Thread: Drilling a hardened steel vice

See the description in the Ebay write up:

"can be used on 4 different sides, including pull-down system"

That's what the slots are there for.

Rob

Could maybe drill holes with these.

Artu Drills

"ARTU" DRILLS are stocked and sold for drilling up to 70Rc hardened steels. These unique drills look like a masonry drill but will drill through a file. They can handle the heat up to 1000'C. Great for removing broken drills and taps; the set 4 - 12mm is a must for tool rooms and maintenance shops alike.

ALL PURPOSE DRILL FOR ROTARY OR PERCUSSION DRILLING



DRILLS JOBS OTHER DRILLS CAN'T DO

Made from specialised material designed to give long wear life in a variety of materials
EASILY RESHARPENED on ARTU grinding wheels
DRILLS EASILY THROUGH
- hardened steel up to 70 HRC
- iron
- steel reinforced concrete
- concrete
- some cast metals
- stone & bricks
- springs
- bearings
- granite
- marble
- tiles
- baked ceramics
- fibreglass
- glass
- plastics

Metric & imperial sizes from 3.0mm -25mm or 1/8" - 1" in standard, long and extra-long lengths.
Available singly or in sets of 5 metric sizes or sets of 7 in either metric or imperial sizes
Also available: ARTU special carbide tipped hacksaw blade and rod saws - fit any hacksaw frame

I wonder if face plate clamps would fit the slot?

Rob

I went through this process a while back and made an adaptor plate and pin clamps. Here's the thread: https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/ho...illing-122363/ . It includes some sketches but not a shot of the finished product for some reason. I will see if I can find a pic. It worked quite well. I wouldn't drill the vice.

Edit: This is the best pic I can find. Obviously you would need flat clamps.

PB061028.jpg

If you go straight from the slot to a Tee nut you will be clamping to a cantilever. A cantilever with a large hole in it. The point of failure might be the end of the tee slot casting breaking.

Stuart

I second Stuart's thoughts - a long T nut cantilevered out runs the risk of damaging the T slots. The set-up I've drawn or that Bryan has made will keep your T slots in compression. Much safer.

Chris, milling without a mill is called a hacksaw and file. You can always make up something basic and then replace it once you can mill.

Michael

Originally Posted by nearnexus

That's what the slots are there for.

Rob,
I knew what the slots were for, I just couldn't figure out how to use them given that the slotted mill table is only slightly wider than the vice. The adaptor plate idea overcomes that limitation.

Originally Posted by Bryan

I went through this process a while back and made an adaptor plate and pin clamps. Here's the thread:

Thanks Bryan,
I'm glad to see I'm not alone. Yours looks like a good setup.

Originally Posted by Michael G

I second Stuart's thoughts - a long T nut cantilevered out runs the risk of damaging the T slots. The set-up I've drawn or that Bryan has made will keep your T slots in compression. Much safer.

Yep, I was lying awake last night wondering about the possibility of the extended t-nuts flexing up and breaking off the ends of the t-slots. Looks like it's back to the adaptor plate idea. I reckon it needs to be 100mm wide. So a short piece of say 100x12 or 100x16 BMS should so it. Hopefully Lockbar will have some in stock.

Chris

Artu Drills

if you decide to drill with these, or with a sharpened masonry bit, the website for the manufacturer Artu gives drilling and sharpening instructions.
You could sharpen a masonry bit to act like an Artu bit.
The Artu site says the bit insert material is a mix of cobalt and tungsten carbide, but this is true of most drills of this type, so dont be put off if you use a masonry bit.
The cobalt material acts as a binder for the sintered tungsten carbide during manufacture.
The cobalt material is quite poisonous by the way.
Check it out on Wikipedia et al.
Use a particle and fume mask when grinding any carbide.

A few years ago I bought one of these Artu bits in 1/4 inch at the Brisbane Woodworking Show, and as you do, I asked the demonstrator, what the best method was for drilling hard steels.

He said "have you noticed that when I drill files as a demo, I am using a high speed electric hand drill (it was in a mini drill press attachment) , at 2500-3000 rpm, and that is the best advice I can give ".
I also noticed that he used medium to heavy feed pressure, rather than take a light cut.
The other thing that he mentioned (or rather hinted), was that there are no secrets about Artu drills, mostly good marketing techniques. It is all about carbide tips, tip sharpening angles, both cutting and relief, and cutting speed. My Artu bit has a ground back angle on the cutting face of about 15 deg, so that it is "dragging" on the material to be drilled rather than cutting into it like normal HSS and full carbide drill bits.
The Artu website info seems to back up the demonstrator, as it suggests 2000 rpm for hard steels.

These Artu drills do work, but the cutting tips do fracture also.
I use a diamond hand hone on masonry bits to touch up these type of bits; very easy with medium cut then fine cut.

cheerio, mike

edited for maily typos

Thanks Mike. Good info.

Well I bought myself a piece of 4" wide 1/2" thick BMS to make the adaptor plate and today I drilled 4 x 8mm holes for the screws that will engage the t-slot nuts in the milling attachment. Now I need 2 x 75mm long t-slot nuts. Today I tried to devise a way of making these using the toolpost but I can't think of a safe way to do it. The photo shows my setup.

Since I have no vertical adjustment I would need to shim under the stock after the first pass to make the "ears" of the t-nuts the correct thickness. When that's done I would flip the stock around and make the cuts to produce the "ear" on the other side. However I don't think there will be enough metal left to screw the toolpost screws down onto once the first side is milled. I'm worried I will get the job 90% done and have it ruined if it dislodges.

Can you guys offer any ideas that may have eluded me so far?

Chris

Hi Chris,
Just tap some flat bar that fits in the t slots so that you can put the vise on and then make proper t nuts.

A sharpened masonary drill is no different to the Artu drill but a fraction of the price.
I have used sharpened masonary bits to drill through high speed steel, High carbon steel and
even proved to a mate that you can drill a file with them.
Just keep them sharpe (I use a drill doctor) and you wont go wrong.
Just my 2c worth
Matt

Firstly, from your photo. Do not wind the material into the cutter like that - because there is backlash you will potentially break your cutter and/ or damage the job. You need to position the material so you are feeding out when cutting on the top like that.

As for holding, As Ewan says, make up some strip from flat bar as a temporary hold down. The other option is to make up some t nuts on the lathe. Turn up a hat section. Make the 'brim' of the hat wider than the width of the wider part of the T section and then using a hacksaw and file trim it to fit. That way it will not rotate.

Michael

Thanks Ewan & Michael. If I have some flat I'll use that. If not, I'll turn some up and file flats on the sides. Apologies if that has already been suggested. I think my memory is on the way out.

Michael I know about not making "climbing" cuts (I learned the scary way on the router table). The lathe is not operating in the photo.

Matt,
thanks but I'm not going to attempt drilling the vice.

Chris