1 5 8 to 2 in.
Drilling stainless steel speed.
I set my drill press to its slowest speed or run my portable drill as slow as the trigger will allow.
When you machine stainless steel you are generating high temperatures explained scott turner marketing manager holemaking seco tools.
500 800 rpm.
There are basically two factors that you must carefully balance when drilling stainless steel namely.
When stainless steel work hardens it becomes very hard and extremely difficult to drill.
Cranking a 2 indexable drill through 300 series stainless steel takes 8hp for example.
200 450 rpm.
Using high speed drill bits or better is mandatory.
In solid carbide drills microcracks can form on the cutting edges which will eventually cause the drill to fail.
95 195 rpm.
There are also other steps to drilling this material that will make the process easier.
Because so many people ask how to drill through stainless steel we decided to dedicate a page to this topic.
We have produced speed and feed charts for both metric and imperial drill bit sizes.
150 300 rpm.
120 225 rpm.
700 1000 rpm.
Too much friction may cause your drill to overheat and if this happens you may ruin your drill and the stainless steel.
200 400 rpm.
Here is the right way to drill stainless steel.
Certainly of all the metals out there stainless steel is the one that seems to cause most problems for people when it comes to drilling.
Excessive speed however is a major cause of drill breakages.
Drill speed becomes increasingly important when drilling harder metals.
You should use a cutting speed chart to ensure you drill in the most efficient manner possible.
300 700 rpm.
For through holes the best bet may be an annular cutter.
When drilling stainless steel you need to slowly drill to permit the drill bit to find its own working speed.
2 1 16 to 2 3 8 in.
Start with a sharp drill and have it turning as slowly as your drill or drill press will allow.
Drilling machines with continuous speed change control are better than stepped or discrete speed change gear boxes for drilling stainless steel.
200 500 rpm.
Drill bit cutting speed.
Drill bit cutting speeds are very important in the drilling of metals.
2 7 16 to 3 in.
1 1 4 to 1 9 16 in.
7 8 to 1 3 16 in.
When drilling deep holes reduce the speed and feed as the drill moves into the metal.
Many people have drilled holes into plain old steel with satisfactory results.
175 315 rpm.
11 16 to 13 16 in.
There are two good alternatives depending on whether you need a through hole or a blind hole.
You should carefully balance the pressure that you apply.
What stainless tends to do is work harden fairly quickly when heated and drilling at high speed creates a lot of heat.
In high speed steel hss drills this heat will cause the tool to lose its hardness.
