Drilling Sheet Metal Tips

The most important rules about drilling through metal are to follow a few basic safety tips and use the right techniques such as drilling slowly to prevent overheating.

Drilling sheet metal tips.

It may seem daunting at first something as simple as learning how to cut a hole in sheet metal can seem like a tall order. Drilling a hole in sheet metal with a twist drill is a rather straightforward operation. This cobalt makes up part of the steel blend so the hardness of the bit doesn t wear off with a coating like titanium bits. Advance the drill through the thin sheet metal it may be difficult to get the drill to start cutting but a gentle force should be used until the cloth has been pierced taking care not to distort the sheet metal the drill will then advance normally through the metal but the resulting hole will be both round and assuming drill geometry is.

But once you get to know the tools whatever your budget and how to use them you can start creating holes in sheet metal quickly and accurately. Piercing cutting and drilling sheet metal is an integral part of metalsmithing. It runs throughout the. Drilling soft materials such as aluminium and copper can cause a whole range of challenges that can limit tool life minimize production and cost you money.

Always firmly clamp the piece you are drilling to a substantial work surface. For clean precise holes in thin sheet metal make a wood sandwich. The material your drill bit is made of. Clearly the best drill bits for hardened metal or steel come with a cobalt blend.

The wooden bread layers of the sandwich keep the sheet metal flat and prevent the drill bit from wandering as it bores through the sheet metal. Let s look at drilling metal. The tips are the same for all metals but you can get away with more if the workpiece is softer like aluminum. The same methods work for most metal materials from sheet metal to aluminum to thick steel plate.

Make sure the hole you drill is the hole you want. Make sure the location of the hole to be is well marked. As the tip of the drill begins to come through the bottom of the hole there is a tendency for the edge of the drill to snag the metal and spin the piece being drilled sometimes with considerable force which can cut you or even break bones. But there are two main differences.

Simply sandwich the sheet metal between two pieces of wood and clamp everything down on a table or workbench. In essence drilling metal is no different than drilling wood. Best drill bits for hardened metal or steel.