Tooling up - Drills

Your drills should be fine. Keep in mind, drills are not precision tools. They are not made to ream or bore holes, they drill holes. If you need a precision hole with an accuracy better than a drill can produce, you have to use a boring head, reamer, hone, lap, etc.

As for grabbing for aluminum, it's not an issue. Your good :))
 
I have a full set of both the black oxide and the TiN coated drills. I typically go to the TiNs first because they wear better. I don't drill anything anymore without using some sort of lube, usually Tap Magic or the 4oz lube sold under the Craftsman brand. With the right speed, feed and lube a good drill should cut well through about any normal home shop material. I drill lots of aluminum -AN fittings to enlarge the bore and with a little lube a TiN drill leaves a nice finish. Same with the black oxide units. ATF is also a good lube for drilling aluminum. Head porters use it on their carbide cutting burrs to keep the aluminum from clogging up the flutes.

If I have a larger hole - 1/2 or better - I usually buy a good quality drill to make the best effort first time. Don't have many larger than 1/2, other than a few Deming units and a couple for some pipe tap size holes. I keep a bunch of HF drill packs in a drawer with the most common 1/4 and under sizes. Buy on sale cheap, break or mess one up - toss and grab another.

Used with proper care, what you have on hand should serve you well.
 
Well, it seems that if I take it slowly and use plenty of coolant, I should be fine. Thanks guys!
 
Careful about going too slow on drilling. You need to go fast enough and with enough pressure that you produce a piece of curling swarf off the bit....kinda like an old style apple peeler does. Too much pressure and too fast of a feed, and you will grab and spin the bit within the chuck and can dull it in a hurry. Not enough pressure or feed rate and you will end up just heating up the bit and the material without getting your hole drilled cleanly and efficiently. When you have it all correct, the bit shears the material as it progresses, like a good and sharp chisel does to wood.

Here is a youtube video by Abom79, that shows how having the speeds and feeds correct, will make a nice hole. BTW...he is hand feeding the bit via the tailstock. If you only get short worms, don't worry, as you are getting close to having everything just right and with some experience it will come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DULPdLPQtw8
 
Thanks for all the tips!
When I said "slowly", I didn't mean the actual rpm/feed speed but rather "taking the time to check everything" :)
 
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