1/16"drill bit life

[Turtle]

 I get really short life out of my 1/16" drill bits when drilling barrel lug and thimble holes. I have tried many different bits including some pricy ones. I have tried slow speed, high speed, light pressure, heavier pressure and drill a little and retract. ideas?

[Eric Kettenburg]

I buy cheap, plain old hss bits from McMaster, and I just buy a lot of them.  20-30 at a time.  About the only answer I can give you.  Quantity!

[BrianShaw]

Lots of bits, and a bit sharpening machine. 

[David R. Pennington]

The killer to drill bits is the heat of friction destroying the temper and dulling cutting edge. The problem is obviously compounded the smaller the bit. The key to longer bit life is to never allow the cutting edge to overheat. That means not allowing the bit to spin without removing a chip. That means applying proper pressure to keep the edge feeding into the material with the correspondig correct speed of rotation. Applying enough pressure with tiny bits without breaking takes some finness. Definately use a lubricant to help keep cutting edges cool (cutting oil). Think about that tiny bit and look at the minuteness of those two little cutting edges. Very fragile.
With some practice you can learn to resharpen them on an oilstone. Otherwise keep plenty of spares!

[Dave Patterson]

What Dave R said:  spot-on.

[David R. Pennington]

I finally bought one of the drill doctor sharpeners and they do a good job down to the smaller sizes not so much on the tiny ones. I learned to sharpen drills freehand years ago. I scribe a line on the grinder rest at the correct angle for the point as a guide and eyeball the compound angle. A block of hardwood close by to twist the drill into with your fingers will tell you if you have it right. If you have the angles right it will bite into the wood. The tiny ones are better done on oilstone.

[Mike Brooks]

I just buy lots of them. The price of doing business.

[Bob Roller]

I just buy lots of them. The price of doing business.

My method for preventing breaking these little bits is to not worry about them
and have a good reserve of them in all sizes.As Mike says,it's the price of the
business or hobby.  I sometimes will touch one up with a 3 cornered diamond
file but that is rare.

Bob Roller

[45-110]

i do all my drilling on my mill, and always spot drill a dimple with a split point cnc spotting drill first. do not move center once you locate. the mill has way less run out as compared to all the cheaper drill presses. a x-y vise on a drill press will get you there.....but get truly centered and clamp down, drilling with a bowed 1/6" bit is sure to fail. use a quality bit and you will be surprised how long they can last.
also get a albrecht type 3 jaw chuck.....very accurate.
best
 kw

[Goo]

this seems unusual to me to have such a problem . when you say slow speed specifically how slow? 100 rpm`s if its one of those harbor freight drill presses i cant find a pulley belt combination setting that slows that DP down slow enough to drill like i want.  maybe try tapping oil on the bit higher sulpher content may help and try some domestic drills the black oxide ones seem to be adequate for me and last reasonably well.   

[P.W.Berkuta]

Small HSS drill bits are cheap - buy them by the dozen Most drill bits will last a long time unless you try to drill hard materials. 95% of the material in muzzle loading firearms are mild steel - brass - & wood I can't see how you would wear out any drill bit in the course of building 15 or 20 rifles . You are not drilling 100's of holes here .

[Majorjoel]

If I only get a 1\16" bit to do one or two drilling jobs, I am happy!  Also use the bit shaft for barrel & R\R pipe pins. Just like our frugal ancestors, make use of anything and everything!

[Mike Brooks]

I usually break them when they come out the other side of the barrel lug or RR pipe tab. You just have lots on hand and move on.

[T*O*F]

I used to break them, but I don't anymore as a result of some simple problem solving.  I also don't try to drill everything at once.
1.  Locate your holes.
2.  Drill halfway thru until you hit metal.  Your drill bit should leave a mark/indent on the tab.
3.  Remove the metal (thimbles/barrel) and make sure you're hitting them correctly.
4.  Complete drilling your hole all the way thru the wood.
5.  As Mike says, they always break when exiting the tab.  But, if you place the tab on a block of hard maple and drill it, this won't happen.
6.  Replace the barrel/thimbles back in the stock.  Now run your drill bit halfway thru the existing holes from each side.  This corrects any slight misalignment of the hole in the metal.

I've been using the same pair of 1/16th" drill bits for at least 5 years now.  It only takes a few minutes to do this procedure and you never have to worry about digging broken bits that are stuck in your stock.

[thecapgunkid]

The oil seems to make a big difference.  I keep a little metal, open pill box of it when I am drilling and dip the bit tip into it every ten seconds or so.

I don't need to know why it works but I will get chips and slivers immediately, every time.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

If I am drilling much I will dip in oil.  Otherwise everytime I go to Lowes to get anything, I pick up a pack of those bits.

Cory Joe Stewart

[Pukka Bundook]

HSS and buy plenty of them.
I've put a drill down wrong and snapped them off more than once.  (Cluttered bench but that's beyond my control it seems!)

[Mike Brooks]

If I am drilling much I will dip in oil.  Otherwise everytime I go to Lowes to get anything, I pick up a pack of those bits.

Cory Joe Stewart

I picked up a bulk pack from Menards. The most horrible bits ever. Some weren't sharp enough to drill brass. Chinese of course. Thought I was really saving some dough.....DOH!

[Majorjoel]

I can relate when it comes to buying CHEAP drill bits Mike!  I bought some that said they were made out of titanium!   More like dullanium which is a new element discovered by some get rich Chinaman!

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

What TOF has said is good advice, but I'm not patient enough for all of that.  I drill for barrel and rod pipe pins with a 1/16" bit all in one pass.  But FEED AND SPEED is the key.  With 1/16" bits and the like, I have the press at top rpm...2800 I think mine does.  I clear chips often, feeding in only about 3/32" deep each pass.  My bits, purchased at our local machinery supply store, last for years.  But still, I have a package of them and don't bother trying to sharpen them.

[Turtle]

 Thanks,It's good to know it's not just me. I will try high speed and oil dip.

[Steve-In]

Starting the cut and pulling out of a cut are the hardest things on a drill.  Alloy steels are hard on drills too but they probably not used for barrel lugs either. 
A lot of drill presses have play in the spindle allowing the drill to spin without cutting for a little while before actual cutting.  So if you continually start and stop the cut that will heat the drill tip up and cause it to fail.  A chip may get into the hole when you are peck drilling and this causes a lot of friction when trying to restart cutting, you are better off to just drill through with out stopping on holes less than 2x/3x drill diameter..  Also when you break through it will grab and sometimes snap.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Well this last post literally blows my advice right out of the water.  With such contradictory information, it looks like you'll have to use trial and error and learn by doing it yourself.

[flinchrocket]

I guess I didn't know it was such a complicated operation.

[WadePatton]

Well this last post literally blows my advice right out of the water.  With such contradictory information, it looks like you'll have to use trial and error and learn by doing it yourself.

As in all proper kitty hide removing operations, there's more than one technique employed by the Masters.