Free 186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook:  
Get tool plans

User Tag List

Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Drilling Brass for beginners.

  1. #1
    Supporting Member thehomeengineer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Berkshire UK
    Posts
    740
    Thanks
    751
    Thanked 2,191 Times in 429 Posts

    thehomeengineer's Tools

    Drilling Brass for beginners.

    Please ignore this post if you already know how to drill brass safely!

    Hi All
    One material I am not keen on machining is brass. It is not a difficult material to work with but there are some issues when machining. Also the brass swarf gets everywhere and makes cleaning down the machines a nightmare.
    Anyway getting back to drilling brass.
    When drilling brass there are several things to be aware of when using a standard 118 degree twist drill. Cutting speed 90-210 m/min, Coolant, drilling to required diameter in one pass (not stepping drill sizes) But most important is drill point preparation.
    A standard drill tends to snatch at the brass and drag itself into the workpiece.
    To prevent this the cutting edge can easily be modified with either a oil stone or my preferred way is a offhand grinder.

    The photos below show the drill point for brass.


    Drilling Brass for beginners.-8d4739b8-c39d-47a2-af5f-7c91fa7d33e8.jpeg
    Both drills are 20mm diameter. The lower drill is a standard drill and the one above has been modified for brass.

    Drilling Brass for beginners.-e855021a-4281-42bc-8104-d5afe5ec3c3a.jpeg
    Right drill has negative rake for brass.

    Drilling Brass for beginners.-9e78f4f7-5634-4cf5-90ef-a2fe7684f125.jpeg
    Centre drilled and drilled at 20mm so the drill has less chance of snatching. If the hole was to be 30mm diameter a 30mm drill would have been used after centre drilling.

    Drilling Brass for beginners.-8640b25b-7121-4057-a222-83dc029cb64d.jpeg
    Drill chips are removed like small needles.

    Drilling Brass for beginners.-b996f3e5-b947-41e7-a16d-bc6d7b9b4a2c.jpeg
    Brass swarf collected on a rag to aid clean up.

    I hope this will be helpful to those that are not use to machining or thinking of using brass in there future projects.
    The Home Engineer
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Drilling Brass for beginners.-d4d84b0f-2636-4fea-bf1d-00390da819f3.jpeg   Drilling Brass for beginners.-8cc42cea-56ec-4505-acae-f6341aae3ed5.jpeg  

    186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook

  2. The Following 24 Users Say Thank You to thehomeengineer For This Useful Post:

    Andyt (Nov 1, 2022), boxofrogs (Oct 31, 2022), Corm (Nov 7, 2022), davesrepair (Mar 23, 2024), DIYer (Nov 1, 2022), drivermark (Oct 31, 2022), EnginePaul (Nov 2, 2022), gbk1955 (Nov 16, 2022), Inner (Nov 14, 2022), johncg (Nov 2, 2022), johnsmachines (Jun 14, 2023), katy (Nov 7, 2022), kboy0076 (Nov 16, 2022), KustomsbyKent (Nov 6, 2022), mr mikey (Jun 14, 2023), nova_robotics (Nov 10, 2022), Philip Davies (Nov 4, 2022), rlm98253 (Oct 31, 2022), schuylergrace (Oct 31, 2022), sossol (Jun 15, 2023), thevillageinn (Nov 6, 2022), Tonyg (Nov 7, 2022), Toolmaker51 (Nov 11, 2022), uv8452 (Nov 1, 2022)

  3. #2
    Content Editor
    Supporting Member
    DIYer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    3,055
    Thanks
    793
    Thanked 1,888 Times in 1,683 Posts


    Thanks thehomeengineer! We've added your Brass Drilling Method to our Drilling and Drill Presses category,
    as well as to your builder page: thehomeengineer's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:




    2,000+ Tool Plans

  4. #3
    Supporting Member Ralphxyz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Posts
    1,733
    Thanks
    3,229
    Thanked 295 Times in 241 Posts

    Ralphxyz's Tools
    I'd like to see some closeups of the modified bit.

    Ralph

  5. #4
    Supporting Member Philip Davies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Reading, Berks, UK
    Posts
    924
    Thanks
    1,258
    Thanked 1,053 Times in 356 Posts

    Philip Davies's Tools
    Thanks, Andy. Coincidentally, I was drilling brass yesterday, something I do not often do. I found 2 or 3 jobbers that had already been flatted. But I don’t know where they are now! But I thought that brass did not coolant?

  6. #5
    Supporting Member thehomeengineer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Berkshire UK
    Posts
    740
    Thanks
    751
    Thanked 2,191 Times in 429 Posts

    thehomeengineer's Tools
    Hi Philip
    The coolant not only helps cool the drill and job it also helps direct the swarf so it doesn’t go all over the place. I haven’t made anything in brass for ages and like buses I have decided to make the siren for the foden which is phosphorus bronze and brass.

  7. The Following User Says Thank You to thehomeengineer For This Useful Post:

    Philip Davies (Nov 4, 2022)

  8. #6
    Supporting Member thehomeengineer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Berkshire UK
    Posts
    740
    Thanks
    751
    Thanked 2,191 Times in 429 Posts

    thehomeengineer's Tools
    Hi Ralph
    please find photos of modified drill bit for brass.

    Drilling Brass for beginners.-febeee5c-ab3d-4f7e-b382-870ecde5557d.jpegDrilling Brass for beginners.-2d03a771-023c-4420-a155-f8fe1bbb5d86.jpegDrilling Brass for beginners.-4ad5aaac-f396-4c05-a8d8-502511239da5.jpeg

    This is how I grind them against the side of the wheel. Very light grind in one pass on both cutting edges

    Drilling Brass for beginners.-56488b94-d6b8-4f90-9db1-965ba2323dd9.jpeg

    Hope this helps
    The Home Engineer
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Drilling Brass for beginners.-0d1ceb77-c0d3-4e96-8f1b-5f948ed5e68c.jpeg  

  9. The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to thehomeengineer For This Useful Post:

    asterix (Nov 7, 2022), Christophe Mineau (Nov 7, 2022), DIYer (Nov 8, 2022), EnginePaul (Nov 13, 2022), Inner (Nov 14, 2022), johnsmachines (Jun 14, 2023), Jon (Nov 7, 2022), mr mikey (Jun 14, 2023), Toolmaker51 (Nov 9, 2022)

  10. #7
    Supporting Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Buffalo, NY
    Posts
    412
    Thanks
    505
    Thanked 55 Times in 50 Posts
    The first time I drilled brass I was in for a BIG surprise. Brass shot out like a machine gun. Then I read to try a slightly dull drill. I ran a sharpening stone across the cutting edge 2 strokes and no more problems. Works great.

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to mdhatter3 For This Useful Post:

    thehomeengineer (Nov 7, 2022)

  12. #8
    Supporting Member Toolmaker51's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Midwest USA
    Posts
    5,334
    Thanks
    7,044
    Thanked 3,012 Times in 1,901 Posts

    Toolmaker51's Tools
    It's not exactly dulling the drill, but removing very edge of the rake, the helix that extracts chips, essentially parallel to the drill axis. It keeps the bit from 'accelerating' into those type materials. Brass and bronze top that list, certain grades of copper.
    It's a lot like the reaction hand drilling sheet metal with a twist bit, as it advances faster than cutting, more or less screwing into the material. The newer remedy is the Unibit, step drill, 'peeler bit' that moves material instead from the side.

    An effective method is a whetstone, drawn away from the cutting edge, not as a file going in, which can round off the cutting edge. As mdhatter3 mentions, a couple strokes is all it takes.



    2,000+ Tool Plans
    Sincerely,
    Toolmaker51
    ...we'll learn more by wandering than searching...

  13. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Toolmaker51 For This Useful Post:

    johnsmachines (Jun 14, 2023), KustomsbyKent (Jun 14, 2023), thehomeengineer (Nov 17, 2022)

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •