Thread: Reloading room and equipment upgrade - first step

The old-skool guys using old-school, school desks...

That's certainly overkill on the bases though. 304SS is a prick for work hardening, it's not a metal to play nice with when drilling. Nice sharp drill, centre punched with a three-corner ground centre punch (not the usual coned center punch, the type with a triangular tip as it has less risk of work hardening the surface), slow RPM but heaps of downfeed or push to cut nice deep chips and get under the work hardening on each turn... Lots of lube too.

Originally Posted by No.3

That's certainly overkill on the bases though.

Not sure I believe in the concept of overkill...

Originally Posted by No.3

304SS is a prick for work hardening, it's not a metal to play nice with when drilling. Nice sharp drill, centre punched with a three-corner ground centre punch (not the usual coned center punch, the type with a triangular tip as it has less risk of work hardening the surface), slow RPM but heaps of downfeed or push to cut nice deep chips and get under the work hardening on each turn... Lots of lube too.

Yup didn't find the normal centre punch caused any issues but slow speeds and lots of tool pressure and lube helped the process. I was impressed my countersink bit made it through relatively unharmed - a bit of chatter but not that bad. Made an absolute mess with the oil everywhere!