I am trying to make a copy of Wayland Hobo stove?

[the interceptor boy]

HI Everyone,
I am trying to make a copy of the Famous Hobo Stove By the Master Himself Mr Wayland. After searching for 4weeks i Finally found a size 12 stainless steel Container that will fit the 1o" inch Zebra Billy. I used a small nail punch 1/38 to marked the holes, so as not to dent the steel too much,then i went into my shed to get my 90drill bits set. But i am not able to drill the SHINY/SMOOTH/ SLIPPERY/ TOUGH/ STAINLESS STEEL , B....... THING CONTAINER. So i am back to square one again. Excuse my ignorance/ lack of Experience with STEEL! So what am i doing WRONG!

I am using HSS METAL DRILL BITS COATED WITH A BRASSY LOOKING PAINT.

Do I need to buy any special MAKE, TYPE, DRILL BITS apart from the ones i have!

Any Constructive ideas would be appreciated.

Taken a couple of pictures of the Billy and Stove.

Regards
the interceptor boy.

 

[spamel]

Stainless can be a bugger to machine and drill. Don't go at it with your 10 mm drill bit straight away, you need to put a pilot hole in. Use a small drill bit, 3 or 4 mm would be great, and drill through where you want all of your holes. Move up a few mm to the next drill bit and so on and so forth. Eventually, you'll get to the size you want. Try using some fluid to help the drill bit cutting, 3 in 1 oil would do the job.

 

[sapper1]

As spamel said ,also its a good idea to put a curved block of wood into the can to support it when drilling.
There are two schools of thought on drilling stainless-one says heavy pressure and slow speed the pther says light pressure and high speed.I find the thinner the steel the high speed low pressure works best but hold the drill tight and fix the can securely as the drill will kick back when it punches through.
Let us know how you get on>

 

[fishy1]

It is an nightmare to drill. What works but is less neat is to just drive nails through with a hammer, support the bit you are hammering onto on wood. It's fast, and leaves sharp edges that can be filed down or just left. Providing you don't stick your hand in the bottom of the container, you won't get cut. Plus, lots of small holes provide a more even airflow than bigger holes.

 

[squantrill]

HI Everyone,


Do I need to buy any special MAKE, TYPE, DRILL BITS apart from the ones i have!

Any Constructive ideas would be appreciated.
.

Try sticky a cross of insulation tape over the bit you want to drill will stop the drill skating all over the place should hold it enough to get a good start..
Take car as when the damn things grip they fly hard

 

[wildrover]

I was just beaten to it.
Put a bit of tape (either insulating or masking ) and drill with a small drill to start off with.

 

[Eric_Methven]

If you find drilling difficult, just punch holes with a nail and hammer. But first, pack the can with damp sand and put the lid on. The damp sand will support the sides and stop them getting bashed in.

Eric

 

[crazydave]

punch an indent then use a 3mm bit and work it bigger but keep a grip on the drill as it can pull itself through pretty quick. you wont need lubrication for such a thin gauge and if your bits are sharp then it should go through easy enough

 

[1972]

The drill bits you have are probably the titanium coated type, basically the sames as normal HSS bits but the titanium acts as a lubricant, they should do the job with a bit of perseverance, as said above:

1. use a punch/nail to make an indent where you want to drill
2. drill a pilot hole first, 2-3mm
3. drill the bigger hole

Use oil to cool the bit if its having trouble and make sure you've got a good grip of the tin as the bit might catch and send it spinning when it breaks through.

If none of the above works you could try some cobalt drill bits, they will go through stainless without too much bother.

 

[Ogri the trog]

All the above and more besides,
When being manufactured, the biscuit tins/storage cans etc are pressed under incredibly high pressures. This leads to a "work hardening" of the surface, making it very difficult to begin drilling, especially if using hand tools. Your drill bit has nothing to bite into as the tip is very small and the surface very hard. To get through the surface (as has been said) whack it with a nail or punch - this distorts to a certain degree but not excessively - and should be removed by the increasing diameter of the drill that you'll be finally using. I support my SS pots on the sawn end of a round branch to hold the shape and support the work. Once you have a deep enough dent, the tip of the drill bit can start to bite into the steel and drill in a more recogniseable fashion. Don't forget to de-burr the edges of the hole once it is to size as the flakes can be horribly sharp.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Mesquite]

Deleted for personal reasons

 

[retrohiker]

I've had pretty good luck drilling Stainless steel using drill bits meant for cement/concrete. You might try that. if the other ideas don't work out. Good luck!!

 

[C_Claycomb]

I have just recently made a stove using a 5" diameter deep drawn stainless container for the hot part. I used a battery powered hand drill for most of it, could have done all, but thought I would try my pillar drill...not really better.

I started off using a carbide tipped "Universal" drill, basically it looks like a masonry bit, but the carbide is sharpened on one side only, so it cuts metal. For the larger, 10-12mm holes I used just a regular HSS drill. Titanium Nitride, the gold stuff, is very hard and will extend drill life, but regular HSS will do the job. Regarding drilling speed and pressure, In any one hole (I am talking about the big holes here) I started off with a lot of pressure, enough that the steel dimpled under the load, making it a little easier to keep the drill in the right spot. As the hole neared break out I slacked off the pressure, max rpms. Any time I had too much pressure the drill caught as it broke through and ripped a very messy hole

I used the carbide drill to make little dimples where I wanted to drill larger holes, I didn't find that the centre punch left enough impression.

 

[woof]

Hans, if you've got access to a bench mounted vice, put a piece of 2x4(or such) thats longer than the container in the vice,then put the container on to the wood, this should give you a firm surface to centre punch on to, and allow you to drill with out the container flexing.

 

[Bimble]

That cheap 90 peice drill bit set from china is junk.

The steel used in them is crap and that gold looking stuff makes no difference and is just cosmetic marketing ********....

Go and buy some better quality ones, most B&Q stock Bosh HSS drill bits ( probably still made in China but a bit better control over the materials and no shiny coating ). If these have been made from good steel they will cut 'enough' holes for your stove. They will still blunt quickly though and will have to be binned after.

I would start with a big nail and peice of wood. Put wood in a vice to act as a dolly. Detent you hole positions with the nail while supporting the can on the dolly ( Ideally you want the detent to be a bount 3mm in diameter, this will help the drill 'bite' the thin steel rather than just push it away.

Now get a 'decent' 3mm drill bit and drill pilot hole at a medium speed still using the dolly. Use a little water as the coolant/lubricant ( you are not trying to reduce the cutting action just stop the drill bit from getting to hot)

Move up drill sizes in 3mm increments untill you get the hole you want.

If you going to do a lot of stainless drilling you need to used carbide drills, as these will cost you about £15 each, it may be cheaper to buy a titanium pot and drill some holes in that.

 

[spamel]

No need to bin a drill bit, they can be re-sharpened and it's not that difficult to do. You'll need access to a grinding wheel, but it can be done.

 

[Bimble]

In industry regrinding is now almost obsolete, small drills are known as 'jobbers' and get replaced on every job, it just costs to much to regrind.

Regrinding drills properly is a difficult business. You will need a drill grinding jig. The ones you see in diy shops work to some extent for drilling softer materials ( wood, plastic,aluminium,etc) but they lack the necessery accuracy to do a good job on small bits. I suppose you could grind the bit every other hole but new 3mm drill bits arn't expensive and a grinding jig is a lot of extra hassel/money for an occasional user. With small drills your move likely to bugger the drill than sharpen it. When drilling a few holes in a stainless can, it's not really worth it.

obviously by 'bin it' I mean put it in the recycling......

 

[Tadpole]

I spent the first month of my apprenticeship learning how to sharpen drill by hand (no jig needed, just a steady hand and 100% focus on what you are doing), and can say that once you know what you are doing, sharpening drill is simple, and very cost effective. Even sharpening an 1/8th inch drill bits is a simple task. Modern good quality HSS bits can be sharpened and re-sharpened. It does not take but a minute or two, and once again, your drill is ‘feeding’ itself in to the metal.
The ones you get at B&Q are mostly rubbish, even some of the ‘better quality’ ones. It’s worth getting a decent set of drills, as you will get a life times worth of use out of most of them. If you use them right, there is never a reason to snap them or have them go so blunt that a few minutes on a grinding wheel will not solve.
You’d not throw away your Mora clipper just because it was blunt, so why throw away a drill that can be sharpened a dozen times and still cut as good as it did when it was new?

 

[Bootstrap Bob]

I can say that once you know what you are doing, sharpening drill is simple, and very cost effective. Even sharpening an 1/8th inch drill bits is a simple task. Modern good quality HSS bits can be sharpened and re-sharpened. It does not take but a minute or two, and once again, your drill is ‘feeding’ itself in to the metal.

Couldn't agree more, I was shown the technique at an early age by my dad and after a bit of practice was producing drills which cut better than they did when new

To answer I-Boy's original question, to drill stainless start off with a pilot hole as already mentioned. Then increase size but use slow speed with high pressure and periodically stop to let the drill bit and material cool. Work hardening of the material due to excess heat and burning out drills is your main concern. I spent a lot of time in my early working life drilling holes in large stainless dying machines for electrical fittings. Holes up to 2 inches were often needed and required hole saws - it is even more critical to let these cool as they are not easy to sharpen when blunt. Cutting fluid does help too.

 

[durulz]

Drilling stainless steel is a right sh!t. I tried all the above tips and none of them worked.
Instead, I used my Dremel with a rotary disc cutting bit and cut slots instead of holes!
God bless the Dremel. Went through the steel like a curry through a nun.
I no longer use the dates BC and AD.
No, instead I use BD (Before Dremel) and AD (After Dremel).
So, instead of drilling holes, cut slots! (except for the little holes at the top for the skewers. You'll need holes for them. But that's only four, and four little ones at that).