I've recently noticed a problem with drilling in steel that I want to ask the group's opinion on. The problem is the drill grabbing in the hole, and it only happens in one situation (unfortunately, a common one). The problem happens when I try to drill out an existing hole which is larger than the web of the larger drill, which you should avoid when choosing pilot drills, but in which I often don't get a choice (if it's modifying an existing part). Since the web of the drill does not regulate drill feed, the drill tends to "bite off more than it can chew", take a large chip, and bind. This happens most often when drilling in the lathe, and tends to spin the drill chuck rather violently in the tailstock taper. I know this isn't just a general taper issue, since it works fine when drilling a full-diameter hole in the same material, same setup, etc. The drill bits are brand new, very sharp American drill bits in the 3/8"-1/2" size. Feeds and speeds, etc are not the issue, nor is the material any more unusual than mild steel. The primary machine is a 12x36 Atlas lathe, but this has happened in other machines in the past as well.
My main question is about chipbreakers. When dealing with cutters that tend to "bite off more than they can chew", such as parting tools, I have had good success grinding appropriate chipbreakers into the top edges. Since I can visually confirm that the binding is due to the taking of an inappropriately large chip by the drill cutting edges, it would seem that this is an ideal solution. However, where would I go about grinding a chipbreaker into the cutting edge of a drill? I do have a set of drill bits with small vee grooves factory ground perpendicular to the middle of each cutting lip, but I don't recall if they were advertised as chipbreakers or some other purpose. I can't actually try using them since the proper sized drill from that set has long since been reground normally in the course of normal sharpening.
My question is whether or not grinding such a groove into a normal drillbit would solve the problem and, if not, if there are any other suggestions that people have to solve the problem?
Thanks in advance, woodworker88