just drilled another oil hole in a bar

[chuckwood]

I've always had problems with the oiler on my L series Husky saws, the oil hole clogs up constantly. The hole on the bar is 1/8 inch, and the long slot on the body of the saw where the oil comes out is also 1/8". Maybe I'm wrong but I can't see the point in drilling a hole larger than the width of the slot where the oil comes out of the saw body. So I'm experimenting. On other threads some people say that a larger hole can make things worse instead of better. I decided to drill a second hole next to the original one and see what happens. If it don't work, then I can plug it up and try something else - but I gotta try something. I bought a brand new 1/8 inch masonry bit and start drilling with a drill press. I drill, and drill, and oil, and drill, and nothing much happens. This steel is very hard. I get the drill doctor out and sharpen the bit. Again, poor results, the bit is too small for the drill doctor to really work with. I finally sharpen the bit by hand holding it on the spinning diamond drum in the drill doctor. It works! I punch through the bar quickly with the hand sharpened bit and tomorrow I'll try out the modified bar. If the clogging problem is still there, back to the drawing board I guess. I guess the point of this rambling post is that a brand new masonry bit won't be sharp enough from the factory to drill through a bar. My next bar drilling project will be a hole near the tip for an auxiliary oiler on a long bar for a chainsaw mill.

 

[redoakman]

how long is that bar?

 

[arathol]

Why are you using a masonry bit? Those are for drilling holes in cement or stone, not steel. A regular high speed steel bit in a press should zip right through that bar.

 

[67L36Driver]

A drill press is your friend. I've not had a problem making holes in bars with an ordinary (sharp!) HSS bit. Use cutting oil. Squeeks a lot.

A hand held drill motor would be a fail looking to happen.

 

[AKDoug]

Masonry bits aren't for steel. I have no issues drilling bars with cobalt alloy drill bits.

 

[chuckwood]

how long is that bar?

20 inches

 

[chuckwood]

Masonry bits aren't for steel. I have no issues drilling bars with cobalt alloy drill bits.

There is a bunch of threads over in the milling forum, regarding drilling holes for aux oiler systems on milling bars. Most everybody over there is using masonry bits. I'll try a cobalt bit next time just to see what happens. But carbide is going to be harder than cobalt steel.

 

[chuckwood]

Why are you using a masonry bit? Those are for drilling holes in cement or stone, not steel. A regular high speed steel bit in a press should zip right through that bar.

The guys in the milling forum recommend masonry bits and tell stories about HSS bits not working at all. Maybe bars vary in how tough the steel is.

 

[blsnelling]

A masonry bit is in no way designed to cut metal.

 

[chuckwood]

A masonry bit is in no way designed to cut metal.

I know, but a sharp one in a drill press will do the job anyhow - and they're cheaper than cobalt bits.

 

[wise wood]

For what its worth, as a tool & die guy we used to sharpen masonry bits just to drill holes in files, they work great
if you do it right. If you don't sharpen them they don't work worth a d##n. for precision holes we made our own
from bar carbide stock
wise wood

 

[towingace]

For what its worth, as a tool & die guy we used to sharpen masonry bits just to drill holes in files, they work great
if you do it right. If you don't sharpen them they don't work worth a d##n. for precision holes we made our own
from bar carbide stock
wise wood

Who da thunk it? A while back I was drilling & tapping holes in the flywheel of my forklift to retrofit a different pressure plate. I got the holes drilled with my mag drill and hss bits (never would have happened with a hand held drill) but my taps wouldn't touch it. I purchased an alloy tap and it went through like butter.

 

[Johnskis]

For what its worth, as a tool & die guy we used to sharpen masonry bits just to drill holes in files, they work great
if you do it right. If you don't sharpen them they don't work worth a d##n. for precision holes we made our own
from bar carbide stock
wise wood

Ingenious solution i must say, somebody was really thinking about that one to figure the carbide ends sharpened would work for hard metals, the things some people come up with simply amaze me.

 

[super3]

For what its worth, as a tool & die guy we used to sharpen masonry bits just to drill holes in files, they work great
if you do it right. If you don't sharpen them they don't work worth a d##n. for precision holes we made our own
from bar carbide stock
wise wood

Yep, it's all in the way it's sharpened. Have drilled lots of holes in bucket cutting edges with masonry bits.

Dremel carbide tile bit works well for saw bars.