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Working with stainless steel.


la bala
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I always use decent quality drills and lots of lubricant, at slow speed and applying enough pressure on the drill so that it does not skid on the stainless.

If I can drill the piece using the lathe, I get better results.

I use HSS taps and tap lubricant, backing off the tap every 1/4 turn.

The biggest problem that I have found, however is the variable quality of stainless steel. Sometimes it can be a right cow to work

 

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I once went to a cash carry with the pub landlord to get beer there where some cheap and i mean cheap drills there he put a packet in with his order when we got back to the pub he gave me the drills for helping him any way i took them home couple days later was drill 316 stainless i broke the only drill i had so i thought would try them drills bloody hell the went through like butter stillgot a couple thats after over 25 years

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1 hour ago, snow white said:

I once went to a cash carry with the pub landlord to get beer there where some cheap and i mean cheap drills there he put a packet in with his order when we got back to the pub he gave me the drills for helping him any way i took them home couple days later was drill 316 stainless i broke the only drill i had so i thought would try them drills bloody hell the went through like butter stillgot a couple thats after over 25 years

A brand new cheap drill will usually make a better fist of it than a blunt or badly sharpened quality drill - but not for long!

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2 hours ago, Newbie to this said:

Proper Tallow will be your friend here, as mentioned above low drill speed, not too much pressure and lots of Tallow if you can find it, not many places sell it anymore because it's an animal product, but it is by far the best cutting compound you'll ever use.

why .................pray tell. your secrets..................

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1 hour ago, ditchman said:

why .................pray tell. your secrets..................

 

1 hour ago, Old farrier said:

Because stainless gets the surface layers hot before the centre of the material the tallow takes the heat out of the material 

anyway all you need to know is what works follow newbie advice ??

:good: yes, apply regularly and it will be no problem. Other compounds don't come close to Tallow in my experience.

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8 hours ago, Newbie to this said:

Proper Tallow will be your friend here, as mentioned above low drill speed, not too much pressure and lots of Tallow if you can find it, not many places sell it anymore because it's an animal product, but it is by far the best cutting compound you'll ever use.

They have it on eBay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mutton-tallow-1-ounce/132586462659?hash=item1edec4ddc3:g:z14AAOSw2q9a1cAz

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If you're tapping it, drill it a little bigger than what the tapping drill says, say m10 x 1.5 is a 8.5mm drill, in 304 and 316 we'd always go for 11/32th which is 8.73, snap alot less drills that way.

Best thing is a good sharp drill, not too fast of a speed and plenty of coolant.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/08/2018 at 13:41, Newbie to this said:

 

:good: yes, apply regularly and it will be no problem. Other compounds don't come close to Tallow in my experience.

Neither do other products smell like burning hot tallow. I tend to use Rocol cutting compound or cutting oil and lots of it. As for tapping that's a whole other ball ache. Make sure to use a good quality sharp tap.

Edited by figgy
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2 hours ago, fatchap said:

I have heard that a masonry bit will go through stainless like a hot knife through butter as it grinds rather than cuts. 

How true this is I dont know, but the "one drill bit does it all" that sell on the shopping channels grind rather than cut.

thats usually on "ideal world" just before "friday fashion"...which is always worth a watch.......good for you..:good:

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Some of the tools are pretty good. I bought the Twistsaw and in all honesty its the dogs danglies. In multi tool mode which I have it on all the time it blows the inferior and far more expensive dremmel clean out the water.

11 hours ago, ditchman said:

thats usually on "ideal world" just before "friday fashion"...which is always worth a watch.......good for you..:good:

Not seen that, any good?

Edited by fatchap
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Following "Newbie to this's" suggestion, I bought some tallow and used it today to lubricate the UNF hand die to thread some 7/16" 431 stainless rod.

In the words of a better engineer than me, it was as slick as snot.

Admittedly a fine thread is easier to cut than a coarse one, but the finish was better than I had previously achieved with "proper" cutting grease, and tallow is cheaper

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