole saw in about 5 minutes using "WestLube" lubricant and keeping the shavings cleaned out of the hole.
In your video, if your drill does not have a slower speed and you are slowing the speed down with pressure pushing down, looks to me that you need to readjust your process, just a thought...
Also, with my drill press I can keep adding the lubricant while drilling the hole, and the HF cheap drill press forces me to use medium to light down pressure (does not create a lot of heat).
I would also only drill through all 3/8" plates with a 1/4" drill at once, and then drill each 3/8" plates separately with the hole saw.
Good luck, KC