Personally, i like both leather and SS. If you get a machinist to mill in three 1/4 inch wide hex portions and wrap with wide spaced wet leather strips it not only would work but be beautiful and last a decade or more. Then just remove the old leather, clean thoroughly and do the leather again.
?-)
Stainless steel drilling is testing so use a quality cobalt drill with a quality coolant and use the right drill speed, start small and work upwards. ive used ttp hard drills with success they also sell a desent coolant
snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com fired this volley in news:58e9164b-472d-45ad- snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
No it's not. It will work-harden if you dwell on the surface without cutting, but with a sharp bit and continuous down-feed, it doesn't harden and drills cleanly and pretty easily.
The number-one reason why stainless gives folks fits is because they allow the bit to 'spin' on the surface without down-feed. If the drill ever stops cutting, even for a few tens of revolutions, you're screwed. If you must retract the bit to clear chips, you must do so _instantly_ from down-feed to retract, so the tip never dwells and slides on the cut surface.
Of course you need a cutting coolant/lubricant... but why would one cut without one?
None of that makes it "testing", it only requires the observation of a few basic requisites for cutting most metals.
Lloyd
On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 1:31:19 PM UTC-5, snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com wro te:
quality coolant and use the right drill speed, start small and work upwards . ive used ttp hard drills with success they also sell a desent coolant
DO NOT START SMALL AND WORK UP.
Stainless work hardens. If the final hole diameter is below about 1/2 inch , just pick that drill and drill aggressively. If the final hole diameter is bigger , then you might drill a small hole the diameter of the web on t he final size drill, and then go to the final size drill.
Carpenter Tech has an on line book on machining stainless steel. Good info . If you are into sharpening your own drills the book has info on the best an gles for stainless.
Dan
The most important thing is the KEEP THE DRILL CUTTING. Don't let it "skate" I like using the power feed drill press on stainless - so I can't do that at home. If I have any serious stainless drilling to dio I take it to the hangar unless it is something I can do in my lathe - like drilling the center of a stainless steel bolt. Then I just use the power carriage feed to pull the tailstock, with the drill in the chuck. or just crank the quill feed on the tailstock by hand.
I screwed the pooch on the first hole on a stainless box I drilled out for casters. I didn't have a good position so I couldn't get much feed pressure on the bit. Luckily, it was a small bit, and a larger one with mucho downfeed fixed it (blew through the hardened area) I was able to get serious with the rest and all went well. It didn't hurt the TiN coated bits.
Serious downfeed pressure, cutting oil, and the proper bit speed are the 3 tips I would give to anyone. (Having a sharp bit is a 'given')
Some day, I'll put that new idler bearing in my drill press.
Another tip, don't mark your spot with a center punch. It work hardens exactly the spot where you're trying to drill.
Pete Keillor
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