I can't believe how hard drilling a keg is

[Zamial]

I've done four holes with my Harbor Freight bit, and it still works fine.

I don't let it get hot, at the first hint of smoke, I stop and oil it up. I'd rather it take a little time than ruin the bit.

This is my story as well.

I used SLOW speed (Think very short bursts almost like a quick pulse), after each "step" I removed the bit and used "non-stick cooking spray" as lube on the hole and the bit to allow for proper cooling and LOTS of pressure. The pressure actually kept the bit from turning to fast IMO.

Unfortunately, if you get the hole to hot (You should be able to touch it and not burn your hand at any point) you are done.

I have done 5 holes with the same HF step drill in stainless and even more holes in nonstainless projects.

 

[Henrythe9th]

The only hole saw kits you'll ever need
http://www.hougen.com/cutters/sheetmetal/Rotacut.html

for metal that is, I have two sets from 5/16 to 2"
I have all my coupling's cut down buy a machinist to even fraction's makes easy welding

 

[RDatsun]

I always use water to cool with and plenty of it, do pilot hole 1st and put some a$$ behind it with water try keep SS as cool as you can . Good bits help and shouldnt have any probs what so ever . Be careful with alot pressure drill wants to catch as you go threw SS and twist in hands espc. with big drills . If you have a great helper son/daughter have em ****** it while drilling. Try a water bottle w/ hole in middle and steady stream works well.bout 1/8th

 

[ScubaSteve]

Pam works great. I put my whole weight on the drill,laying my chest on it with my arms in close and go SLOW. Let the bit slowly carve the metal and you'll see long shreds coming off. Go have a beer and listen to some tunes...if it overheats your screwed.

 

[Starderup]

Pam works great. I put my whole weight on the drill,laying my chest on it with my arms in close and go SLOW. Let the bit slowly carve the metal and you'll see long shreds coming off. Go have a beer and listen to some tunes...if it overheats your screwed.

That's what happened. I got screwed. I stopped about fifty times to oil it, but didn't realize the effect of the heat. Anyway, it is done. I used the second gasket on the outside, and no leak.
Live and learn.

 

[jakecpunut]

you can start watching at like 3:00 to see what type of bit i used.. took less than a minute to drill it out using lubricant.

 

[Bobby_M]

I've made up to 10 13/16" holes in various kegs with the same cheap china import step bit and it's no problem. Fill up a 3 oz taster cup with any oil you can find, synthetic 10w30, canola, whatever. Dunk the bit, drill one step. Dunk, next step, dunk. It's not all about lubrication but also cooling.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Glad I found this thread. I have to start drilling my keggles and don't want to use a million step bits. I currently have a cheap bit from HF. I really don't want to buy $100 in tooling to drill 6 holes if I don't have to.

 

[bendavanza]

A step bit should be cutting ribbons out of the hole, and if the bit is turned slowly with your weight on it, it works like magic.

 

[Bobby_M]

Agreed. If the bit spins twice and it's not obviously shaving metal away, you're not applying enough pressure. I think the biggest problem people have is using a drill that doesn't have enough low speed torque. That's where a Dewalt XRP on "low" comes in.

 

[Quaffer]

Pam works great. I put my whole weight on the drill,laying my chest on it with my arms in close and go SLOW. Let the bit slowly carve the metal and you'll see long shreds coming off. Go have a beer and listen to some tunes...if it overheats your screwed.

Steve, have you tried to solder anything to the holes you cut with Pam? I have enough stuff to start soldering my shiny new pot, if I could only get the nerve up to put the drill to it! I think it was GreenMonti who pointed out it was not good to use the keg tool with oil, because it contaminated the metal. I have two ss 1" locknuts from bargainfittings that I plan to solder to my keggle and a Bayou kettle. I am planning to use a 1.25" hole saw which seems to be the tightest fit. Maybe it would work to use the Stay-Clean flux to lube the saw, I don't know.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I don't think flux would make for a good lubricant but I'm sure it would help to cool the drill bit. I would simply stick with an oil as mentioned in other posts.

 

[klyph]

Having used the cheap step bit to do several holes, then the Greenlee Unibit to do several more, and finally using a 7/8" Greenlee chassis punch with an impact driver, the latter blows anything else away in terms of speed and ease.
With the chassis punch, You drill a hole for the bolt with a cobalt twist bit which takes about 10 seconds, then you hook up the chassis punch which takes another 10 seconds, then you blast it with the impact driver which takes all of 2 seconds to punch the hole.
In less than 30 seconds I had a perfect hole, I could not believe how much time it saved, and when I checked my forehead, it was not covered with sweat!
Step bits are nice if you are doing different size holes, and they're a good tool to have, but if all your holes are the same size, buy a chassis punch and save yourself a LOT of time and a LOT of effort.

 

[dave73ok]

I borrowed a chassis punch thing from work. a 3/8" pilot hole, and the rest took about 30 seconds. Made a wonderfully loud crunching sound. Some quick dremel work to clean up some sharp edges, and it was done.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

What type of chassis punch do you need for a coupler? Is it a 7/8 chassis/radio or chassis/knockout? I'm confused on this and what size is actually needed for solder/welding a 1/2" coupler.

 

[klyph]

A chassis punch makes a hole the size it states.

A conduit punch makes a hole for the OD of conduit, which is sized by it's ID, so there is a difference in what it's labeled and the actual size of the hole.

Get a chassis punch, not a conduit punch.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

A chassis punch makes a hole the size it states.

A conduit punch makes a hole for the OD of conduit, which is sized by it's ID, so there is a difference in what it's labeled and the actual size of the hole.

Get a chassis punch, not a conduit punch.

I see... a chassis punch vs a conduit punch. Thanks much.

 

[klyph]

Oh and I use a 7/8" for my 1/2" weldless fittings, it also works when using the keg tool to dimple couplers in place for welding/soldering.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Where is a good place to find these chassis punches? Ebay dosen't have that many for the sizes we need and with a google search not a whole lot of vendors. I'm not sure what a good price is for them either.

 

[Quaffer]

Where is a good place to find these chassis punches? Ebay dosen't have that many for the sizes we need and with a google search not a whole lot of vendors. I'm not sure what a good price is for them either.

You can use the common 1/2" conduit punch because it cuts a 7/8" diameter hole.

I just got a used Greenlee 1/2" Slug Buster from Ebay today. A stamping on it reads: "1/2 COND 7/8 DIA". I paid less than $20 delivered.

7/8" is just over 22mm which should also make it useful for cutting holes for 22mm lights and switches in a control panel. I think I'll have much use for this punch.

 

[mmurray]

I used a Unibit at first but got drilling too fast and burn the bit (even using cutting oil) after 3 1/2 holes. But... after getting my brother to come over and going through his tool box we found that the 3/4" Greenlee knockout punch leaves a 1 3/32" hole... Below is a pic of the set just like his that I used. Since I already had pilot holes drilled for all the couplings it literaly took me 5 min to finish the 6 holes! And each one is a nice tight fit!

Here is the coupling fit after using the Greenlee Knockout punch!

 

[tigmaster]

yeah the greenlee kit mmurrays got works great...but like a few others said....i couldnt tell u how long ive been using this step bit...i found it in the trash by the way

 

[ruffdeezy]

Is drilling a blichmann boilermaker any harder than drilling a keg? Anyone have a recommended step bit to use? or will one of the 10-20 dollar ones work fine?

 

[LordUlrich]

I have found with cheep tools you get one that works about as often as you get something that belongs in the trash.

 

[schweaty]

I still have nightmares about drilling those holes. 3 kegs + 12 holes = 1 major pain in the butt!

 

[Flomaster]

wow...

i have zero problems drilling my holes in my keggle using a IRWIN http://www.lowes.com/pd_60140-281-1...t=unibit&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=unibit step bit from LOWE'S. i drilled a pilot hole, i then drilled one step at a time letting it cool for a few seconds and applying more Wd40.

i had my craftsman 19.2 volt drill on low speed and had good pressure applied.

-=Jason=-

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

The problem is that most people use cheap bit tips on a cordless drill... you might as well use a spade bit in reverse and you will get the same result. Don't oil the bit when drilling and only use a corded drill with a $20+ bit like Bosch or Milwaukee. It shouldn't take more than 3 min. Progress looks good though.

 

[Flomaster]

well I was surprised how easy and butter like it was to drill my holes i have read this thread and several others talking about how "hard " it was to drill the holes. for me it was just like a hot knife through butter.

-=jason=-

 

[Mad_Milo]

When I drilled my keggle, I just used the Harbor Freight unibit, and made a dam of plumbers putty around where I was drilling. Filled that up with about 1/16" of homemade cutting oil (household 3-in-1 oil + a few drops of dish soap.)

Took some effort - go slow and hard, but I got through it without heat issues.

 

[dmfa200]

Use these before you start with a step bit.
http://www.lathemaster.com/images/TN_Center_Drills.jpg
Center punch the spot where your hole is, start with a size "zero" center drill, then enlarge with a size "one". Step bits suck when starting a hole. Even brand name bits. That's why you guys are having so much trouble. You need a hole to start with. After that a step bit works great.
I can have my coupling to hole size in less than one minute using this method.
Center drills are what machinist use to start a hole, because they don't walk and are sharper than drill bits.
Use medium pressure, and don't cut deeper than the flutes.