drilling tool steel

I need to drill a 40 thousandths hole in a piece of 1/16 piece of silver steel. The hole dimension isn't critical. Presumably I need to anneal it but any pointers to colour and length of time and treatment afterwards greatly received.

If the silver steel is 'as bought' it will be in a 'soft' state, no need for any heat treatment before machining.

Robin.

Edited By Robin Graham on 01/09/2022 21:52:04

Silver steel is normally sold annealed, then hardened after machining.

however if hardened can also be drilled using carbide drills.

How deep is the hole, or is it cross wise?

Dave

1mm will do then ! A good quality drill bit will do it, if not then carbide. Tracy tools for the bits ! Noel.

Its a cross hole and a brand new dormer drill wouldnt touch it so i think it will need annealing.

Can you mark the silver steel with a file? If yes then it isn't hardened, if not then it is hardened. To anneal heat to 800C and let it cool naturally.

I suspect that the silver steel isn't hardened and that the problem is with the drilling technique. Trying to drill a cross hole in 1/16" rod is an invitation for the drill to wander. The hole needs to be started with a stiff drill, preferable stub and carbide. My go to supplier for drills is Drill Service.

Andrew

I wonder if it’s piano wire ..

If it is piano wire then do you really need it to be piano wire or can you change to silversteel as Piano wire is almost impossible to get back to it's hard state as the "patenting" process is not something that can really be done at home.

Same test as has been suggested for the Silversteel, can you easily file the end of the piano wire (use an old file)

I use piano wire in quite a few applications it came from the local model shop. It can be drilled and tapped with care drilling not too fast and with lubricant and good quality sharp drills, taps also need to be sharp and lubricated.

Have successfully made “D” bits out of piano wire and hardened and tempered them with no problems.

Would spark erosion be an alternative method ?

Brian

if silversteel, then just a high temper should make it soft enough to drill. In a dark room, heat until it just starts to glow... or stop just before at 'black heat'.

This won't work with all 'tool steel' particularly deep hardening steels, stainless steels, air hardening, HSS etc.

I think this ability to easily get the steel back to a workable condition is a major reason for choosing water hardening steels for small tools i.e. easy to re-work if you get it wrong first time or need to adjust.

Edited By jaCK Hobson on 02/09/2022 10:22:10

If you are trying to drill near the end of a silver steel bar that may be hard from the grinding used to cut the rod during manufacture. That is why silver steel bars of nominal 12 inch length are or were slightly longer, so you could cut off the ends with a hacksaw and discard them.

Roy Moss

Thought I’d have a go and see if it would work, used a piece of 1/16 silver steel and a bell centre drill with a 0.5mm tip then followed up with a 1mm drill and looks ok. Work was done on a peatol with a cross during jig at 4500 rpm.

cheers old school.