How to Drill a Firesteel?

[Forest fella]

Hi, As above How and can you Drill a Landyard Hole into a Standard Ferro-Rod,As a Friend ask me lastnight if I could drill a hole into his ferro rod as he wanted to put it into his survival tin,And he didn't want the handle to take up space,But he wants to still be able to put a landyard on it.
Any advise welcome
Cheers

 

[ged]

I think FGYT uses a keyring instead of utting the lanyard directly through the rod itself. A tight constrictor knot (one of the most useful knots to know, and it can be made in seconds) will hold without the need to drill a hole, especially if the rod has been used a little and is worn thinner in the middle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrictor_knot

 

[Ogri the trog]

Lots of lubrication is about the only advice I can offer - keep the drill bit slow and cool.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[shaggystu]

Have you actually tried drilling one yet or not?

I don't see it being a difficult task at all, they're made of a material that's much softer than steel (they wouldn't work otherwise), and steel's not a difficult material to drill at all. I'd suggest just popping one in a vise (or similar) and taking the drill to it to see what happens. Be sensible, wear gloves and goggles, take your time, and I don't really see what can go wrong.

Let us know how you get on

Cheers,

Stuart.

 

[Forest fella]

ok cheers guys,I will have a go and see what happens.
As usual many thanks for your input

 

[ged]

Have you actually tried drilling one yet or not?

Ah, good question.

I don't really see what can go wrong.

Ooooohhhh, I dunno about that. He might set fire to the shed. :yikes:

More probably, which I should have mentioned now I think about it, is that soft materials and high-speed steel drill bits have a habit of arguing.

Watch carefully for when the drill breaks through at the end of the hole. At that point you sometimes get the drill biting off more than it can chew and if you're using a powerful power tool or too much elbow grease you can snap the drill with excess torque.

You'll probably need to ease off the pressure on the drill as you feel it start to bite more as it breaks through.

Let us know how you get on

Yes, please do that.

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

ive drilled plenty. give it a small punch to start with then just drill it through. make sure there is nothing flammable around as eventually the swarf will ignite. i put mine in a bench vice. it will fizz and pop but its not dangerous

 

[Forest fella]

just found this on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cScrHbj2Ay4

 

[Forest fella]

Seems,that you should drill slowly and with no lubrication,or just water if needed.but it doesn't look that dangerous to do.

 

[Forest fella]

Ok, well yes you can drill holes in a Ferro-rod,it seems a 1.5 Cobalt drill does the trick everytime,But be very careful when removing the drill bit out of the freshly drilled hole,As it's like a mini volcano.
cheers

 

[Forest fella]

My Bad it was a 2.5 drill bit,sorry for the mistake above.
cheers

 

[shaggystu]

Ok, well yes you can drill holes in a Ferro-rod,it seems a 1.5 Cobalt drill does the trick everytime,But be very careful when removing the drill bit out of the freshly drilled hole,As it's like a mini volcano.
cheers

I didn't think it would be too difficult, glad you cracked it

Cheers,

Stuart.