Thread: Drilling holes in spring steel

Isaac ,
They look fantastic.
They went through the saw plate with what seems very little effort.
Do you use any cutting fluid ?
Also do they only come in the size you mentioned ?
Or are there other sizes available?
And last were the ones in the little video new or have they been through a few holes all-ready ?
I suppose what I am asking is how long do they last or are they able to be resharpened ?
Are few questions I know .
Thanks for posting as u are properly aware there has been quite a bit of discussion here on making the saw bolt holes .
Cheers
Matt


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Originally Posted by Simplicity

Isaac ,
They look fantastic.
They went through the saw plate with what seems very little effort.
Do you use any cutting fluid ?
Also do they only come in the size you mentioned ?
Or are there other sizes available?
And last were the ones in the little video new or have they been through a few holes all-ready ?
I suppose what I am asking is how long do they last or are they able to be resharpened ?
Are few questions I know .
Thanks for posting as u are properly aware there has been quite a bit of discussion here on making the saw bolt holes .
Cheers
Matt

No cutting fluid is needed.

They come in a wide variety of sizes. Not sure about metric, but I know they are readily available in 32nds of an inch, and at least some 64ths. Anything close will work for this application so long as it's oversized.

The ones in the video have probably drilled 50 or more holes. They last nearly indefinitely unless you abuse them, and then they can chip. The edge geometry is very basic, so they are easy to touch up if you have diamond wheels or stones.

The one thing they don't like is shock or vibration. You can't slam it into the work, and you can't push it faster than it wants to go. And they do work best in a drill press.

I am aware of the discussion (both here and elsewhere). I've mentioned these before, and finally realized that a video might be more convincing than just my words.

there is a guy on ebay au, but they come from US.
surplustooling items - Get great deals on items on eBay Stores!
so postage is the killer, seeing they fit in a standard envelope.

Very nice presentation Isaac. Thank you. It should also be mentioned that Isaac's saw bolts have a matching 3/16" stem dia. This detailed article from Isaac's blog site is well worth reading to better understand the full process he follows. Saw build along

Thanks Isaac
Fantastic


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The solid carbide spade drill bits in imperial are not available on ebay/Aus from the search I did. Looking for 5/16" dia, that would suit the saw bolts I use, I could only find 1 international supplier that would post to Aust, and the total cost was around $42 delivered.

Not quite a woodworker's project, but because of the simple geomety, these can be made from broken solide carbide milling cutters or shanks of other broken solid carbide tools.
You do need a diamond wheel or a green wheel though. Seeing that the proces of small diamon wheels are about $15, and they are useful for all kinds of tipped and solid tools, their purchase and creativity in other carbide tools are not out of the realms of reasonable investment.....

I use a multi purpose bit. It looks like a masonry bit but has carbide cutting teeth.
Works as well as the solid carbide bit. Costs about $8 from your local hardware.
The 2 brands I have used are P&N and Bosch.

I recently secured a Roper Whitney No. 8 punch tool with a large set of punches and dies. As a preliminary evaluation of its' capacity I tested it on a scraper blade made for use in reciprocating saws. The owner of the broken blade brought it to me and asked if I could put a wooden handle on it. The blade is about 0.055" and is easily as hard as saw steel.
Here is a pic of the punch secured in my 8" bench vise for convenience.

large punch.jpg

The manufacturer claims "1/4" hole through 1/4" iron", we'll see.

manufacturers claim.jpg

Here's the business end.

the business end.jpg

Mark hole positions.

lay out holes.jpg

Line up the punch point with the marks.

line it up 2.jpg

Squeeze twice and we have

scraper blade with 0.25 punched holes.jpg

and no damage to the punch or die.

no damage to punch or die.jpg

Alignment will be easier using transfer punched saw steel. The paint on this piece, combined with the slanting afternoon sun made alignment difficult because of reflections. Overall I am pleased. I will use this to punch undersized holes in my saw plates and then ream them to size.

Originally Posted by rob streeper

I recently secured a Roper Whitney No. 8 punch tool with a large set of punches and dies.

The manufacturer claims "1/4" hole through 1/4" iron", we'll see.

Rob, looking at specs of these online, the quoted thickness of steel means mild steel. For tool steel...

Cheers
Peter

One trick to reduce the grabbing effect as bits pass through the hole is to flip the work piece over after partial breakthrough has been achieved.

I've used old masonry or tile cutting bits reshaped on a green wheel to do this sort of thing.

One of the most challenging holes to drill is through the center of a hardened steel bearing wheel of a chainsaw bar nose sprocket.
The same shaped carbide bits seem to do this easily enough but because this is a lot harder and thicker than saw plate the bit can get very hot so some coolant helps.

Drake hardware ... early 20thC I guess ...

punch drake.JPG

Interesting that it appears to screw down rather than lever by squeezing.

I'd guess, like a cider press (eg), you can generate more force .. or at least a slowly increasing force with a screw ... depending on the thread ...

Paul