hi all,

i have a little problem, i am at present drilling holes in the chassis to fit the body panals. i am using titanium drill bits which are gold plated, after drilling one side of the chassis to trial fit the passenger side panel my drill doesn't seem to want to drill any more holes! the drill bit looks fine and there is nothing wrong with the drill, so what has happened? ive gone from taking a few seconds to drill a hole to several minutes! can any body help

ATB Chalkdust

sounds blunt sharpen it or replace

i only bought it last week, i dont want to be buying new drill bits every week, surely this isnt the way that drill bits are designed to be, going blunt after drilling 30 holes or so

how do i go about sharpening it?

Not being funny , but have you put the drill in reverse by accident?

When I built my car I bought some Bosch (silver) metal drills and 2 did all the riveting, best drills i've ever had.

no drill is not in reverse

Alex if they are the Titanium bits that screwfix do Ibought some and they are not that good.
I got some really good quadcut ones and they wee though anything.
How are you doing anyway?
Steve,

the speed of the drill will do alot of damage if its going to fast
it will make it to hot
sharpening is a bit of an art prob better of buying a new one

Hi Alex
something like this may help though the size of bits youre using you can pick packets up for less than a tenner

link

If the bit is blunt, (sounds like this is the case) then you will also "work harden" the area you are drilling making the problem even worse, stainless is a pig for this, follow the advice given and buy a sharpener, doing by hand is a black art and cant be described in words its a one too one thing and plenty of practice, try drilling at much lower speeds in future too.

I found that my bits got blunter quicker if i drilled through and the bit hit the other side of the tube. 30 holes isnt too bad really.

Sharpening by hand is easy if you know how. These sharpners you get arnt too bad.

I used 30+ HSS ones on my 1st chassis.

Go nice and slow and get some cheap HSS jobber bits.

Pat...

Cobalt drills, (8% cobalt content) last forever and can be re-sharpened without losing strength. I've drilled loads of holes in stainless box section (=very hard metal) with just a few drills. My main problem is snapping them when drilling in awkward places.

I got a box of HSS drill bits for less than one fancy bit, managed to do the whole chassis and have a few left over. I got my from my local bolt stockist, but any decent tool place should sell them in bulk for cheap.

I really need to learn how to sharpen bits.

Alex - I got through a box of cheapie drills doing my panels. Out of interest - gold plated titanium?? I can understand the titanium coating but what good is plating with a really soft metal like gold?

Or am I just losing touch with technology?

i broke 4 x 3.5mm bits today, didnt even have chance to let them go blunt.

raz it says on the packet that the gold is part of a hardened alloy, not being a chemist (cuz im a biologist) i dont know how they make gold hard? anyway the bit was a waste of money, im thinking that cheap bulk buy is probably the best way to go.

The gold coating is titanium nitride, it used to only be used on higger quality drills but now seems to be used to sell cheap chinese imports.I bought a box of ten 3.2 mm jobber drills and had more than enough to do the car, but do know how to sharpen them .The cheap drills can also be more difficult to sharpen as the web is usually quite thick.
Paul.

quote:

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Originally posted by RazMan
Alex - I got through a box of cheapie drills doing my panels. Out of interest - gold plated titanium?? I can understand the titanium coating but what good is plating with a really soft metal like gold?

Or am I just losing touch with technology?

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I broke one so I sharpened the short bit left over and it did my panels and is still going strong. Get Dormer or similar HSS, they're not expensive in small sizes and are far better quality. If you're drilling aluminium use some WD40 or paraffin for lubrication and if they need sharpening do them at a shallower angle, they will last longer.

Got a set of Cobolt drill bits made by Clark (as sold by Machine Mart) , Did all my chassis and loads of other jobs and has been abused by someone that "borrowed" them , Still going strong , beats all the HSS bits I've ever used . Highly recommended! If you don't want to spend £40 or £50 on a set then buy a box of dormer bits for the size you need for not a lot of dosh

Lubrication... Thats what you need.

Try it, it will make your bits last longer, if your desperate, a bit of spit works wonders.

dormer cobalt HSS drill bits, cutting oil and the right drill speed.

Paul

Obviously the chassis is mild steel, but are the side panels in stainless?

If so, there's your problem, stainless is a bugger to drill, if you let the drill go just slightly blunt then the stainless heats up and goes extra tough, and then you're drill bit goes red and disappears!!!