Small drill, hard wood, what's the best lubricant?

[Losos]

I have had to drill a large number of small pilot holes in some very hard Oak. The drill is 3mm.

The problem I'm having is that the drill is not clearing the swarf and it appears to be building up in the flutes and of course the next thing is smoke and a burning smell :roll:

I've tried '3 in 1' as a lubricant, didn't seem to help much.

Before you ask - yes, I am withdrawing the drill frequently, that has prevented the drill breaking which it might have done but every time I withdraw the bit the flutes are totally clogged up with waste and clearing them with a pointy object is a pain :!:

So would I be better off using water :?: or something else :?: does it help if the drill is faster :?: (I'm using a cordless, as you know these are slower than mains drills)

I don't get the problem in softwood, or even in some other hardwoods, but this dam Oak is like drilling into rock :lol:

Any thoughts greatly appreciated

 

[Jacob]

Sharper drill?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Sharper, better quality drill?

 

[Alvan]

Try using a straight fluted drill, not a twist. You will have to withdraw it often.
Æ

 

[doorframe]

Definitely agree re sharper / better quality bit. And as fast as you can get, within reason. Candle wax works well, on the tip and in the flutes.

The fastest cordless I've got only gives about 1450 rpm in top gear. Barely useable for small bits. My small mains drill gives 3x as fast and works much better. A drill press is better again.

Roy

 

[Stormer1940]

Have you tried tallow? You can use it on screw threads as well when winding into hardwoods

http://www.thesitebox.com/hand-tools/pl ... allow.aspx

Try the above as well but this is great stuff.

 

[Losos]

Phil - the drill hasn't been used much but it was part of a 'cheap' set
Alvan - I don't have any straight fluted but will look out for some, thanks for the tip.
Roy - Yes, the cordless is slow, will try the mains drill next time.
Stormer - Don't have any 'Tallow' but will get some next time I'm ordering stuff.

Thanks for all the help guys, I think I have a 3mm which has never been used and in the mains drill hopefully it will perform better, this dam Oak is one of the hardest I've ever come across, mind you as a part timer I don't often use Oak :roll:

 

[doorframe]

Another thought re lubricant. Well, more of a memory than a thought. Some of the 'old boys' used to keep a bar of soap in their pocket. Used it on screws, so why not drill bits? Never tried it myself, but I bet Rico has!!!

Roy

 

[Stormer1940]

Another thought re lubricant. Well, more of a memory than a thought. Some of the 'old boys' used to keep a bar of soap in their pocket. Used it on screws, so why not drill bits? Never tried it myself, but I bet Rico has!!!

Roy

That will be the Tallow in it :wink:

 

[AndyT]

I just bought some "Renaissance" brand microcrystalline wax, and the instruction leaflet says:

"New ideas for using the wax continually reach the manufacturers. For instance, a model ship maker reported that dipping small-diameter wood drills into the wax almost eliminated drill breakage when working on hardwoods."

So that might be worth trying.

 

[woodyfxr]

The mention of better drills is very true, i looked at sets up to 10mm there are loads ranging in price around the £30.00 mark. I came to a Dormer set £120.00...............you get what you pay for. Dormer are excellent drills as i remamber from my apprenticship days.
As 'Rico' says speed is vital to a small drill but so is feed in.
Another good lubricant for wood is good ol soap, and it wont harm the wood. (I like Fairy soap nice on my hands)

 

[NLH]

Don't use any lube when drilling wood, the shavings will clog the bit quicker as they now have an oil to stick to,

The best way to work with hard wood is to measure the shank of the screw, not the threads and deduct 1mm this is the perfect size hole, also use candle wax to lube the screw before driving it in

Also the dewalt extreme 2 hss bits are very good for metal wood and plastic

Later on Nathan

 

[mn pete]

Another vote for soap here. With a nice sharp bit and a couple sideways strokes across a bar of soap, it'll work wonders.

 

[Eric The Viking]

[mods: this ought to be in 'buying advice' I guess]

I can't be the only one on here who's tried and failed to find Dormer drills at sensible prices, surely?

I've got four #10 sets (two imperial and two metric), and I'd love to keep them going, but I can't find replacements for individual drills. The usual suspects only seem to stock Chinese ones or Bosch. The latter aren't bad (I've got some long-series 8mm ones for dowelling, etc.) but they aren't a patch on Dormer, SKF, Presto etc.

Any recommendations for suppliers? I don't mind buying in 10s or dozens, if the quality and price are sensible.

E.