Punching an indentation in a metal sheet or a plastic sheet will get you off to a better and much more accurate start so that you only have to drill once. A face mask wouldn’t hurt, either.įind the center of the hole. Metal shavings are much more dangerous than bits of wood and can damage your eyes and face easily. Burrs and bits will often fly, whether using a hand-held power drill or using a drill press. Especially if you are drilling into metal. When using a step drill bit:Īlways wear safety goggles. ![]() We subscribe to the safety first rule and have repeated this often on these pages. Safety Measures When Using a Step Drill Bit The latter will hold their sharp even longer and are well suited for drilling into masonry and tile work. This makes them a good investment if you will be using them often. The former is much more expensive, but they hold their sharp better and longer. Cooling down faster helps them keep their stiffness when temperatures rise while drilling. More brittle than HSS bits but much quicker to cool down after use when drilling metals. This enhances durability and makes them a better choice for drilling into harder metals. The added finish coating will retard corrosion. They are also the least expensive step drill bits. They would suit that electrician who needs to drill holes in the plastic wall outlet or plug boxes, as well as drill through studs when rough-wiring a new construction. These step drill bits are good for drilling into soft materials, including wood, fiberglass, and plastic. There is a wide variety of materials used to manufacture step drill bits, and each has its own strength of use. It might help if you are using a wide head screw that you want to lay flush on the surface of the material you’ve drilled. Simply go deeper with the step drill bit, or change to a larger one to enlarge the hole already there to the size you need.Īdditionally, if a chamfered edge is something you want, you can accomplish this simply by tapping the hole you’ve drilled with the next level’s bevel on the step drill bit. They are also a great tool for enlarging an existing hole. Step drill bits are also well-suited to clean holes to finish the drilling. When drilling sheet metal, there will sometimes be burrs that will need to be cleaned out of the hole before you proceed. If it is sheet metal you are drilling, a punch will be used to mark the center of the hole to be drilled, and then the step drill bit will take it from there. Larger step drill bits are blunter and cone-shaped and will always need a pilot hole drilled that is the same size as the drill bit’s smallest step. The smaller diameter step drill bits usually have a sharp point at the tip to make them self-starters that don’t need a pilot hole drilled first. Step drill bits will usually have their diameters etched into them for easy reference when looking through your collection. Their straight flute will help prevent thin, flexible materials from being twisted out of shape as the drill passes through them. ![]() Very small holes are okay with twist drill bits, but once the hole size needed is much larger than the material being drilled, a step drill bit is a much better choice. When clean holes are needed, this is a bad result. A traditional twist drill bit, like those standard drill bits that come with a power drill, will often catch a burr and be pulled right through. If you have ever tried to drill through a thin piece of sheet metal with a traditional fluted drill bit, you’ve likely encountered problems. Since many of us woodworkers are also home DIYers, it’s handy to have step drill bits for our power drills when we need larger holes and not just holes in sheet metal. You will often see an electrician use a step drill bit to drill holes in plastic switch and outlet boxes when roughing a new construction for wires to fit through or in studs as a new house is being rough-wired before sheetrock or drywall is hung. Their use, though, is not limited to sheet metal step drill bits are also used for drilling holes in plywood, drywall, laminate, plexiglass, and particle board. These specialty drill bits are capable of drilling into metal, for instance, up to ¼ “ thick, and are common on construction sites. It also makes it easier to drill larger holes a little bit (no pun intended) at a time as you push the drill bit further into the materials. This obviates the need to change drill bits while drilling holes, for instance. The deeper you drill into the material you’re working with, the larger the hole will become. Step drill bits, also referred to as unibits, are a conical-shaped drill bit that, by virtue of their shape, allows you to drill holes of varying sizes. Strengths and Weaknesses of Step Drill Bits.Safety Measures When Using a Step Drill Bit.
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