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Boring small holes in drop forged wrenches.

J

JustaDB

Ultra Member
Without getting into too many details, I have need to bore 2 holes, 9/64" (~3.5mm) in diameter, through the handles of each of a dozen drop forged combination wrenches. Drilling isn't working well. @BaitMaster noted that I could consider heat treatment & anneal the wrenches. While that would probably work, I have concerns that it wold destroy the chrome. If no other option exists, I'll go that route. Otherwise, I'd like to keep the chrome intact.

Would a centre cutting carbide end mill work? Something else?

TIA
 
I had a similar problem, drilling 3/16 through a hardened shaft. None of my bits would take a bite, even a solid carbide end mill, but HiRoc drills made by M.A. Ford did the job perfectly. They require a very rigid setup, so don't try it on a standard drill press.
 
JustaDB said:
Without getting into too many details, I have need to bore 2 holes, 9/64" (~3.5mm) in diameter, through the handles of each of a dozen drop forged combination wrenches. Drilling isn't working well. @BaitMaster noted that I could consider heat treatment & anneal the wrenches. While that would probably work, I have concerns that it wold destroy the chrome. If no other option exists, I'll go that route. Otherwise, I'd like to keep the chrome intact.

Would a centre cutting carbide end mill work? Something else?

TIA
Click to expand...
Way to leave out 3/4 of the story

“Not working well” lol
 
As a farmer I encounter forged stuff regularly. It can be a bitch to machine.

+1 on carbide spot drill and then carbide drill.

I wouldn't recommend a carbide endmill.

A note from ONE experiment. After you get the drill started use lower speed than normal and some pressure. For reasons I don't fully understand, this helps keep the cut going on tough materials. Use fluid or air to keep the cut clean. As noted above, I only did this once as a last resort. So my confidence isn't normalized. But it's officially in my tips N tricks to try now. If you do use it, please let us know how it went so we can build more confidence in the method.
 
What is the purpose of the holes? If location & size aren't super critical could use a rotary tool and diamond bit.
 
+1 to eotrfish. Such small holes will be a mess to do if using mechanical means. Waterjet undersized, and then remove by end mill is the approach I would use. Expect to destroy a bunch of drills and/or end mills.

The holes can be laser cut, but will add heat to the wrench. Lasercut holes are not straight, and you haven't mentioned it the holes need to be precise, or what surface finish you need. What is the value of the work? All of the suggestions above is going to cost you at least 25+$ per hole.

For 700USD you can buy an offshore portable sinker EDM, and then consume about 2 electrodes. By far the cheapest approach.
 
Dabbler said:
For 700USD you can buy an offshore portable sinker EDM, and then consume about 2 electrodes. By far the cheapest approach.
Click to expand...

I've always wanted edm for a variety of reasons. But the price tag always stopped me cold. 700 US will be over 1000 Cdn. Although that is significantly less that what my earlier searches found, it's still too rich for my blood. It's all about priorities and bang for my buck.

No doubt it will work though.....
 
Susquatch said:
I've always wanted edm for a variety of reasons. But the price tag always stopped me cold. 700 US will be over 1000 Cdn. Although that is significantly less that what my earlier searches found, it's still too rich for my blood. It's all about priorities and bang for my buck.

No doubt it will work though.....
Click to expand...
Home built solenoid buzzer types aren’t too expensive and can also be used to burn out broken taps.
 
JustaDB said:
I'm using the wrenches as drawer handles.
Click to expand...
So reasonable location & hole tolerances. I would make a holding fixture so that you just have to flip the wrench end for end to locate the holes. Try using a diamond bit at the highest speed you can get and if that doesn’t work invest in a rotary tool with drill press stand - doesn’t need to be fancy and HF or Amazon bits should be enough.
 
JustaDB said:
I'm using the wrenches as drawer handles.
Click to expand...
Further to this... (and thx, @YYCHM)

I've been working on that wooden tool box to hold my lathe/mill tooling & metrology. Yes, still. I thought about drawer handles for some time, wanting an old school look that was still fairly functional. I'd found some interesting forged handles, but they were very expensive & multiply that by 13 drawers, too much coin. I'd settled on a set of those forged, cup shaped pulls similar to these. Ordered in a set, put them aside until such time that I could install them.

Subsequent to that, I came across an old Beach tool box of Dad's & found some wrenches that immediately sparked the idea of using them for handles. While searching for the cup pulls I had run across some glass drawer pulls that were attached w/ brass fasteners. I thought they would look nice against the wrenches. Ordered some in, now I need to bore holes to fit. Add in a 1" black spacer behind the wrench and the tool box will be nearly done.
 
I was able to drill some holes in Princess Auto wrenches to use them for drawer pulls.

The trick seemed to be making sure that the drill never slipped, as soon as it did the metal looked like it work hardened and then the drill bit would be destroyed.

I did try putting them in the barbeque and then cooling it down as slow as I could, don’t know if that did anything, I doubt it.

IMG_9838.jpeg

This was 20 years ago… I believe I first tried with minimal pressure and noticed I could get a little way in before the drill bit was destroyed, and each drill bit got me a little further in. I then talked to a friend who suggested work hardening and making sure a chip was alway coming off. For good measure I tried the barbeque and then had another go. If memory serves me correctly I was able to drill all the remaining holes with minimal destruction of drill bits…

Good luck!
 
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