Drilling hole in magnet

[dlane]

guess I lost a beer, a friend said I couldn't drill a hole in a regular speaker type magnet , bet a beer I could
Tried it and no luck , barely left a mark on it. I didn't try a carbide drill just a cobalt drill
What's up with that , seems soft enough to drill, ?

 

[chips&more]

I don’t think you could EDM it either? I think the magnetic swarf from the process would hang around and not flush out. The swarf would probably “stick around” and short things out. What about a diamond coated hole saw. Like the ones for making holes in tile and such. I’ll bet that would work. In fact, I’ll bet a beer on it!

 

[dlane]

It was just a I bet you can't thing , he was rite , the mark the drill left could barely be seen there was no swarf it didn't Even try to drill
Chips, I don't have a diamond hole saw , I do have some diamond burrs I'll see if they leave a mark.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

diamond or carbide should cut it!
a fancy new water jet or laser cutter would also suffice for the hard to cut magnets!

 

[kd4gij]

hone a masonry bit and have at it.

 

[ch2co]

Most magnets today are ceramic bound ferrite aren't they? So anything that cuts through ceramics should suffice, yes?

 

[darkzero]

Even if you did use carbide I would think it still can't be done with a regular spiral flute drill. Magnets are very brittle, I would think it will just shatter & you will not get a clean hole.

But a ceramic tile bit or diamond bit should do a better job.

 

[John_Dennis]

you can get tiny 3/8 and 1/2 inch diamond hole saws for drilling holes in glass at Harbor Freight or Amazon. Slow speed, light feed, and water coolant.

 

[tertiaryjim]

If it's a cast iron magnet you'll have a hard time getting carbide to drill it.
The diamond should work though slowly.

 

[SmokeWalker]

guess I lost a beer, a friend said I couldn't drill a hole in a regular speaker type magnet , bet a beer I could
Tried it and no luck , barely left a mark on it. I didn't try a carbide drill just a cobalt drill
What's up with that , seems soft enough to drill, ?

Gotta watch this. He said drill. Not EDM, or waterjet.

1. Check the drill with a file and see if it can take it. If it files, get out your sharpest HSS drill, an air gun, put it in your LATHE or MILL and, blowing air at it to keep the chips off, give it a try.
2. If it won't be filed, find a magnet that will! He didn't say which magnet.
3. You don't want to be doing this free hand. That'll take too long.