Thread: Drilling M2

With a drill.

I drilled a 1/8" (approx 3mm) hole in one of my D2 plane blades no problems.

I used a solid carbide drill bit and plenty of cutting compound, and drilled in short bursts so as not to get too hot.

I dont know how a HSS drill bit would go, maybe try on a waste piece first, just be carefull not to overheat the drillbit.

I have heard people say that you can drill a hole in HSS with one of those glass & tile drills that you get from the hardware store.
Although I have never tried it myself so I can't say for sure.

I have successfully drilled 3/16" holes through hardended stainless several times using an el-cheapo carbide-tipped masonary bit and a bit of cutting fluid or WD 40 or oil.

Most HSS is M2 or a similar alloy of a similar hardness, so HSS is not going to drill into . I have also heard about the tile drill and carbide bits but have not done it myself.

What I do instead of trying to drilling holes in hard steel if I want to add a handle is to cut small slots in it using a fine kerf cut off wheel. The handle bolts or screws fit in the slots and there are various geometrical arrangements you can use that will allow you to lock a blade into a handle with just one screw if you need to. This is much easier than drilling - see picture below which uses 3 slots and 3 screws. The little gaps left behind can be filled with a sliver of wood or an interesting piece of something like brass or even just casting resin.

Originally Posted by BobL

Most HSS is M2 or a similar alloy so this is not going to do it. I have also heard about the tile drill and carbide bits but have not done it myself.

What I do instead of trying to drilling holes in this stuff for handles is to cut slots in it using a fine kerf cut off wheel. The handle bolts or screws fit in the slots and there are various geometrical arrangements you can use that will allow you to lock a blade into a handle with just one screw if you need to. This is much easier than drilling - see picture below. The little gap left behind can be filled with a sliver of wood or an interesting piece of something like brass or even just casting resin.

Mmhmm..So you'd have a screw that hits the slot and pushes it into the handle and holds it there?

A 3mm ARTU drill bit with a little cutting oil will go through just about anything.
Costs about $5.
https://www.bolt.com.au/product_info...ducts_id=91964

Mike

Years ago when I worked in toolrooms ,we had stellite drills for drilling hardened tool steels .
They basically were a triangular shape with rounded sides ,not much of a flute just a hollow along the sides no twist .
But you drove them at high speed until the material you were drilling turned red hot and then put pressure on the drill and it would punch straight through.
I haven't seen these drills for along time .Not sure if they are still available or even used these days.

Kev

A COBALT DRILL WILL DRILL HARDENED STILL UP to about 55/60 rockwell at slow speed with juice

Originally Posted by beetle

A COBALT DRILL WILL DRILL HARDENED STILL UP to about 55/60 rockwell at slow speed with juice

M2 or HSS is typically Rc61 - 63 so cobalt drills are not going to do it either.

I just tried using a cheap chinese carbide tipped masonry 7/32 bit to drill a hole through a 3 mm thick piece of M2. Touched the carbide tip up on a grinder, so it has a fresh edge, lots of standard metal working soluble oil/water lube, high down pressure on the DP and it went through in about 20 seconds, the steel flakes off as you would expect from a hard material. Cleanish hole on one side, bit ragged on the other - there are probably more optimum cutting angles on the drill than for masonry - but hey it worked!

Cheers

I meant hardened steel

Originally Posted by beetle

I meant hardened steel

I kind like the idea of a "hardened still" - sounds like something that could have handled great uncles potato skin based hooch making activities without blowing up every coupla months. Man that stuff was like dynamite.

WE could build a stilll

Originally Posted by funkychicken

Mmhmm..So you'd have a screw that hits the slot and pushes it into the handle and holds it there?

or even just like this. ie screws going in/out of screen.