Drilling stainless bar

LONG_KEELER said:
I need to drill 2 x4mm holes into stainless round bar, 20mm thickness.

I don't own a pillar drill.

Can I still do it myself ?

TIA
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You should not have any problem.

I did a very similar job (only many more holes) making hatch supports for our new boat. I have plenty of tools on the boat, but a pillar drill just cannot quite earn its keep in terms of space, although I have been tempted.

I do have a good vice on the boat and this did make the job much easier. For a couple of holes you could manage without this, but take some care if this is the case. It is not easy to secure a round bar and modern electric drills have a very high torque that can spin the bar with great deal of force if it breaks free. Drilling stainless requires a high pressure and the material has a tendency to grab the bit.

As others have said, for a home workshop a pillar drill is great addition and this project sounds like a good excuse to purchase one. I have a couple at home, one is a cheap no name brand that is quite poor and I would not recommend, but this type of tool has improved in quality over recent years.
 
sgr143 said:
When I needed to do pretty much this, I used it as an excuse to myself to buy a pillar drill
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This is your solution. If Lidl have theirs at the moment, get one. I'm sure a Makita or DeWalt would be better, but for what you'll use it for? Probably not. I have the Lidl one, bought as the tool for the job several years ago. Its proved to be competent and has been used far more than I expected subsequently.

As for how to drill, have a read of this Know How: Drilling Stainless Steel. It reflects my limited experience of drilling SS. Keep the work well lubricated and make sure you're getting a steady stream of swarf. If the swarf stops, stop drilling and sharpen or change the bit. A blunt bit will work harden the steel and make it next to impossible to finish the hole.
 
If it’s 316 stainless then it can be very difficult to drill, but sometimes 304 is quite workable. 4mm holes are small, but I use a plasma cutter to make the hole, followed by a drill to make it an accurate size. The other thing I do (because I hate drilling stainless) is assess whether I need a hole at all, because often welding on a captive nut is much easier.
The other possibility is getting the piece, holes and all, made by a machine shop. I recommend LaserMasters.co.uk
 
Bouba said:
I did say 4mm was small ! But I was just explaining how I work
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What business have you, wealthy expatriate gentleman that you are, with drilling holes in things?

Have you no underlings to attend to these mundane tasks? No chauffeur, no estate handyman?

It is your duty, as a gentleman, to give employment to the lower orders.

Noblesse oblige, what?
 
You definitely can!!

I'm a fabricator by trade and do this sort of stuff all the time, we only have 2 pillar drills in work so when they are occupied we have to resort to the trusty hand drill.

Use a good set of HSS blacksmiths drill bits and PLENTY of lubrication (CT-90) is good but we use a huge industrial tub of green paste at work.

TAKE YOUR TIME, Drill at low speeds and use plenty of lube you'll be fine and easily doable 100%.
 
Poignard said:
What business have you, wealthy expatriate gentleman that you are, with drilling holes in things?

Have you no underlings to attend to these mundane tasks? No chauffeur, no estate handyman?

It is your duty, as a gentleman, to give employment to the lower orders.

Noblesse oblige, what?
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I am the underling around here. I have a lovely workshop for metal work (I don’t like that woody stuff). It’s not a machine shop (at least not yet) but I have everything I need to cut and stick metal together. But if there is one job I hate it’s drilling stainless, and the OP has round stock!
 
Bouba said:
I am the underling around here. I have a lovely workshop for metal work (I don’t like that woody stuff). It’s not a machine shop (at least not yet) but I have everything I need to cut and stick metal together. But if there is one job I hate it’s drilling stainless, and the OP has round stock!
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I had mistaken you for a gentleman. In future when you call at Poignard Towers you will oblige me by presenting yourself at the servants' entrance, where Cook will doubtless attend to your needs.

( She used to attend to mine but extreme old age has rendered that attention redundant :( )
 
Bouba said:
I am the underling around here. I have a lovely workshop for metal work (I don’t like that woody stuff). It’s not a machine shop (at least not yet) but I have everything I need to cut and stick metal together. But if there is one job I hate it’s drilling stainless, and the OP has round stock!
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Yeah it gets a bit tricky above 30mm round, we use it for building emergency fire escape ladders for the rungs and these are drilled and tapped (By hand) for stainless buttonhead fixings.

20mm is nothing really, like said once you hit 30mm then it does get tricky

20mm is definitely doable.

My work place is very old fashioned and does most of its work by hand without the use of modern tech. We still use the old fashioned oil filled MMA welders!

Its worked this way for centuries.

Just shows that skill dissappears when technology gets involved and all you need to do is hit a button and a machine does it all for you.?
 
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Interesting thread. Some including me saying its practically impossible (bearing in mind OP is someone who has never done it) and some saying its 100% doable. Over to you @LONG_KEELER only you can settle this now. Let us know how you get on!
 
I have just tried this and drilled a 4mm hole through 20mm thick 316 L stainless in under 3 minutes. I centre punched the round bar and applied WD 40 Mutipurpose Cutting Oil. The bit was a Dewalt Cobalt HSS in a 18v Dewalt Hand Drill. No problems
 
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To ensure the hole goes exactly through the other side without it wandering from centre, You could...

Mark your steel all the way around,

Centre punch at 180° from eachother,

And drill 10mm into each end for them to meet in the middle and eliminate "wandering".

Result is a 4mm hole all the way through centralised.

Like i said, Clamp the work piece, Slow drill speeds, Sharp bits, Take your time, and plenty of lube.
 
Bouba said:
If it’s 316 stainless then it can be very difficult to drill, but sometimes 304 is quite workable. 4mm holes are small, but I use a plasma cutter to make the hole, followed by a drill to make it an accurate size. The other thing I do (because I hate drilling stainless) is assess whether I need a hole at all, because often welding on a captive nut is much easier.
The other possibility is getting the piece, holes and all, made by a machine shop. I recommend LaserMasters.co.uk
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A 20mm long hole through stainless roundbar, really? What plasma set-up?
 
Ian_Rob said:
I have just tried this and drilled a 4mm hole through 20mm thick 316 L stainless in under 3 minutes. I centred centred punched the bar and applied WD 40 Mutipurpose Cutting Oil. The bit was a Dewalt Cobalt HSS in a 18v Dewalt Hand Drill. No problems
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+1
 
Gary Fox said:
A 20mm long hole through stainless roundbar, really? What plasma set-up?
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To have a plasma cutter blast a hole through stainless 20mm round would give you a huge messy hole alot bigger than 4mm unless your using a lazer beam that 007 uses to extract classified information from his enemies.
 
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