Hole saw suitable for stainless steel. Any experience

[chrishawley]

To make some heat shields I need to cut some nice 32 holes in a sheet of 1.0mm stainless. So, unwisely, set to on an off-cut of unknown grade.

Also, unwisely, I used my cheapie Screwfix hole saw without thinking about respective hardness of tool and material. This cheapie (presumably high carbon steel?) has performed well on mild steel but in this instance all I ended up with was heat (+++), and erroded teeth (the tool that is, not me) after the first hole.

I'd appreciate any advice around this matter. For example would a proper bi-metal hole saw do better (e.g. Starrett, Bosch) or would it be more cost effective to use a tungsten carbide tool (e.g. Ruko)? I'd generally assumed that SS is 'about twice as hard' as mild steel but perhaps that's major underestimate of the differences across the various grades of stainless.

As ever, any thoughts appreciated.

 

C

[RogerH]

Hi Chris,

 the SS isn;t twice a hard as MS but twice as tough and when it gets hot it then gets hard.

I assume your holes are 32mm diameter - you need a Q max cutter - example  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363268005504?hash=item549475de80:g:L4cAAOSwVDlgCPaI

This will eat the 1mm SS as it does not produce heat

 

When you drill the hole for the bolt start with 3mm drill and go up in 2 or 3 stages + lubricant

 

Roger

[chrishawley]

Thanks. Hole punch seems to be the way to go. Regret piggy bank won't run to plasma cutter!

[JohnD]

This may be useful, or if not, edicational!  https://www.metals4u.co.uk/blog/how-to-drill-stainless-steel-4