Drilling through Stainless Steel= Lots of fun

[GrainToGlass]

Man! The Megapot wall is pretty resilient. For some reason it took me over an hour to get a good sized pilot hole drilled through the stubborn stainless steel. Once I finally got through, the step bit ate through like butter and installation went smoothly.

Can't wait to start whirlpooling!

 

[schematix]

Cobalt bit + cutting oil makes it a lot faster. What did you use?

Looks like you got a clean hole.

 

[GrainToGlass]

Cobalt bit + cutting oil makes it a lot faster. What did you use?

Looks like you got a clean hole.

I used a Cobalt bit and some cutting oil. I think my main problem was not using enough pressure for the pilot. I also started with a 1/8" bit and the angle of the cutting edge couldn't reach the wall. The tip was just spinning and not cutting anything. So I went to Lowes and picked up the smallest drill bit they had for stainless. It took some time, but it drilled through which allowed the 1/8" bit a good hole to bite and drill through. After that, the step bit came in and handled it great.

As you can tell, I don't have much experience dealing with metal and certain tools.

 

[iahomebrew]

Man! The Megapot wall is pretty resilient. For some reason it took me over an hour to get a good sized pilot hole drilled through the stubborn stainless steel. Once I finally got through, the step bit ate through like butter and installation went smoothly.

Can't wait to start whirlpooling!

Did you attempt to use a punch first to create a starter hole?

 

[GrainToGlass]

Did you attempt to use a punch first to create a starter hole?

Nope, but I'm sure that would've helped a lot. I'll keep that in mind for future tasks. Thanks!

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Did you attempt to use a punch first to create a starter hole?

Not even a hole needed...a punch or nail set with the 1/2 the diameter of your bit with make a dimple exactly the right size for the bit to cut smoothly...you just have to hit is with an appropriate amount of force.

 

[glick]

Hmm... I've been using a set of Harbor Freight step bits for a few years with dish soap as lube. I've drilled quite a few stainless kegs among other things with little effort. Great job though, I like your whirlpool setup!

 

[schematix]

Pressure and drill speeds are important. I did my pilot holes with a 3/16" cobalt bit running at 3000rpm. I would say i applied about 5lbs of pressure. Took less than 10 seconds each.

The step bit took a lot longer. I did them in 2-3 steps, pausing to let the bit cool, with about 20lbs of pressure, and the bigger the hole got, the slower i went. Still only a few minutes each though.

 

[bjvanst]

If you don't mind me asking, what are you using as a dip tube in this kettle? Is it just a stainless elbow?

 

[GrainToGlass]

If you don't mind me asking, what are you using as a dip tube in this kettle? Is it just a stainless elbow?

Correct, it's BrewHardware's mini-diptube bulkhead. Works great!

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/truebulkheadelbarb.htm

 

[bjvanst]

Correct, it's BrewHardware's mini-diptube bulkhead. Works great!

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/truebulkheadelbarb.htm

Thanks for the response! My current dip tube interferes with my chiller in my 8gal tall boys. Ordered myself a pair from my local shop.