What drill for steel square tubing?

BrianD3

I need to get some steel tubing and drill some holes in it. The holes will be around 4-10 mm diameter and the tubing will be something like the below which has a 1.5 mm wall
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9283817

As I don't have a drill I need to buy one and I haven't a clue about them. Looking at the Argos website there is a huge variation in drill prices. Would something like this do the job?
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7112812/Trail/searchtext%3EDRILL.htm

Thanks!

gsxr1

A regular jobber drill.

cmsp.plumber

that drill would be grand for the job. get yourself some good drill bits for metal the titanium ones are good. dont force the drill, rotate it slow in small circles and it fly through it

stanmake

the secret for succesful drilling in steel is:
1. use plenty of oil on the drill bit - keep it lubricated
2. a slower speed is better than a fast one.

If the bit overheats then it becomes useless, an experienced person can drill all day with one drill bit whilst the enthusiast can go through three in one hole.

BrianD3

Thanks for the responses and tips, my concern about the drill in the link was that it would not be strong/fast enough to drill the tubing, shows how much i know....I notice that there are single speed 550 rpm drills for even cheaper (one is 16 quid) in Argos - what are these used for, would they be any good for my job?

Also I may need to drill thicker steel as well, up to 5-6 mm thick, would the drills I am looking at be able to do that?

mawk

a cheap battery drill wont be much use. they just dont have the torque

but a cheap mains powered drill will be ok.

the thicker material will still be ok presuming you dont buy the drill bits in a poundshop.

keep the cut lubricated, drill a small hole first, say, 3mm then 5mm etc

by the way, thats a TERRIBLE price for a meter of 1" box iron.

should be about €3/meter in a normal suppliers. sometimes less

d o'c

wear safety glasses

start off with a pilot hole, say 3-4mm bit, go right through the material with this smaller diameter bit first.

Finish to the required diameter with the larger bit then. Keep the drill perpendicular to the hole where possible.


Have the workpiece secured, and have a scrap piece of wood beneath if your drilling downward on a concrete floor ( otherwise you'll wreck the point of the bit when you go through)

smaller bits require higher rpm, the larger the drill bit, the less rpm required.

You have the speed and pressure correct when the chips/ swarf metal being removed is hot. when this is right the heat is being taken away by the waste metal, and keeps the tip of the bit cooler. when it's not correct the tip is making friction, squeals,heats up, , and gets blunt within seconds.
You'll get the hang of it, plenty of curly swarf = going good
Back of on the pressure when you're almost through
some smaller drill max diameter is 10mm, the bigger ones have chucks that take 13mm.
generally the cheaper mains drills are a bit too fast for steel on the larger bits

homerhop

If you have a good few holes to drill get cobalt bits, I find the HSS drill bits you get now tend to be very soft and no matter how well you mind them dont hold their edge very well.
Another option you could use is a set of DeWalt bits that come with a pilot tip so the one bit does all. I got a set of the last couple of years and they got more than plenty of use and abuse.

gsxr1

homerhop wrote: »

If you have a good few holes to drill get cobalt bits, I find the HSS drill bits you get now tend to be very soft and no matter how well you mind them dont hold their edge very well.
Another option you could use is a set of DeWalt bits that come with a pilot tip so the one bit does all. I got a set of the last couple of years and they got more than plenty of use and abuse.

agreed those colbolt drills are fantastic.

I served my time as a mech engineer as a young lad.

if its only a 10mm hole. forget pilot drilling.

centre punch the hole and just drill the thing. keep an eye on speed as not to burn the drill,( which will harden the work metal also). As said . nice long swarf waste and use oil. WD40 is common enough in every household. few squirts. while drilling.
Cordless is fine unless you are drilling 50 odd holes .

away ya go.

BrianD3

Thanks for all the advice lads - but this drilling steel business isn't as easy as it sounds (for me anyway) Got the 18v cordless drill and some "HSS" bits, make Bosch and Black and Decker. I have tried drilling 10 mm diameter holes through
a) 1.5 mm thick steel
b) 4 mm thick steel

After about 20 minutes of drilling the 4 mm (drilling for maybe 30 secs at a time) I was about halfway through. There was a shiny cone shaped indentation but no penetration and progress seemed to stop at that point. Changed to a new bit, no difference. Similar story with the 1.5 mm, lots of effort and not much to show for it. I am using a centre punch, oil and trying a range of drill speeds but generally keeping it slow enough. I was also pressing the drill in hard with much of my bodyweight leaning on it.

What the hell could I be doing wrong. I go on youtube and see this video where "askthe builder" drills easily through 3/16 inch steel in what seems like 20 seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4q8UhbpaG0
:mad:

BrianD3

Thanks Jazlynn Eager Cashier, the torque settings on the drill are 1-15 and I have it set at the highest.

It says in the manual that the max drilling capacity of the drill is 8 mm thick steel and 16 mm thick wood. Maybe when using a 10 mm bit, the drilling capacity is reduced significantly?

BrianD3

Yep the only thing I can think of is that I am making a fundamental mistake with my technique or the drill isn't strong enough.

I am getting a small amount of swarf and it consists of tiny particles. Also the piece I'm drilling remains stable even when it is not very secure. It does not try to turn etc. This makes me think that there may be a lack of torque from the drill or the bit is not effectively gripping the metal for some reason.

slimjimmc

[quote=[Deleted User];62681630]Might be silly but are the batteries fully charged?[/quote]
Even sillier, is the drill turning in the right direction .i.e. clockwise as you look down on it?

BrianD3 wrote: »

Thanks Jazlynn Eager Cashier, the torque settings on the drill are 1-15 and I have it set at the highest.

It says in the manual that the max drilling capacity of the drill is 8 mm thick steel and 16 mm thick wood. Maybe when using a 10 mm bit, the drilling capacity is reduced significantly?

The drilling capacity is quoted in terms of the largest drill-bit which can be used for a particular material not the thickness of the material. Based on the figures for your drill the largest size hole you can make is dia 8mm in steel and a dia 16mm in wood.

BrianD3 wrote: »

Yep the only thing I can think of is that I am making a fundamental mistake with my technique or the drill isn't strong enough.

I am getting a small amount of swarf and it consists of tiny particles. Also the piece I'm drilling remains stable even when it is not very secure. It does not try to turn etc. This makes me think that there may be a lack of torque from the drill or the bit is not effectively gripping the metal for some reason.

[quote=[Deleted User];62681788]Im lost, maybe if you got a loan of another drill and tried that, then you would know if its the drill. I generally only use my cordless for screws and that sort of thing so dont really know what its like for projects like yours. Sorry I have no other ideas, I doubt its your technique as I think anyone can operate a drill![/quote]

What you describe has nothing to do with the drill itself, it's the bit hasn't started cutting yet and is just rubbing. It sounds more like you're using a too large drill bit and perhaps the tip of the drill has become dull from the abrasion. You should be use a small drill bit (3mm or 4mm max) to bore a pilot hole right through then re-bore the hole with the larger bit.

Despite your drill having a rated capacity of dia 8mm in steel, it still might be capable of drilling 10mm if you drill in stages i.e. 4mm, then 8mm, then 10mm. In the last stage the cut will only be 1mm deep (10mm-8mm dia, divide by 2 for radius = cut) and your drill should manage that.
Make sure the steel is securely clamped and can't spin. When drill bit bites you'll certainly know about it if the workpiece spins violently and whacks you across the thighs.

BrianD3

Thanks, having read slimjimmcs post and spoken to a few people I think I'll purchase a corded drill of ~1000w with a 13 mm max capacity in steel. Am looking at a Ryobi and a green Bosch. Anyone got a comment? Will probably buy in the next few days.

BrianD3

Got a Ryobi 1050w corded drill in the end. Drilling at slow speed, it goes through steel like a knife through hot butter Massive difference between it and my 18v cordless drill.