Drilling into metal

[guitarbutt]

I have a knife blank I cut out of 1095 high carbon steel, 1/8" thick. It was heat treated on coals until it became non magnetic, then tempered for 2 hours at 400 degrees. It had a goldish straw color afterwards. I tried drilling into the handle with a Bosch and a Milwaukee cobalt bit but it barely made an indentation. I have a battery powered Ryobi drill, and I tried it on very slow through very fast speeds, with and without oil. How do I get this drilled without having to do something drastic or ruin the heat treating? I should have drilled it out beforehand, so lesson learned

 

[metlmunchr]

Use a M A Ford hi-roc straight flute carbide drill. I've used them for drilling parts with a hardness of Rc 60 and they make nice holes that look as though they've been reamed.

https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn...Bits?searchterm=hi+roc+drill&navid=4287923630

Not cheap, but they'll drill holes in stuff that no other drill will touch. This will require a drill press as solid carbide drills have a life expectancy measured in seconds when used with handheld drills.

 

[Professional Tool User]

I would see if there is a drill press I can borrow. I don't see how a high quality drill bit used with a drill press would not do the job. It's not like the piece is armour plate.

 

[metlmunchr]

Yeah, that piece of steel definitely isn't like armor plate. 1095 hardened and tempered at 400*F will have a hardness of Rc62 while armor plate is Rc52. IOW, armor plate is relatively soft as compared to the OP's piece of steel.

If you think a drill press will magically make a HSS drill cut thru that, I recommend you try using the same drill to drill thru a ball bearing as it would have a hardness of Rc60-62, pretty much exactly the same as the OP's piece of hardened 1095.

 

[Whitworth]

Use a grinding drill bit.

 

[seber]

As Whitworth said, only grinding will work with a hand held drill. For that you want a Dremel. If you can find a drill press, you can use carbide. I've used masonry drills at a speed high enough to melt my way through dry cut blades. I doubt you could get enough force on a hand held though, even for that.

 

[dogdog]

Build one of those Electronic Dance Music machines lol_hitti) ? like this guy? you dance till the holes are poked....

jk... I had a similar question earlier with one of the key chain I had.... all I could say is tried all those very nice HSS / cobalt / and other drill bits, it didn't work....

Not sure what make model this guy have

 

[Jack84]

Tungsten carbide.


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[lis2323]

If you have an oxy-acetylene torch, use a medium tip, with a very hot, sharp blue flame. Put the tip of the flame blue cone right on the spot you want to drill, and heat it to a blue to purple color, and then instantly pull away the flame. That should soften it enough to drill in that spot, without damaging the temper of the blade.

^^^i would do this^^^ and then use a drill press

 

[DadsTools]

On the rare occasion where I needed to drill a hole in hardened tool steel (a ratchet handle, a wrench and a ratchet stud), and did not want to buy expensive bits just for a tinkering/hobby job, I was ultimately forced to use a carbide-tipped masonry drill bit in a cheap Chiwan bench model drill press. Lots of pressure, and use of oil. If a tip got dull, I sharpened it on the bench grinder--achieving an exact sharpening angle wasn't critical, just approximate. Got the job done, but I can't imagine trying it with a hand drill. I don't know how this would work with OP's piece, but I thought I'd mention it. Might be worth a try.

 

[DadsTools]

If you have an oxy-acetylene torch, use a medium tip, with a very hot, sharp blue flame. Put the tip of the flame blue cone right on the spot you want to drill, and heat it to a blue to purple color, and then instantly pull away the flame. That should soften it enough to drill in that spot, without damaging the temper of the blade.

If you have the gear (which I don't), this sounds like a workable solution too. Out of paranoia for fear of ruining the hardness, I'd place the blade in a vise right up to the area to be treated so the vise jaws act as a heat sink.

The first response suggesting a specialty drill bit in a drill press is likely to produce an ideal result, the other suggestions are compromises. If this is for a knife you intend to resell for good money and so needs to be just right, it's probably worth the extra cost. Like all of us at one time or another, educational experiences cost you money.

 

[glend123]

A small cheap drill press would be better than a hand drill. high quality bit or carbide.
drill slow with cutting oil.

 

[lis2323]

If you have the gear (which I don't), this sounds like a workable solution too. Out of paranoia for fear of ruining the hardness, I'd place the blade in a vise right up to the area to be treated so the vise jaws act as a heat sink.

The first response suggesting a specialty drill bit in a drill press is likely to produce an ideal result, the other suggestions are compromises. If this is for a knife you intend to resell for good money and so needs to be just right, it's probably worth the extra cost. Like all of us at one time or another, educational experiences cost you money.

Wrapping the blade in wet rags and securing in the vise would work well to mitigate the loss of heat treatment.

 

[RonnieC]

While you're at it, put a post-it note on your heat treatment equipment stating "Drill holes first"

 

[neophyte]

There are carbide drill bits that will go thru heat treated and ultra tough steel alloys.

Bad Dog is one brand that sells sets, of probably imported, carbide tipped drill bits
The Bad Dog drill bits get demonstrated at tool shows, tupically with the demo guy drilling thru metal files or broken leaf springs.
Bosch also sells a small set of Carbide tipped multipurpose drill bits. The Bosch bits should be readily available on Anazon, and Lowes used to have them. Sometimes the bits were German made, sometimes Chinese made.
Artu, or Artu-USA, has also sold Carbide Tipped “multi purpose” drill bits for decades, like Bad Dog. The bits aren’t USA Made. The bits used to be made in Denmark or Holland, but I think the bits are niw made in Asia somewhere.
There are some other more obscure brands from Europe that also do the carbide multi purpose bits.
I think Alpen from Austria, KWB? from Germany, and I forget who else.

McMaster Carr used to have special bits made from solid carbide designed for drill tough steel like armor plate.
The bits were very pricey, and had to be used with a drill press.

Industrial drill suppliers also make carbide tipped spiral twist drills for industrial drilling of tough alloys, but like the armor plate drills, the bits are individually very pricey.

 

[strength_and_power]

What size hole?


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[guitarbutt]

Thank you for the replies. I will be doing some more research and shopping based on them. I used a propane torch to heat the handle to a blueish shade, but it barely helped at all. So much for carbide bits from Milwaukee or Bosch, or so much for my equipment and skill..

 

[BFBOB]

"Your" & "You're" are 2 different words, just like "Microwave" & "Salamander"

Hmm, not really. A microwave oven is a device that heats things... A salamander is a device that heats things. OK, different energy sources but ...

Seriously, I've used reground carbide masonry bits to drill hard steel. Don't ask me how hard - but tool steel, not mild. You'll need a silicon carbide grinding wheel to do the grinding, but small ones aren't expensive. Just put a sharp edge on the carbide bit and drill as slowly as you can. As others have said, use a drill press. A little cheapie bench drill press from Harbor Freight will work fine.

And good luck!

 

[4 FN 27]

Water Jet. Have cut 1.500 thick D2 Tool Steel after heat treat.

Or Laser. We have cut holes in hundreds of thousands of Knives over the years. All those Knifes you see on display in the stores have have the Knives pinned in place. We put the holes in the Blade.

 

[PugetDude]

If you decide to spot-temper the handle with a torch, a heat sink paste will protect the blade. https://www.google.com/search?sourc...695...........0.CH9KQ0ZWU_w#spf=1580359433034

 

[guitarbutt]

I ordered a carbide bit from Amazon, I needed 3/16". It should be here in a day or two. And I've considered the harbor freight drill press. That may be in my near future. Thanks again for the help

 

[notenuftoys]

I ordered a carbide bit from Amazon, I needed 3/16". It should be here in a day or two. And I've considered the harbor freight drill press. That may be in my near future. Thanks again for the help

I just bought my first drill press last weekend. It's already my favorite tool in the garage. Worth every single penny I paid.

So yea, buy a drill press soon. Check out the used sites around and you'll probably find a good deal.

 

[trackwelder]

find a decent vise for the drill press