Drilling Through Stainless Steel

[aneray]

What is the best way to drill through the above.

I have a nearly perfect size shiny stainless steel drinks type tray, and I plan to fill it with holes for a false bottom. Before even attempting the task, it seems like a hell of a lot of work for what it is.

Do any brewers out there have any experience with having their kit laser drilled. I think one of the most important issues is cost, and money being tight at the moment, I don't want to spend an awful lot.

Cheers Neil

 

[shocker]

I cant answer that directly but I can say you are in the right area to get specialist metalwork done - all the best engineering firms I know down this way are by you .

However , if you got someone else to drill the S/S tray for you then the cost would probably be such that you would have been better to buy it to start with . There have been some very good links on here recently about S/S factors for mesh and hole-y stuff , I have saved most of them , could probably find them and put a few up , if you need , mate ....

Drilling yourself : do you have/have access to a pillar drill ? Makes it a lot easier to be consistent and you break less bits . I know there are specialist bits for S/S but I have found if you are doing a lot of holes you are better off with a few 10 packs of 2 mm jobber HSS bits from Screwfix or similar and taking the breakages . Obviously centre punched . I would even go as far as to say masking tape with crosses drawn and scribed or print a computer made sheet of the pattern of holes and do the crosses scribed on that ,stuck down with whatever ,spraymount or paste . Then drill slow , and heres where it gets contradictory , with lubricant .Which will bugger up all your tape or paper marks . Thats not the end of the world as you will have centre punched all the spots but that paper does help to stop it sliding around and the scribed crosses make it easier to get back on target if it does . Bugger ! Of course you need to use lube before things get hot or the thermal shock could shatter bits .I have found soapy water does as good a job as oil on small stuff .

Sooo , tricky one . But if you DO have a laser driller in your pocket as it were , from a purely engineering point of view I would think it ideal .

 

[Sean_Mc]

I have a SS tray for a FB Neil. 2mm bit in a borrowed drill press and a couple of hours later and several bits broken my FB works a treat :thumb:

 

[EccentricDyslexic]

Drill very very slowly and keep the bit cooled, I ran a hose pipe over my SS Nordic pot and had the bit drilling under water in very short pulses (ie 1 second pulses!).....it worked a treat and the hole cutter is ready for more work. The slightest bit of heat and it will work harden, if the bit smokes its too late! Once work hardened you may as well get the angle grinder out!

Good luck!

Steve

 

[Shrek]

The best thing for drilling through stainless is a drill bit that has the correct angles ground on the pointy end. The angles on a normal drill bit are too shallow for stainless as they are ground for mild steel. The best drill bits you can get are cobalt. They will cost you more than a HSS drill but will last far longer and make your life much easier.

Clicky

 

[aneray]

Thanks for the excellent replies. There is a lot of info there which will help me cocking it up at the first attempt :thumb:

 

[Phil_MG]

Tend to use a good coating of trefolex when we drill stainless. Even so, we use standard drill bits to good effect.

 

[prolix]

If you work harden the hole like me then cutting it out with a dremel is the a good way to finish it off.

 

[shocker]

And I thought it was just me ! :rofl: