How to Properly Drill a Hole in Metal

[manwar]

ive been drilling wrong for 50 years...blaming the cheap bits...very good video...

[gregd]

OMG I am 70 and have been drilling holes in everything you can imagine since childhood. I had a problem yesterday drilling through some steel posts on my boat dock. Found this video and I was doing everything WRONG. Followed the advice here and my dock drilling project was, as of this morning, finished. Really well done!

[thefluffydragon]

Proof that the simplest looking tasks have a hidden layer of finesse.Well done and thank you!

[donttrackmebro]

I learned so much from this, I was disappointed to see you don't have have more how-to videos. You are a very thorough teacher.

[MrFlame]

I really thank you for this tutorial. Yesterday I drilled 4 holes in thick metal for like 3 hours. Didn't even know that drill bits can wear off so easily. I just re-did the 4 holes, this time in just 10 mins. I sincerely thank you for helping out.

[strictlyvintage]

Saw it was 17 mins, thought “wow what a waste of time to show how to drill metal”. Glad I stayed for the whole video! Great information and VERY well explained with good camera angles. Thanks

[bunnystuff]

I am a widow and having to do a lot of repairs and fix-its on my own, I am now a little better informed. Thank you for the most helpful video.

[ericafors]

We’re drilling through steel flat bars to install a joiner plate for barn door sliders. It’s a very precise process. A little nerve wracking for steel drilling newbies. Your tutorial was very helpful. Thank you.

Follow up: Our drilling project went flawlessly thanks to this video! 👍🏻🤗

[Michael-lgwz]

This man saved me from pain. I was about to use a carbon steel at high RPM pushing softly to not snap the bit

[MKC]

Another few points of advice for everyone:


1. You are sometimes better off speeding up at the end of a hole (if you pushed too hard at the end of the hole) because you can potentially chip the corners of the bit, instantly ruining it. You can usually feel it before it is going to happen. In the video, you can see when his drill bit is pulled through steel on the spiral rapidly because he pushed too hard at the end and it grabbed a burr. This isn't an issue in aluminum but it is in steel. You will also have a better finished hole and will avoid "ripping" the large chips out at the end.


*You may actually consider using your drill's clutch function to avoid chipping at the end, and to avoid hurting your wrist*


2. If you are not concerned with the surface finish, you can use the chuck of the drill itself to clean up the chips on the hole instead of using a chamber bit or larger bit like he uses in the video for the simple purpose of allowing a bolt to pass through.


3. If your drill bit has a split point (meaning the two cutting edges at the tip come to a single point), you do not need a pilot hole. If your drill bit has a standard, more common, chisel tip (meaning that the cutting edges do not fully reach the point of the bit, and there is a small line in the center instead of a point), you need to use a pilot bit the same size or slightly larger than that small center line.


4. Use proper form. Wrap your body around the drill. Besides pushing hard, creating a rigid structure out of your body and the drill makes you a human drill press. Drill presses and milling machines have great rigidity above all else. By not being rigid, your drill bit will wear unevenly and you risk tilting the bit potentially snapping it or jamming it in a hole.

[janalage]

Not sure if you are even still on this, but I wanted to say Thank You! Drilling through steel is difficult, but your tips helped me get my task done much faster than when I was trying on my own. I was drilling parallel to the floor, very slowly. I tried with all my might to put enough pressure on, but no go. As soon as I started drilling vertically, I made some nice curls.Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

[truestep]

I was always told by older techs that I were drilling incorrectly, but were never taught on how I was doing it wrong, until now. Thanks, great video!

[ooSpyderoo]

Ok, slow down, lots of pressure, use plenty of lubricant. Check, Wife says about bloody time! ;-)

[favoritedayliving]

Ditto to other comments; I wish I had seen this before I started drilling on 3/8" plate for the first time! At least only crappy bits were sacrificed during the learning process... you replicated a couple of my perennial mistakes perfectly! VERY helpful, thank you!

[NatorDM]

I've never used a drill in my life but need to drill 3 holes into aluminum. This was so freaking helpful thanks!

[Coolarj]

Thank you so much for such a helpful explanation and demonstration! Was having trouble using a drill press for the first time drilling 2-3mm diameter holes in a 4mm diameter steel rod..broke a couple of tiny drill bits at 200 RPM because I couldn't tell if I was applying too much or too little pressure and couldn't see how the bit was interacting with the rod. ...the first thing you explained about ditching the oil was a huge help - I immediately felt more comfortable being able to see what was actually happening since the oil wasn't blocking my view of the material surface. And then having the confidence to push harder and recognize what an ideal chip looks like was hugely helpful. I also switched over to brand new carbide bits instead of HSS steel bits, and it made a tremendous difference. Thanks again!

[MaxColudro]

Thank you for being one of the few vids on YouTube properly explaining this. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[PhiTonics]

After searching through YouTube for the answer of how to drill through hard steel, I finally find the real answers in an oasis of comments sence, thank you for your great experience and knowledge.

[hunti]

Today after arc welding together two steel pipe, I tried to drill a big hole through them, but I got the drill bit melted, and it broke (material was already hot, and I used maximum speed on drill). I searched on youtube to learn what did I wrong, your video was the first that I found, and now I know how not ruin my next drill bits, big thank you!

[SianRJ]

Brilliant video easy to understand thank you for this! I'm a jeweller and have been trying to drill metals for a while had no luck was drilling too fast with no pressure from above! Will definitely try this tomorrow thank you! X