Any lubrication is better than no lubrication but cutting oils will provide the best results.

Anything is fine with TiN or cobalt bits. Even dry for soft, thin steel like hinges.

Deep drills, hard material, etc, the fluid starts to matter, but not so much for small stuff.

I like the thread cutting oil from the plumbing department for most stuff, but magic tap cutting fluid is awesome for the tough jobs.

should be ok to use the 3 in 1 oil, or used oil motor has worked for me

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These are cheap bits and the best thing you can do is keep the speed down on the drill and let the bit do the work.

Just to drill holes in some hinges? Probably don’t need any fluid honestly. But the answer to your question is yes.

You dont need lube to drill hinges

I dont use lube unless the drillbit is larger like 1/2" going through 1/4"+ steel

In that case, motor oil is the best oil for cutting and drilling. It doubles as being inexpensive

Any metal cutting job benefits from lube, tap magic, 3-1 oil, hell, even Crisco or Astroglide.

Lube is not only for the cutting edge, but helps the flutes on a stupid 0.54$ drill bit clear the cuttings.

Get a lube stick. Think a glue stick but for lube.

Step 1: Mark your holes

Step 2: use a center punch or an automatic punch on your marks

Now you're ready to drill. Any time you're drilling small metal bits use a vise or a pair of pliers, not your fingers.

You're going to use the drill at a low speed with moderate pressure. You can get away without using lubricant for small holes on thin & soft metals, but for anything hardened or anything thick you want to use a cutting oil. Even repeated drilling of thin stock can prematurely dull bits

3-1 oil will work in a pinch, but it's not the best oil for the job. If you're allergic to buying cutting oil, 10w30 motor oil works well and automatic transmission fluid is magical stuff.

Once you're done, clean your (oily) parts with varsol or mineral spirits, dry with a rag and re-oil the hinge. Make sure to dispose of your rags safely.

Both sides of the lube/no lube argument has merit for a one time small job. That said, is still have a set of HSS bits that are pretty decent because I use ATF when I use them on steel. Paper towels are way cheaper than bits

Windex.

Not sarcasm. Windex works. Great for drilling in areas where oil splatter would be of concern.

A light film is all you need.

Lots of not quite conflicting suggestions here. Let me summarize. A light film of oil is a good thing. Running dry with TiN in mild steel is fine for small jobs with cheap drills. A light coat of oil that will polymerize when heated will make it cut a little better, generate a little less heat and the edge last longer.

would 91% isopropyl alcohol work to clean off any residue left by 3 in 1 all temp silicone lubricant? Or what works?

would 91% isopropyl alcohol work to clean off any residue left by 3 in 1 all temp silicone lubricant?

"Any time you're drilling small metal bits use a vise or a pair of pliers, not your fingers. "

Was installing leaf guard for my old man and he wanted to help.

Essentially you remove the bottom row of screws,install mesh and screw down a saddle,like this

Even though the saddle and roof are pre drilled you need to do careful,I told him to keep a firm grip in the saddle when he first inserted the screw as it would catch and helicopter.

I reckon it was five minutes later he called me over to say he'd had a accident, really did a number on his hand.

Acetone would be the way to go, I believe. However, just wipe out the flutes with a dry cloth is plenty. You really want to keep that microscopic thin layer of oil on at all times. It won't protect any better than the TiN, but it will protect what is exposed where the coating may have chipped. This practice is far more valuable on uncoated steel tools.

In your position I would do it dry, but if I used lube, I would just wipe the hinges down really good with a rag or paper towel and call it good. If you are painting them or something then you need to clean them thoroughly, otherwise it doesn’t matter as long as it isn’t dripping off.

Tangentially related: once done drilling those holes, debur them with a chamfer bit (VERY light pressure, or it'll end up looking like a countersink, unless that's your goal), if they're available, or with a much larger bit.

Getting rid of those burrs can save you from getting cut

Source: first week on the job, mangled my hands, until an older shop guy pointed out why I was an idiot, laughing his ass off at me. Burrs hurt

if you are really in a pinch, just use dish soap to clean everything after. That will cut the remaining oil. probably just wiping with a rag after would be plenty good enough.

>With something this small, dont worry about lube.

Ayy

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I'm an HVAC/R tech and I know plenty of guys with scars that took multiple stitches from "a little piece of sheet metal" they thought they could just drill freehand.

Trust me, sheet metal bites hard enough without putting power tools into the mix.

Yeah, uncoated (especially black oxide) tools really like to be kept oiled.

What they're trying to say is, yes.

You can use canola oil if you want.

All cutting fluid does is cool the bit and let chips flow away slightly easier. It's not a magic fluid. Anything works.

So you are saying I should swap Crisco for my Astroglide when I’m doing some hardcore drilling?

Dish soap? You must like your hinges rusty. Paper towel to clean off the excess oil and the hinges would benefit from anything else left on it.

I worked in a machine shop for more than 30 years, and we bought and used WD40 for drilling and milling cutting oil. It lubricates and dries fast so there is less mess. It smokes a lot though. For tapping holes we used Tap Magic.

Crisco will do a lot of things. but, Astroglide will get a school-bus into a doghouse.

Lol whoops forgot it was a hinge. Yeah don’t put them in water.

Didn't know my wife was browsing r/DIY

Any oil is better than no oil my friend, spit on it and she'll grab more than not.

A guy at our company was drilling hanger strap. The strap wrapped around his pinky and degloved it.

Sure.

Tap Magic tho

truly. it makes the difference between caring about how many holes your tap can make before replacing and not caring at all

Bar soap works well, with no mess...

"Lube is lube"

What ?

Are you Greek?

Yes, but motor oil is better, any oil is better than none at all. And drill at a slow speed if your drill has variable speed. If not, then dont let the bit get too hot, use more oil.

I just use a little spit for a small job like this. It's nature's lube. Works surprising well for what is it lol.

Any kind of lube, yeah

Well, that escalated quickly.

Use used motor oil dissolved in alcohol like isopropyl. Thinner oil allows you to cut. Thick oil requires more pressure or slower speed to cut. But regardless, anything is better than nothing. Heck, even water works and it works great, except it can cause machine rust. However you can mix water and downy soap and that works great too.

Yes, acetone lubricates and it evaporates completely without any traces at all.

Not really. Oils are oils, alcohols are alcohols. Alcohol wouldn't do much more than water. Oil can readily be dissolved in lighter oils (mineral spirits) or even WD-40, in a pinch. From there, you can just use soapy water, or degreaser if you have it. You can also try dishwasher detergent, which is often sodium hydroxide, but then you gotta worry about rusting your part. Bottom line - just use soap and water. If that doesn't do it, slather it up with WD-40 and then try to wash it off with soap and water again.

Use step drills on sheet metal too. There's no upward force component to pull it out of the clamps or vise.

It's a sheet of metal... That's what they make knives out of. Just sayin

> Any time you're drilling small metal bits use a vise or a pair of pliers, not your fingers

I second this, so does the scar on my finger.

I've had worse injuries, but few caused worse pain.

I just use Harbor Freight drill bits until they start glowing and try to weld themselves to the metal. That's about when I buy another set.

I have a small grease gun that I keep beside the drill press, works a treat. As the drill heats up, the grease gets back down onto the cutting surface from the drill bit.

Abort thread! Abort thread! Set heading for /r/brainbleach, ahead full!

Machinery's Handbook recommends plant-based oils such as rapeseed (canola) oil for cutting fluid. I think most cutting oils you buy off the shelf are a mixture of mineral oil and rapeseed oil (with some additives probably). I tend to use my own blend of coconut oil and mineral oil because it smells nice when it heats up.

I don't think it's worth it in your case though. I'd just do it dry and avoid the mess.

pretends that this means he was wearing work gloves and they got removed, leaving his hand intact

The metal brackets they use for securing wooden fences and roofing are great for slicing open your fingers without you even realizing. They should put a warning sign on the bins in the hardware store.

I have one of those dinky little oil cans from harbor freight that I keep full of automatic transmission fluid, works pretty good. Works good as a temperature indicator too. It starts wicking out or changing color when it starts getting too hot.

And for cast iron you don't need lube

For most applications you dont need any cutting fluid. And oil is not a substitute for cutting fluid. Oils are used to stop friction and thats the opposite of what you want when you are tying to cut. Cutting fluids help metal to metal contact and draw the heat away from the tool and work.

When drilling you make a mess anyways

Mess always has to be cleaned anyways

You have to dispose of your drilling mess anyways (you sure dislike making a mess that you have to mention it thrice, diy might not be for you)

Its not a waste if it does something (it does if not much)

Instead of 'worrying', see it a case of good practice.

Is oil 'required' for this? Well no. But it certainly wont hurt anything other than your fear of having to clean up after :p

1 like = 1 glove for this poor man who lost one, humbly, don't scroll away.

I don't drill metal very often, but when I do I usually use water. Keeps the temperature down and is much easier to clean up.

I worked at my dad's HVAC company as a teenager, then a factory from 18-23, and then went to college and have sat in front of a computer for the last 20 years. A couple years ago I bought some property that requires about 15-30 hours of labor a week.

Thats all to say that just recently I've decided that part of dressing for working is putting on gloves. I watch a lot of Andrew Camarata videos and similar for inspiration. I don't understand how that guy's hands aren't chewed to bits from doing the stuff he does with no gloves. I know a lot of it is skill, but still, he must have hand-calluses like baseball mitts or something.

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Oh it's silicone? Silicone lubricant is not good for drilling at all. It might work before the bulk solvent evaporates but yeah find something else.

Also you are using titanium nitride coated Cobalt steel drill bits, you 100% do not need any cutting fluid for this small job. And just like a knife, drill bits can be easily sharpened and reused.

I know you have drill bits, but if you're drilling in sheetmetal (hinges), I might advise on using a step drill bit.
These work alot better on drilling holes in thin metal and enlarging holes. Twist drill bits tend to "grab" sheet metal, and when enlarging holes break off at the small cutting area (dulling).

Yep. Just woke the wife up with my cackling.

I read that in Mr. Incredible's voice and it was fucking terrifying.

"Can I use 3 in 1 oil for A-na(i)l?"

I don't have much advice, but I just want to thank you for proving I'm not alone in asking these kinds of borderline-neurotic questions about minor details instead of just guessing and getting on with it.

NEVER wear gloves when working with rotating machinery.. Better a small cut from a sharp edge or shavings than losing a finger or more.. First thing you learn when working with metal... I saw horrible things.

And if you're having long hair, at least tie them together, better wear a cap or dew rag.. A drill press scalps you better than an Indian chief!

I am friends with a hand surgeon. At home one weekend I severed the tendons that extend my fingers on a sharp metal edge. My friend fixed it. During the surgery he woke me up long enough to show me that he had repaired each tendon with different colored sutures and if I moved my fingers it would look just like that scene in T2 where Arnold demonstrated to the scientist that he was really a cyborg. He was right. It looked just like that. Very cool, but it's been heavy leather gloves around sheet metal since.

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Its learning from other peoples mistakes, and understanding when to be careful enough, and when you can get away with hot-dogging it.

You get good judgment from experience, and you get experience from bad judgment.

"The word Windex come from the Greek winopolous and dexopilae, meaning wipe and clean...you are too skinny, you need to eat more!"

I dont know whats in tap magic, but I worked for a while in a shop that always had a can next to the drill press.

The holes got drilled faster, and the drill bits lasted longer. Don't ask me how.

I'm unfamiliar with him but in the YouTube thumbnails I see him wearing gloves at least once. The other commenter is right however if you're around any spinning items you need to keep all hair fabric and leather far far away from it because very bad things can happen.

Gloves are great for home improvement work, not so great for shop work.

Sure, I'm not saying he's anti-glove or anything, he wears them when almost any sane person would wear them.

Its times like this though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uriyTlXVtBg&t=390s

Changing an ATV muffler.

Now, I know that many, many people would do this without gloves.

But my knuckles would be banged to hell and I'd have scratches all over my hands and arms if I did that job without gloves.

Dun dun dundundun. Dun dun dundundun.

What step bits lack in pull they make up for in showering you with hot metal shavings.

Plus, the places you'd use a vari-bit aren't the ones you'd normally be using clamps for.