Anthony_Lopez
Well-Known Member
Trying to decide if I should just break down and buy a step bit for 70 bucks and drill my kegs correctly, or if I should chance it with a hole saw...
Whats everyone's thoughts?!
Whats everyone's thoughts?!
If you are only going to be using them for the keggle conversion, goto harbor freight and get their step bits. They are cheap and make sure to use oil in order to save your drill. They aren't the best quality but if your only doing a few holes why waste the money.
Squeeky
I completely agree. There will undoubtedly be a few people who chime in here to say they prefer the hole saw, but I HATE drilling sheet metal with a hole saw. Step drills make very clean holes with minimal effort. You can use vegetable oil as a cheap alternative to cutting oil.If you are only going to be using them for the keggle conversion, go to harbor freight and get their step bits. They are cheap and make sure to use oil in order to save your drill. They aren't the best quality but if your only doing a few holes why waste the money.
Just outta curiousity, why are you guys saying 7/8" bits. The coupler from mcmaster that I'm looking at is 1 and 1/16" OD.
MrFebtober said:I would guess that the folks drilling 7/8" holes are either doing weldless kits or welding in a nipple instead of a coupler.
I've said it before, I'll keep saying it... I just don't think I can do the Harbor Freight thing. There's nothing that pisses me off more than when a tool that I need - whether a physical tool like a drill bit, or a tool like a computer - fails when I need it. If I'm, for example, drilling out a hole on a keg and the bit breaks, it's a hour-long round trip to get to the Depot and drop the coin on a REAL tool. I'm of the opinion that saving $15 on a cheap tool (where are you seeing step bits for $70?) is, at least in large part, a false economy; I'm fleshing out my shop, to the extent I can, with tools that I hope to use for years and years and years.
Let's take it easy on the disparaging comments. I use step bits at the suggestion of my father, a seasoned aircraft mechanic and inspector, who often deals with sheet metal fab. We've both had similar irritating experiences with hole saws and prefer to use step drills for most sheet metal applications. While hole saws may have served you well, they are not necessarily the panacea of sheet metal hole making in the "professional" world.I get a kick out of this every time it comes up. All the DIYers vote for the Unibit, while the those of us that do stuff like this for a living vote for the Holesaws. Unibits are for when there is already a hole there and you need to make it bigger. Get the holesaw. You're not "chancing" anything with a holesaw.
No kidding! Even the outcome is the same: both are viable solutions, so do what works for you.Who would have thunk the step vs. hole saw discussion would go the way of fly vs. batch? I SHOULD own a nice step set by now since I have just about every other cutting implement.
Let's take it easy on the disparaging comments. I use step bits at the suggestion of my father, a seasoned aircraft mechanic and inspector, who often deals with sheet metal fab. We've both had similar irritating experiences with hole saws and prefer to use step drills for most sheet metal applications. While hole saws may have served you well, they are not necessarily the panacea of sheet metal hole making in the "professional" world.
No worries...I just want to make sure we get all the info out there without creating a rift between professionals and so-called "DIY-ers."Easy there big fella.
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so why recommend spending upwards of $50 for a tool you're probably never going to use again when a holesaw will do the job for less than $10?
No worries, I bought the same couplers and they will work fine. We just have to drill a bigger diameter holes. I suggest picking up the 1" bimetal holesaw blade from lowes. Then drill a hole in a 2"x4" and clamp that down on the keg on both sides so the hole aligns with where you plan to drill. Then just spray a little oil drill slowly and you should be good to go.Just outta curiousity, why are you guys saying 7/8" bits. The coupler from mcmaster that I'm looking at is 1 and 1/16" OD.
from what I saw from Lowe's website the biggest step bit they sell goes to 7/8".
Obviously, that may vary instore. Since the 7/8" OD couplers are available, where'd you guys source them from? Most homebrew websites don't list an OD for the 1/2" NPT couplers.
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