[TheForge] Drilling hard metal

[Demon Buddha]

Are you attempting to drill after heat treat?  If so, don't. :)  L6 and 
1095 should anneal easily by taking them past critical and allowing to 
cool very slowly.  I'm not sure why you would have a problem with this, 
if you have tried it.

If you absolutely have to bore holes in hardened material like this, you 
can use a diamond core drill, but you have to know how to use them. 
VERY light pressure.  Diamond is an extremely aggressive cutting medium 
and requires light pressure to do its work without destroying the 
abrasive.  You can get these at jeweler suppliers.  rio grande probably 
has them.  http://riogrande.com   Better yet, try these guys:

	http://www.diamond-drill-bit-and-tool.com/Diamond-Drill/MAIN.htm

If you can get your hands on a spot welder, you can anneal small areas 
for drilling.  This would not be my first choice, but it can work well 
enough.  Just center punch the locations and place the welder over the 
mark.  You will have to play with the durations to get the desired 
result, but it will work with such materials.  It will not work with 
materials such as A6 and M2, which are air hardening.  I would imagine 
that O1 might not respond either, but I do not know for certain.

Ron Childers wrote:
> Andy, try a masonry bit. A Paragon furnace will drop the temperature
> incrementally; it should be soft enough to drill. Also, you might try
> putting the blade in vermiculite with a piece of larger & hotter steel.
> Leave it overnight.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Gladish Family
> Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:15 AM
> To: Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Re: Bricks- Light vs heavy
> 
> This is interesting, because I've made a few pretty nice knives with L6 
> and 1095, basically a forged sandwich with the bread being L6 and the 
> baloney 1095. The big problem I have is drilling rivet holes through the 
> L6. IS there a way to anneal it enough that you can drill it? Nothing 
> I've tried so far gets it soft enough to drill, and punching is an 
> inferior method for this, I think.
> 
> Andy G.
> 
> 
> 
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