A step drill bit I can finally love

[Jim R.]

I've finally found one of those stepper drill bits I can finally tolerate so I thought for anybody who is interested, I'd tell you about it.

These are those drills that have multiple sizes on a single shank and are generally meant for drilling metal plate materials for tube sockets, headphone jacks, etc.  Most of these things are crude and cheap, have a single flute and can easily make a real mess of your nice piece of plate stock.

This particular one is actually a set of three, made by Greenlee, has a double flute design, hex shank, and drills from 1/8" up to 1-1/4" and has a special tip design that actually doesn't skid or wander.

I gave it a quick try in a hand drill, and even under those conditions, it worked very well, so later today or tomorrow, I plan to take them over to our shop and try them on the drill press.

First order of business will be drilling out the headphone jack holes on the s.e.x. and Crack for the Neutrik locking ones I have.

If this works out, then I will probably order some nice copper and build new top plates for my paramounts and/or paramours.

Anyway, these are not cheap -- normally retaailling for about $250 for the set, but got them on special at amazon for half that -- which again, I realize is not cheap, but if you do a lot of this sort of thing and then compare to a full set of greenlee knockoutpunches, it starts to make a lot of sense.

Hope somebody can use this information.

-- Jim

[Grainger49]

Jim,

Well, Duh!  (please take this in the spirit given, I'm a serious smart ass and can be taken wrong easily)  Greenlee are industrial tools, which I can't afford with no income.  (I want to work temp jobs but they are few and far between here)  You probably can't read the text under my avatar, it says, "Audio Cheapskate." 

In my experience in industry we all used Greenlee knockouts and conduit threaders.  They are the standard of the industry. 

Come to think of it, these would probably be available at a Pawn Shop.  This is where "drill motors" and all those other things that disappear from a project near the end, end up.  I spent a lot of time as the "owner" as construction crews are in a habit to call us.  So this post in conjunction with yours might help a lot of Bottleheads.

Enjoy!

[johnsonad]

I'm a fan of the Harbor Freight variety. Cheap and get the job done. I can always clean up the edges.

[Doc B.]

I'll vote for the other end of the spectrum, the fairly spendy titanium nitride coated step drills. I bought set about 15 or 16 years ago that get used a lot and they are just finally starting to cut a little less than great.

[Jim R.]

Dan,

Yes, my master drill index is all titanium nitride and they'll last a couple of forevers.

-- Jim

[HF9]

I've had good luck with the cheapie Harbor Freight ones so far. Maybe one day down the road I'll step up to a better stepper bit.

I actually use a GreenLee puncher for the Neutrik Locking jacks. The overlapping edge is so small on those that you need to have the hole perfectly sized. Be sure to take your time if you're using a stepper for it.

[Jim R.]

In hindsight I probably should have been more clear that I'm not recommending these for people who are going to build a kit or two here and there, and that this is much more appropriate for somebody who likes to build things and who is a bit of a tool nut -- and has been most of his life.

The inexpensive sets are just fine for an occasional use, and I didn't mean to imply that they were not.

Tomorrow is the acid test -- drilling larger holes in the crack, s.e.x. and stereomour top plates.  I will be using a azuma 9-pin socket in the stereomour and they are a bit larger than the typical 9-pin sockets, though the mounting holes line up perfectly.

Anyway, hope you guys didn't hink I was being critical of your choices to use the HF and other cheaper bits, or toools in general.

-- Jim

[johnsonad]

Not at all my friend.  There is no substitute for a quality tool.  This is one that I use infrequently and the cheap one gets me by ;^)

[Grainger49]

Not at all.  If I were working I would invest in professional tools.  I guess that is why I have two Fluke meters.  They were a tool of my trade.