Attaching metal to metal

[big_swede]

There's a difference of opinion on using masonry bit for stainless.
A masonry bit is made from harder steel than an HSS bit because stone is harder than steel (try an HSS bit on a house brick) masonry bits do have a point and a cutting edge and will last a lot longer thanan HSS bit.They are also suitable for glass and ceramics.
They dont have to be used with a hammer drill unless you are going through some really hard stone ,it gives an indication of strength and sharpness that you can hammer them whilst drilling and they still don'tget blunt or break.
Another situation where a mosonry tool is better than a steel tool is disc cutters, a masonry disc will cut steel but a steel disc will not cut masonry.

Okay, hardness has nothing to do with it here... Firstly, masonry is softer than any steel. Do a vickers, rockwell or brinell test on a brick and you will see... Secondly, where not talking hardened steel here, it's a friggin' biscuit tin he's drilling in! It is 99% likelihood that this is a austenithic stainless steel (impossible to harden..) so the problem is NOT in the drill bit. More likely in the drill or the driller. The drill could be a cheap job, not supplying enough torque at low rpms or maybe wilderbeast have arms of spagetti..

*****, Punch, Drill, Rivet. In worst case braze. Or, on second thought, braze it, it's more fun!

 

[Graham_S]

I'll echo, As a tin basher (Trained to work on aircraft so I think my skills would be up to the challenge) 8mm is way too big a hole.
I'd go for 3.2mm.
For riveting, I'd go for reaction block.
Here's how I'd do it.

1. Clamp the two pieces together,
2. put the rivet through the hole (make sure it fits fairly snugly)
3. check the rivet protrudes through the pieces to be riveted (1.2 x the diameter of the rivet is ideal for forming a tail. too much and it'll probably bend over, too little and it'll not form a strong joint)
4.a. form the rivet. (you'll need a reaction block, a heavy hammer is good, a punch with a flat face, and a hammer to hit the punch with)
4.b. place the punch against the rivet head, put the reaction block on the tail of the rivet.
hit the punch smartly with the hammer keeping everything square. three or four hits should be enough.

That should give you a tight waterproof riveted join.

 

[Wilderbeast]

Okay, hardness has nothing to do with it here... Firstly, masonry is softer than any steel. Do a vickers, rockwell or brinell test on a brick and you will see... Secondly, where not talking hardened steel here, it's a friggin' biscuit tin he's drilling in! It is 99% likelihood that this is a austenithic stainless steel (impossible to harden..) so the problem is NOT in the drill bit. More likely in the drill or the driller. The drill could be a cheap job, not supplying enough torque at low rpms or maybe wilderbeast have arms of spagetti..

*****, Punch, Drill, Rivet. In worst case braze. Or, on second thought, braze it, it's more fun!

nah the drill was Bosch 14v which is pretty nice, wasn't too difficult in the end but don't have a proper workshop so I had to improvise on a jig (gaffer tape and wood worked fine!)

PROBLEM SOLVED!

got some stainles steel cable ties( didn't even know they existed!) and made a handle with them!! All works fine!

cheers all!

PS no I don't have arms of Spagetti (in fact if you read my introduction you'd have seen that arms of spagetti is extremely inaccurate so there the reason it was difficult at first was because the drill bit kept sliding off because the surface was round and as I said I didn't have a jig but imagination prevailed!!!

 

[Mike Ameling]

Yes, a drill bit will "skate" around on metal if you have not tapped it first with a center punch or a nail. That little ... mark ... on the metal is enough to hold the drillbit in place.

The other problem is having something inside your tin/can to support it while you put pressure on your drill to get through it. When I am drilling through a can, stovepipe, or large pipe, I like to slip a piece of firewood inside it. Or a section of 2x4. I keep a length of 2x4 in my shop all the time for a backing plate when drilling. For drilling through flat metal, I just lay it on the workbench. When drilling through something round like a large pipe or a cooking pot, I clamp that 2x4 in my vise with enough sticking out past the vise to slip my pot or pipe over it far enough so that it supports the metal where I need to drill. For thin metal I try to match the curve of it with that piece of wood clamped in my vise. For thicker stuff I just use that 2x4.

Hmmm ... this reminds me. I need to scrounge up another short chunk of 2x4 for the shop. The current one is pretty chewed up from all the drilling. The one Viking style riveted sheet iron kettle had over 90 rivets in it!

Rivets? See if you can find a common nail that is the right diameter. They tend to be pretty soft and "rivet" over nicely. Either cut a section off, form a "head" on one end, put it in place, and then peen over the other side. Or use the nail head for one side.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[durulz]

HI all, Well thanks for the advice, managed to get through it not problem, problem is now the rivets are rubbish, just couldn't get them tight enough and couldn't get the punch onto them properly because the holes were too far from the edge, So now I have a can with 4 holes in (2 opposite each other) about 8mm in diameter each, any idea how I can finish it off????

What about using some bolts? Then hacksaw off the excess.

Alternatively, what I do with stainless steel billy cans, is drill holes in the side then use a length of chain that hooks in the side holes.

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Put a log inside that is a tight fit, get a good nail, big hammer, and bash nail through. Remove nail, repeat on other side, tidy up with a file

 

[durulz]

Put a log inside that is a tight fit, get a good nail, big hammer, and bash nail through. Remove nail, repeat on other side, tidy up with a file

That's EXACTLY what I do!

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Works though dont it

 

[ForgeCorvus]

Why do people have problems drilling SS?
I never have

Clean punchmark, lump of wood in vice,small sharp drill, larger sharp drill, push-fit (on the rivet shank) drill (sharp !), done job, turn and repeat

Use the highest torque and slowest speed you can and keep the pressure up

I've used something like this (http://www.beautifuliron.com/images/MtPleasant/RedDrill_aFrontQuarterView.jpg) to drill through a file (unsoftened) before using a masonry drill that I'd ground sharp