When it comes to repair work in an apartment or in a house, in 90% of cases you will have to drill holes. Most often, at home, there are welds, pipes or hot metal products that need to be drilled. To perform the procedure efficiently, you must have the appropriate tool with you. And for such cases, cobalt drills for metal are just useful. Reviews about these tools are always positive and speak for themselves. In particular, we can say that these are powerful, wear-resistant, heat-resistant and reliable tools that will help the owner of the house to cope with the barrier in a matter of minutes and finish the repair work faster.
What kind of drill and what material are made
Cobalt drills are metal-cutting tools that are used to work with high-strength alloy steels and alloys with high degrees of viscosity. But also such drilling tools provide stable and high accuracy of holes, which greatly simplifies further work with them.
They are mainly made of high speed steel with the addition of cobalt. The most popular cobalt drills for metal are P6M5K5, P9K10, VK6 and VK8.
Depending on the number after the cobalt letter, you can find out how many percent of this solid metal is contained in the tool. For example, its content in tool high-speed steel P9K10 reaches almost 10%. Accordingly, in the composition of P6M5K5 and VK6 there is less cobalt.
Scope of cobalt drilling tools
If you need to drill several holes in viscous materials or hard alloys, for example, in copper or stainless steel, cobalt drills for metal are perfect for this. Practice shows that these tools are well suited for work:
- with heat and acid resistant steels;
- with steel molds;
- with corrosion resistant metals;
- with alloy alloys.
In addition, cobalt drills for metal can be useful not only at home, but also in production conditions for drilling cast iron, as well as for quick and accurate punching of other steels and alloys on metal cutting machines.
Benefits of Cobalt Drills
As noted earlier, the main advantages of these tools are high wear resistance and heat resistance. In other words, cobalt drills will last longer in everyday life, as they are less susceptible to mechanical damage and hold well at high melting points.
In addition, the advantages and features of these drilling tools also include:
- Large angle of sharpening (about 135 °), which is great for drilling round and smooth surfaces.
- A specific design that allows you to accurately and accurately drill large holes without additional tools.
- Polished groove for quick chip evacuation.
- Reinforced shank, due to which the possibility of breakdown is minimized, and accordingly, the operation period is increased.
- The presence of cobalt in the composition of the tool, which allows you to drill viscous metals such as aluminum, lead, copper or tin.
Features of the use of cobalt drills
Before drilling a hole, you need to consider:
- The quality of the metal in which the hole must be made. As already known, cobalt drills are recommended to be used only for high-strength alloy steels and alloys having high degrees of viscosity. In other situations, you need to select another tool.
- Hole diameter. Depending on the expected hole size, it is necessary to buy the most suitable cobalt drill bits for metal. For example, to drill a hole with a diameter of 9 mm, you need to purchase a drill with a diameter of 8.6 mm or 8.4 mm, because due to the impact force of the tool, the hole will necessarily increase.
- Depth of the required hole. If, for example, it will be drilled under the dowel, then you need to compare its length with the size of the drill and choose a tool 2-3 mm larger.
- Equipment used for drilling, such as a hammer drill or drill. It is worth remembering that these two devices are fundamentally different. For example, drill shanks will be different for a hammer drill and a drill. And finally, the puncher serves more for chiselling, while the drill is only suitable for drilling.
- The surface to be treated. A cobalt drill is perfect for a round or smooth surface of a metal product, but is unlikely to be so effective on a plane with a high level of roughness.
Drilling features
To extend the life of any tool, including the drill, you need to follow some rules. For example, it is not recommended to use cobalt drills at high speeds, especially when removing chips from the hole. This will help prevent jamming and tool breakage.
In the event that the drilling procedure is long, it is necessary to prevent overheating of the tool. To do this, it is recommended to water it with oleic acid or take small breaks.