Question on drilling brass parts

[Metal one]

Hello Everyone
I am a novice builded have a few questions does anyone now make drill bits for the unique purpose of drilling brass ?
or do all bits need to be modified first before use in order to stop the bit from grabbing the part when drilling into brass.
If so who makes the best drill bits for soft metal or best standard for metal drilling .equipment Old General Canada with Jacobs chuck size 0-1/2 or 0- 13 mm body Any help would be appreciated

 

[kwoodhands]

Hello Everyone
I am a novice builded have a few questions does anyone now make drill bits for the unique purpose of drilling brass ?
or do all bits need to be modified first before use in order to stop the bit from grabbing the part when drilling into brass.
If so who makes the best drill bits for soft metal or best standard for metal drilling .equipment Old General Canada with Jacobs chuck size 0-1/2 or 0- 13 mm body Any help would be appreciated

You do not need special drills for brass. Buy a set and dub the leading ( cutting edge) edge with a stone or diamond file.
When you look straight down on a new drill you see two sharp edges. Hold the diamond file so it goes straight across the edge.
The hone will be at 90° to the drill. Usually a half dozen strokes with the hone on each lip will be sufficent.
The brass will drill without grabbing, most of the time.
My grandfather had special brass drills. They looked more like a reamer with the cutting edge 4 fasceted and dubbed. The flutes were straight instead of a spiral.
I have an inexpensive set that I dubbed about 5 or 6 drills for brass. The case is marked Brass so i know certain drills are for brass only.

 

[Charles Lamont]

Kwoodhands method reduces the clearance angle of the drill. Drills have spiral flutes to give a top rake suitable for steel. Brass wants zero top rake. So I prefer to hone a flat on the cutting edge with the hone parallel to the drill. This reduces the rake angle to zero, having the same effect as a straight fluted drill (but still having the chip clearing advantage of a spiral). I have a few drill treated this way, and keep them in a separate box. I am also building up a selection of milling cutters that are reserved for non-ferrous only. This is a matter of sharpness rather than cutting angles.

 

[danallen]

With some practice and a light touch it is easy to modify drill bits on the corner of a grinding wheel.

 

[SmithDoor]

I use a diamond nail file on the cutting edge of drill for brass drilling.

Dave

Hello Everyone
I am a novice builded have a few questions does anyone now make drill bits for the unique purpose of drilling brass ?
or do all bits need to be modified first before use in order to stop the bit from grabbing the part when drilling into brass.
If so who makes the best drill bits for soft metal or best standard for metal drilling .equipment Old General Canada with Jacobs chuck size 0-1/2 or 0- 13 mm body Any help would be appreciated

 

[Chiptosser]

Yes, parallel to the shank,

 

[trlvn]

How much brass drilling do you need to do? Diameter? Depth? Any special grades of brass?

You don't _have_ to have a special drill...if you have a one-off hole to drill you can almost certainly get it done with any standard twist drill. If you have a lot of holes to make, a more-suitable grind will reduce the likelihood of a grab either breaking the drill, ruining the work and/or hurting you.

Craig

 

[Metal one]

Hello Everyone thank you for responding to my post appreciated I am in the early stages of drilling holes small parts for a small project in brass 24 gauge up to 1.2 mm 18 gauge not much more than that right now
perhaps venture up to 1.45 mm at 15 gauge later on not sure on that. Question who makes the best standard to use it twist designed bits. I recently bought what was supposed have been made in the US but the shaft on the bit was not straight and shank was not quite round actuary off on test. Hole size drill bit I need right now 9/64 not too short around 2-7/8 overall shank length 1 1/4 seems pretty good to fit the chuck and up to 1 1/2 . Are the following brands any good when looking for bits Norseman Viking twist bits or twist bits from Menards high speed steel twist bit with so many brands out their now hard to tell at times made in China or not ?
Any input on good brands to looking for in bits would be appreciated Happy New Year !

 

[Metal one]

Honing stones I have available the two on the right are soft light gray one has a bit of a chewed up edge which store would be the best to dab the edge of the bit with .

 

[Chiptosser]

Anything that you buy from Menard is going to be from over the pond, unless it is a Vermont American, some of those can be the low grade.
Look for Precision, Cleveland twist, morse, look for cobalt.

 

[petertha]

This video is a great overview. The only thig I'd add to his procedure is first color the drill end with blue or black Sharpie marker because it helps show the contrast of teeny stripe of metal removal. Makes it easier to see the amount & also confirm both sides are the same. A smooth stone is recommended, very little material comes off because you are only altering the cutting edge angle very slightly. Some people call this 'dullening' but its completely misleading IMO. Dull might be worn or rounded over. Dubbing is altering the angle. The facet face can be (ideally should be) smooth, no different than other drill surfaces. Most of the diamond plates out there are quite coarse for this application.

 

[xpylonracer]

Another excellent Clickspring informative/tutoring video.

xpylonracer

 

[PeterDRG]

I don't know how old my brass drills are. They are all straight flute, akin to a reamer, or very slow spirals. I got them from TracyTools, who would have got them from some factory closure, 40 years ago.
Incidentally, the OP mentioned soft metals. Drills for aluminium actually have faster spirals than jobber drills, in order to clear the swarf and deter it from sticking. Those also came from TracyTools.

 

[ajoeiam]

Hello Everyone thank you for responding to my post appreciated I am in the early stages of drilling holes small parts for a small project in brass 24 gauge up to 1.2 mm 18 gauge not much more than that right now
perhaps venture up to 1.45 mm at 15 gauge later on not sure on that. Question who makes the best standard to use it twist designed bits. I recently bought what was supposed have been made in the US but the shaft on the bit was not straight and shank was not quite round actuary off on test. Hole size drill bit I need right now 9/64 not too short around 2-7/8 overall shank length 1 1/4 seems pretty good to fit the chuck and up to 1 1/2 . Are the following brands any good when looking for bits Norseman Viking twist bits or twist bits from Menards high speed steel twist bit with so many brands out their now hard to tell at times made in China or not ?
Any input on good brands to looking for in bits would be appreciated Happy New Year !

Twist drills - - - - there are so very very many options out there.
I would suggest second line stuff from a reputable seller.
KMS is one (there are LOTS more) that comes to mind.
Yes the preimium brands might be a little bit better - - - - but are you really planning on drilling lots of holes every day.
You will find that even those second line sets are not 'cheap'!
The hole sizes and material thicknesses you're mentioning I'd just buy standard drill bits (as mentioned above) and drill away.
Please use care and clamp well - - - it is sorta scary when the piece walks up the drill bit.
That can even happen with steel in the thicknesses you're talking about.

I would suggest not agonizing quite so much about not buying 'made in china'.
That is not to say you shouldn't care but the is good stuff coming out of China - - just finding it.
I'd be more worried about buying overly cheap stuff.
I've been known to buy a cheap set of something from China because that was the cheapest way to get the box (grin!).
(Then you get to refill the box with what you want.)

 

[Iampappabear]

Buy Dormer drill bits, excellent cutting tools and huge variety.

 

[chrsbrbnk]

At work in a tool and die shop we had a lot of Cleveland and other name brands, there were a surprisingly large number of poor drills in the mix backward sharpening's , poor concentricity , or weird tempering. Now with harbor freight type , the fit and finish may not be as good but in general ( since your not working on a $ 30000 die or mold) the difference is not worth the cost. I know this is going to tick off all the drill snobs but just go to harbor freight and get a set of 0-1/2 29pc. $14 drills alter the points for brass and label the set and be done with it . get another set for steel run the stuff at a reasonable rpm and it'll work. Yeah I can sit there and name off all sorts of very high end drills that I've used for specific jobs but that not what were doing here in general and if it was we wouldn't be asking the questions on this forum we'd be asking some factory reps. Most often the drilling problem relates to feeds and speeds and coolants not the drill quality.

 

[Bentwings]

With some practice and a light touch it is easy to modify drill bits on the corner of a grinding wheel.

yeah I like very sharp tools too. Our lathe and mill have pretty smooth feed quills with some drag. I also make sure the part is securely in place . The old drill press has a loose quill and you can be sure th drill will try to grab the part. It’s hard to drill anything with it. I like to go pretty fast but small hole in brass or copper require smooth feedin or you get a broken drill or rough finish. I’ve gone to lubricated air for cooling and oil rather than flood. But I do finish hone about every cutter . There is a lot of holes and some smaller ones with tapping. I went out of the way to get a couple good taps and drills. I have a thin piece or stainless sheet I’m not looking forward to drilling. I’ve got an idea for a gear pump for the boiler feed. But if it doesn’t work out I’ll just purchase one and make a drive for it. there’s one with an eccentric drive and small connecting rod but I rather have my own version .
byron

 

[SpringHollow]

I plan on modifying some HF drills for use in brass but for steel, I would much rather buy used good drills than new HF. No comparison at all. I can not tell you the number of times I have used HF drills and had problems but when I switched to a quality drill with the same conditions, it cut like butter. So I have given away most of my new HF drill sets. So for steel, get some good drills.

 

[Tug40]

When using drill press or mill to drill anything that might *grab*, i use use the threaded depth stop and advance it while drilling.
This works for me.

 

[Bentwings]

Good idea. That old drill press has so much slop in it that it’s hard to believe it’s better than a hand drill. The mill works pretty well as does the lathe.