Drilling a Keggle

[hillhousesawdustco]

Yeah I'm just joshin' as well. For what it is worth for the original point of this thread, I use either an 18v cordless Dewalt (nonimpact) or 18v cordless Riyobi (nonimpact) drill and a step bit. Both work (and have worked for years) like a charm.

 

[Stevo2569]

Yeah I'm just joshin' as well. For what it is worth for the original point of this thread, I use either an 18v cordless Dewalt (nonimpact) or 18v cordless Riyobi (nonimpact) drill and a step bit. Both work (and have worked for years) like a charm.

Which do like better? De or Ry?

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

I've had the dewalt a lot longer. I got the ryobi as part of a big kit of 18v tools 4 years ago and for the most part I absolutely love it (especially the magentic plate to holds screws or bits or whatnot). I was expecting it to crap out pretty soon but I use it pretty much every day and didn't have a problem till I switched over to lithium batteries....and surprisingly they kind of stink. Still for the price, I imagine it would be hard to beat the Ryobis for a casual, use once a season kinda drill. The Dewalt is pricey....but it's practically an heirloom tool. New batteries every couple years, but otherwise it is a beast.

 

[Stevo2569]

I've had the dewalt a lot longer. I got the ryobi as part of a big kit of 18v tools 4 years ago and for the most part I absolutely love it (especially the magentic plate to holds screws or bits or whatnot). I was expecting it to crap out pretty soon but I use it pretty much every day and didn't have a problem till I switched over to lithium batteries....and surprisingly they kind of stink. Still for the price, I imagine it would be hard to beat the Ryobis for a casual, use once a season kinda drill. The Dewalt is pricey....but it's practically an heirloom tool. New batteries every couple years, but otherwise it is a beast.

I had a ryobi kit years ago and they sucked a##. I sure they've improved since then. Dewalt 18V and Rigid18V are good. My favorite for everyday use is the Rigid impact. I screw around alot. Litterally.

 

[pm5k00]

I came here to offer my opinion and try to to help out with a little information that has served me well. I 'm not joking around, and I'm slandering anyone, or calling them scared, weak, not a man, etc... You all may think its funny or entertaining, I don't.... If you want to talk about being a real man, how about disagreeing without using childish tactics. There are multiple ways of doing something, not every way works for every person, the process i mentioned works for me.

 

[BrewForMe]

My original post was just to let people know that havent drilled their ss pot or keggle yet that this Hole Saw made by Dewalt works extremely well. I have heard in the past how difficult it can be to make these holes and i was a bit worried about it before i did it for the first time. I used a "regular" 18v dewalt cordless drill (not impact) but the holesaw is from there Impact ready series of bits. It cut the ss very quickly and extremely clean, no deburring was necessry. If anyone needs to make a hole, i highly recommend this method, thats all. Happy Brewing.

 

[Stevo2569]

I came here to offer my opinion and try to to help out with a little information that has served me well. I 'm not joking around, and I'm slandering anyone, or calling them scared, weak, not a man, etc... You all may think its funny or entertaining, I don't.... If you want to talk about being a real man, how about disagreeing without using childish tactics. There are multiple ways of doing something, not every way works for every person, the process i mentioned works for me.

Relax man, drink another homebrew.

 

[TonySwank]

Haha, you kids are too much. Believe it or not, there might be more than one way to drill a hole.

Woah, slow your roll. That type of reason has no place on the forums.

 

[steppenwolph]

I just had an interesting opportunity to compare step bits, and found that there can be major differences between them. A friend and I got together to have a couple brews and to convert a couple kegs, one for each of us. When it came time to drill the 13/16" hole for the bulkhead fitting, my friend broke out a two pack of brand new, never been used titanium nitride coated step bits from Harbor Freight (didn't see a brand name). I had a somewhat used Irwin step bit. We both made a 1/4" pilot hole no problem, but when my friend tried to drill with his step bit, he got nowhere and very quickly smoked it. We routed out the hole with a carbide rotary file and tried again, but it was very slow going, and my friend's bit was smoked a couple times over and we resorted to the rotary file a couple more times to get the hole drilled. The bit would either get stuck in the hole when using a lot of pressure or spin and smoke if not using a lot of pressure. And yes, cutting oil was used. It provided a lot of smoke on its own. My friend was wondering if 'these new kegs use a much harder version of stainless steel.' In contrast, my Irwin bit ate effortlessly through the side of my keg, doing in 20 seconds what the two of us using both the other bits (yes, we used up both the new bits) could not accomplish at all. If all we had were those stupid gold titanium nitride bits, we would not have been able to drill our kegs. We used a corded drill, but that really didn't matter. It was the bit, man!:rockin:

 

[Berniep]

I have bought TWO 7/8 drill bits from tractor supply maybe a year apart. That were absolutely completely wrong on the angle of the tip of the bits. If you tried to drill out a pilot hole the part of the bit hat contacted the material was 1/8 inch back from the cutting edges. Had to take them to a grinder to make any use of them at all. Of course I found this out at 10pm on Saturday night. Both times. The second time I thought to myself what are the odds that I will get a bit the same as last time. Pretty good apparently.

 

[lschiavo]

I have three step bits in my tool box. Two of them are over ten years old. They don't get used everyday but they have drilled a lot of holes, including a lot of stainless. Klein Tools. Our home depot has them in the electrical section. All my Klein tools last forever. Just quit expecting Chinese s+:t to work and buy some real tools.

 

[heckels]

maybe i'm just lucky, but i don't understand why everyone has so much trouble drilling a keggle. I have a cheapo 14.4 volt drill and it took me a whole 30 seconds to do. I had a dewalt bit, drilled about a 1/4 inch whole, then used a cheapo step bit i got in a 3 pack at menards for $12. Didn't use any oil or anything. I've done 2 of them and I had the valve on and done in less than 5 minutes each.

What brand was that? The cheapest step bit I could find at menard's was a single irwin bit for $36!

 

[NickN72]

I believe that it was just tool shop brand (menards house brand). I know what you mean about the irwin, I thought i was going to have to spend that much, but then i found these sitting on the bottom shelf. its a 3 pack with 3 different sizes.

 

[lonepalm]

MENARDS!

I miss the old guy in the commercials...sorry stepping back to UNI Days

 

[BrewMoreBeers]

I drilled 14 holes in three kegs in one day using harbor freight step bits and a dewalt cordless drill with two batteries. Took about an hour. The best part, I was able to use the large step bit to ream out the backside of the holes. This left things very clean.

I have a hammer drill, but it never occured to me to use it as steady pressure with about 3/4 speed got the job done.

 

[lschiavo]

I drilled 14 holes in three kegs in one day using harbor freight step bits and a dewalt cordless drill with two batteries. Took about an hour. The best part, I was able to use the large step bit to ream out the backside of the holes. This left things very clean.

I have a hammer drill, but it never occured to me to use it as steady pressure with about 3/4 speed got the job done.

Step bits like most drills are hardened steel. They are hard but brittle. I would not use them with a hammer drill.

 

[PLOVE]

Posted elsewhere, but I had trouble finding go info, so hopefully this post will help someone else who's apprehensive about cheap step bits (aka harbor freight)

For SS Keggles:
I used a 7/8" step bit from harbor freight (2 for ~$15) and 18V Ryobi to drill out 8 holes for weldless SS fittings (bargainfittings.com). First measured for location and then hammered the point of a philips screwdriver to make a slight indent. Switched to a 3/8" standard bit to drill a pilot hole. Using the high-speed setting I easily cut through the SS, stopping every 5 seconds to spray WD40 for "cooling". Then I switched to the step bit. Using the same approach (drill, stop, cool), but at much lower speeds it took about 2 min/hole. You'll definitely need to be hold on tight as it binds a bit when it bites. I also noticed that as I got to the larger diameter steps I needed to reverse the drill. My drill just seemed to bite off more than it could chew on first cut. Reversing removed the burr, and then I continued cutting. The holes were surprisingly clean (no burrs) and looked great!

Good luck!
pete