How Can I Drill Into Hardened Steel Calipers?

brino said:
Still working on my home-made EDM....not quite there yet.
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I can't wait to hear.... 8 "Sparkys" (3 Agie CNC with 3R "Macro" tooling), (5 Eltee "conventional" each with about every type of 3R "Mini" accessory and tooling available including rotary heads and orbiting heads)....and 2 Agie "Wire Sparkys"
 
I was thinking they were SS. Might not work well with the electronics but I run water over SS while cutting. If it gets hot it's hard. For big holes try step drills. They always work well for me.
 
I use all M42 bits here with good success . I would imagine carbide would be better , just more expensive and maybe easier to break.
This small M42 set works well and is pretty cheap https://amzn.com/B007BTPU6W
On Ebay , the seller Drillhog has good prices on M42 drills , he also has "Or Best Offer" on some ...and he "deals" a bit .
Good luck with the caliper, post some pics !
~Steve
 
Mounted on a machine,warping the jaws might be o.k..But,what if at some future time you want them back as regular calipers?
 
Subwayrocket said:
I use all M42 bits here with good success . I would imagine carbide would be better , just more expensive and maybe easier to break.
This small M42 set works well and is pretty cheap https://amzn.com/B007BTPU6W
On Ebay , the seller Drillhog has good prices on M42 drills , he also has "Or Best Offer" on some ...and he "deals" a bit .
Good luck with the caliper, post some pics !
~Steve
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I don't have a numbered set (wish I did, they're on my list), lettered, or metric set but I have a fractional set here at home, also very good drills for harder, tougher work!
I'm "all about carbide" though but yes, ya' sure gotta be on top of it all (more so) with carbide drills because easy to "snap, crackle, pop!" (lol)
 
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Christian Poulsen said:
I don't have a numbered set (wish I did, they're on my list), lettered, or metric set but I have a fractional set here at home, also very good drills for harder, tougher work!
I'm "all about carbide" though but yes, ya' sure gotta be on top of it all (more so) with carbide drills because easy to "snap, crackle, pop!" (lol)
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I'd like to have a set of carbide drills, but they are expensive. I haven't had anything in my mill that the M42 drills wouldn't cut. I got that set a few years back and it was only $19 ...now it's 28 . Too many people left good reviews ...lol I think it's a good set for someone starting out in milling . https://amzn.com/B007BTPU6W
I'll be watching to see how it comes out for the OP . I have the same mill and would like to have a quill DRO too .
 
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george wilson said:
Mounted on a machine,warping the jaws might be o.k..But,what if at some future time you want them back as regular calipers?
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At my house they are a consumable. I try to take care of them but they get well used. I've had 5 of them I believe which is pretty good considering how much I use them. The get used in the machine shop, welding shop, at the reloading bench, out in the wood working area, & even in the driveway under the hood or under the car. At $10 they are disposable. I used to be even more genteel with them until I learned how nice of a scribe they make.
 
I don't rely on $10.00 calipers . Depends upon the accuracy you expect,of course. Some of them aren't bad,really. I think my Starrett cost $125.00. My first one was a Craftsman,which Sears sold. It lasted several years, was a good caliper, and was dropped a few times on concrete. The 3rd. drop did it in,IIRC!:)

I had a Mitutoyo that was a good caliper for several years. It finally went bad.
 
To each there own but I don't count on calipers when I need accuracy but I'll tell you that I've compared readings from my $9.99 calipers from HF to my micrometers & the reading is within half a thou. My newest pair will read a tenthou. They are very accurate & repeatable. For my use I really don't need any accuracy only repeatability since everything I do is measured in shop & with the same tool.
 
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