Probelme drilling stainless question

[cyberbackpacker]

I am in the midst of trying to install my fittings in my new stainless kettle.

I drilled the holes for the heating element on the flat bottom of the kettle with a step bit without any problems.

I have now moved onto trying to drill the hole for the sight glass fitting on the side of the kettle. I measured out where I wanted it, and also took into consideration the curvature of the kettle as it got near the bottom so the sight glass will be straight up and down when mounted. I then used a punch to mark the area to drill (just like I did on the bottom) and attempted to drill. I used same torque and speed settings as on the bottom and I am having ZERO success. I have used multiple bits and the only thing I have accomplished is boring out a small area of the stainless and creating a small "peak" on the inside of the kettle from where the drill bit has been.

I know that "work hardening" is a very real possibility but I have kept the cutting surface and bit well lubricated, and every thing else has been done like the holes I drilled successfully on the bottom of the pot.

Additionally, I even tried moving the location for the sight glass over about 13mm to start new and without any success there either.

Any ideas on ways to solve this? I do not think I have work hardened it, but I am wondering if where I am attempting to drill was work hardened in the machining process-- maybe that is where the flat bottom and the cylinder are welded together?

Regardless of reason, is there a way to punch through to get this hole started? It is a 95L kettle, so moving the sight glass up much further would make it almost useless when I do a 20L batch. If I could get access to a plasma cutter, would that be able to make a "starter" hole that I would then be able to drill out to the proper size? I really do not know.

Thanks for the help!

-Kevin

[amatur]

Im, sure you know to keep your drill speed slow, to fast will only heat the bit or cutter.

[Belter]

I hate drilling stainless. In order to make life easier I bought some cheap cobalt drill bits from eBay. Life is now much quieter with less stuff thrown around the garage.

[scotia]

May sound silly, but have you checked the direction of the drill? you maybe knocked the switch to reverse the direction!

[themadhippy]

Slow speed lots of tourque plenty of cooling and let the drill do the work.I've found my kango clone to be ideal., even the cheap screwfix drill bits last 2 or 3 holes.Also wedge a bit of wood behind the hole gives you something to push on

[Fil]

if using a battery drill dumnp it sounds exactly like my hole in the side drilling experience with an 18v pro drill , The slow drill speed i cld control was agonisingly slow 20mins on n off with a dome forming on the B side too..

i did get thru but snappeed all my less than 2mm bits in the process..

next time i used a jobbers drill bit 3mm in a mains electric drill 400w

i intended to pulse the drill as speed control wasnt as fine, one 1 sec pulse and the drill was thru..

get a proper mains drill on the job, and to ward off overheating pulse 1 second on and squirt with wd40 between pulses, with a brand new jobber bit (budget drill bit) u should get thu in one pulse, if used 2 or 3

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=62694&p=659203&hilit=easy#p659203

[cyberbackpacker]

Thanks everyone... FIL sounds like exactly the same situation--- using a 18V drill. I will try a mains drill and report back!

-Kevin

[darkonnis]

I bought a £10 B&Q drill for the job, plenty of pushing power and a decent drill bit. I squirted it with WD40, then kept going until it evaporated. requirted until a coat formed, rinse repeat. The drill gets rather warm but for the price and the amount of holes it has done, I don't mind too much if it breaks down on me. I do have a more powerful drill which occasionally makes an appearance but it really does have too much power, just in case McCheap-Drill one day does give up.

[Fil]

I dunno if im particularly dumb, but i took all i read about heat hardening to heart when i started drilling into SS so i did drill as slowly as i could so slow i could almost count the revs as the drill span, something u can do with a battery drill more easily than a simple mains job. so my first few drill thru's were agonisingly slow and hard work, i lent my all singin and dancing battery drill to a pal and then wanted to continue with the brewery build i then used the mains power drill which has been gathering dust n cobwebs since i got the fancy battery job HA!! buzz n thru in one

[Deebee]

I had the same problem. A mate of mine is a sheet metal workr and said that the bits often go dull on the end. he advises rotating the drill whilst drilling so the edges of the bit came into contact with the surface. I managed with a 14 v bosch: works well. keep it cool and press hard

[Frothy]

Bench drills are the way forward. They get loads of pressure on.
The other tip is to start real small with the bit and work up bigger sizes

[jmc]

Trying to fit tap in 70L pot today and getting nowhere with Silver line cobalt drills 3mm pilot hole.
I have a cone shaped depression after 30 mins. I tried to keep slow and used Wd40 and force but bits from tip of drill seem to be cracking off.

Same drills went through tea urn like butter.

Any suggestions for better brand of cobalt drills for pilot holes. I have 21mm and 32.5mm qmax for tap & element holes. Cheers John

[Belter]

30mins?!?! It will have work hardened by now. I'd have stopped after 1min and swapped to a different drill bit

[Fil]

if its a battery drill with ultra slow speeds possible, .. Been there get a mains power drill without such fine control and pulse the trigger for timy 1sec or less bursts of full speed u will just drop thru ..

[jmc]

if its a battery drill with ultra slow speeds possible, .. Been there get a mains power drill without such fine control and pulse the trigger for timy 1sec or less bursts of full speed u will just drop thru ..

Thanks for advice. Maybe I was over cautious. I used mains power drill but slow speed.

What brand of drill (links) have people used?
Cheers