How to Drill Stainless Steel in Only 5 Steps!

You have searched for “how to drill stainless steel” because you think that drilling stainless steel is so hard and you are looking for easy and direct information about this.

So, let me tell you that it’s a myth that drilling stainless steel is hard. And it’s no one’s fault that they know and spread the wrong information because they don’t know the key secret of drilling stainless steel easily.

Drilling stainless steel is not that hard or it isn’t that impossible work. The only secret behind drilling stainless steel easily is keeping the drill bit cool.

Yes! I know it might sound silly to you but it really isn’t.

Now let us know a little bit about stainless less steel and then we will move to the next two topics, which are: which drill bit do you need to drill stainless steel and how to drill stainless steel easily.

Stainless steel

There are two types of steel, one is alloyed steel and another is unalloyed. And the alloyed steel is known as stainless steel. Stainless steel contains iron and also titanium and chromium.

Some special features of stainless steel

Stainless steel is known for its many special characteristics as it is alloyed with some very good alloying elements.

Now let us know about the special characteristics of stainless steel:

The first and foremost characteristic of stainless steel is that it is stainless and here are the others,

1. Heat resistant
2. Corrosion resistant
3. Conductive
4. Tough to cut
5. High durability
6. Long durability
7. 100% recyclable
8. Weldable
9. Low-maintenance

In this article, we will know about how to drill stainless steel with a twist drill bit. Because to drill stainless steel, you need a good twist drill bit which should have the following features available in it:

Features that a twist drill must have

1. Tool steel of the twist drill bit should be made of solid carbide or HSSE- Co 8 and HSSE-Co 5.
2. Point angles of the twist drill should be large, for example- 130 degrees or 135 degrees.
3. The spiral angle of the twist drill should be between 20-40 degrees.

HSSE-co 5, HSSC-Co 8 made twist drill bit doesn’t need coating. But if you want to coat the drill bit then you have to at least coat the drill bit with TiAlN (Titanium Aluminum Nitride).

How to drill stainless steel (Step by step process)

Before starting to drill, you need to do some important things:

1. You need to wear safety goggles
2. Take a power drill having a compatible drill bit
3. Use an intact drill bit

Step by step process:

1^st, if you have anything around or with you which can get into the drill (for example- hair or lose cloth) then keep it away to avoid any kind of accidents. And even if you are wearing gloves then take them off (not all the gloves are compatible with a drill).

2^nd, Keep the stainless steel over such a place where drilling won’t affect any other material except the steel.

And! Please do not keep the steel above your hand or feet while drilling!

3^rd, clamp the steel properly so that it doesn’t move while drilling. If the steel moves, or spins, or lift while drilling then it can cause serious injury.

4^th, Mark the area where you want to make the hole. You can also tape the other area around the mark one with heavy-duty tape for secure drilling.

Make a small hole with the help of a hammer and needle so that you can drill properly and you don’t get slipped from the targeted area.

5^th, Use a two-bit process if your hole size is bigger than 8 mm. First, start drilling with the bit half of the size of the hole. And then switch to the drill bit same as the size of the hole and finish drilling the hole completely.

Before drilling the hole make sure to use several drops of lubricant oil. And spin the drill bit at a medium pace.

Spinning the drill bit too fast will overheat the drill bit.

And don’t drill for a long time at once.

Drill for few seconds, pause, and again drill for few seconds.

If you see that smoke is coming out from the lubricant then stop drilling and wait few minutes to cool.

For playing safe, drill slowly.

Caution: Avoid touching the drill bit with your hands until it’s cooled down.

And don’t forget to wear goggles.

Now, let us read some frequently asked questions with answers.

How to place a drill bit into a drill?

There are mainly three methods of insertion of a drill bit. To know detailed information about how to insert a drill bit then check this out: How to put a drill bit in a drill?

How to bring a drill bit out of a drill?

You can take a drill bit out of a drill in three processes. To know about this topic, check this out: How to remove a drill bit from the drill?

How to make sure that both the drill and drill bit are compatible with each other?

To check the compatibility of both the drill and drill bit, check the size of the chuck and the size of the drill bit.

If the chuck is 3/8 inches then it is compatible for the drill bits under and up to 3/8 inches in diameter.

What will happen if the drill bit gets overheated?

If the drill bit gets overheated then the drill bit will get damaged fast.

How can I resharpen my dull or chipped drill bit?

We already wrote a broad explanation or you can say a step-by-step process on how to sharpen a dull or chipped drill bit. From here you will get the full guideline

How to choose the perfect size drill bit for my desired hole size?

You will be happy to know that we also got its solution. Follow this link to get the full user manual of drill bits & the size of holes made by them.

The closeup

Hope this article broke your fear that drilling stainless steel is too hard. And apart from knowing how to drill stainless steel, you also got some other information about stainless steel, twist drill, and more.