Drill Bits and Metal – More Than One Bit?

Many a handyman has broken a perfectly good drill bit attempting to drill through metal.

In order to drill metal effectively and without breaking bits, most professionals will use a number of drill bits to get the job done. They start small and work up using drill bits of various sizes until the hole is the desired diameter. For best results, use at least three metal bits to complete every hole.

Of course, prime importance is using the right type of drill bit to begin with. Never attempt to use a bit designed for wood to drill into metal. Metal bits are available and for most metal work, carbide bits work the best.

The first step of drilling holes in metal is to determine where the center of the hole you want will be. Load your drill with a very small diameter bit and drill into the metal slightly creating a dimple. If you will be drilling more than one hole, create these dimple points for all holes.

Next, using a bit about half the size of the hole desired, line up the tip of the bit with the center of the dimple and begin drilling straight through the metal. The third bit is the same diameter as the hole needs to be. Center the tip in the smaller hole and drill through.

For small holes, a single bit may be all that is needed, but even smaller diameters may need more than one bit depending on how thick the metal is. The thicker the metal, the more material will gather around the bit.

While this may seem to be a lot of unnecessary work, not only will you have cleaner holes, it will save the bits themselves. Because they are not removing a lot of material in a single pass, the bits stay sharper and do not gum up with metal filings.


 

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