Drilling copper.
 

A very newbie question, but never mind :)

When drilling small precise holes into copper, what is best on the drill? high speed or low speed?

My bench drill does between 650rpm and 2500rpm (5 speeds inbetween) so which would be best to use?

Cheers folks.

high speed with coolant would be your best bet, if you dont have anything meant for drilling, use motor oil.

definately use higher speeds for smaller holes, if your not careful itll gum up and snap the bits, you should get the feel of it, go slowly.


Jon

Cool, cheers for that mate, I'll let you know how it goes :)

high speed??? ive been using it at low speed with oil of course.

ill try at high speed then

The business end of a twist drill acts like a pair of chisels shaving the work - upward in a spiral incidentally. You can judge your drilling by the shavings. Ideally, they'll form a double helix of very thin ribbons. To get that, you match the speed to the downward pressure. Anything else will dull or overheat the bit.

You can just grind through the copper at high speeds, but this costs bits and cuts a very slightly oversized hole.

So, speed set low. For pressure - use the force, luke.