How To Drill Stainless Steel Sheet

For drilling it s common knowledge that treating it like any other metal and applying sustained pressure until the hole is complete causes problems such as overheating and occasional breaking of the bit.

How to drill stainless steel sheet.

Here 39 s how to do it without scratching the stainless. Drilling stainless steel sheet. Here is the right way to drill stainless steel. When stainless steel work hardens it becomes very hard and extremely difficult to drill.

Using high speed drill bits or better is mandatory. 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. Page 1 of 2 1 2 next diymostthings well known member. The full feed and speed rates must be maintained when backing out and re entering to ensure smooth transitioning through the layer of work hardened steel that will develop as the cutting is underway.

Discussion in engineers talk started by diymostthings aug 6 2012. Stainless steel also known as inox steel is an alloy of steel with a minimum of around 10 5 chromium based on its mass it is known for its corrosion resistance high heat resistance and high ductility. But working with stainless steel can present challenges during fabrication keeping it clean and free of fingerprints and drilling through it efficiently. I never realised this stuff was so hard.

Although drilling through stainless steel is different from drilling mild steel the basic technique is much the same. Drilling into stainless steel can be tricky but it 39 s your only option when installing a soap dispenser or a filtered water faucet. Stainless is actually a relatively soft metal at least in its initial state. I need to drill 24 x 4mm holes in a 3mm thick sheet.

Because so many people ask how to drill through stainless steel we decided to dedicate a page to this topic. Many people have drilled holes into plain old steel with satisfactory results. These characteristics of stainless steel make it quite difficult to cut or drill.