Anybody can drill wood. What is for sissies? What about the tough stuff like drilling steel? You can do it. You do not need many tools, and you just have to take your time. Here is how I like to do steel. Make sure you get the right bit for one. Do not use a wood bit because it has a special point on it. This is used to center the bit when drilling through wood. You will ruin this drill bit when you drill through steel.
You need to get a cobalt bit or just go to a hardware store or home center and it will be clearly marked on the package that the bit is a special bit made for steel. The next step is to put a little oil on to the steel where you are going to drill. The oil does two things, it lubricates the bit but it also keeps the temperature down. If the drill bit gets hot, is it is drilling to the steel, it will dull rapidly and we do not want that to happen.
The next thing to keep in mind is the speed of the drill. With wood, you can go ahead and drill fast but you do not want to drill fast when you are drilling steel. Once again, a high speed needs high temperature, high temperature means dull drill bits.
I like to drill my steel if possible on a piece of wood so that when I penetrate through the steel, I do not dull the bit on a piece of concrete. Oh, look at that! That was beautiful. To put that into prospective, this was not a piece of sheet metal. This is a piece of 3/16th inch thick plate steel. All I had to have was a short bit, a little bit of oil and slow speed, and I got the job done.
I am Tim Carter of AskTheBuilder. If you want to discover more home-improvement tips, go to AskTheBuilder.com.
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