It’s a popular material in modern building, interior design and architecture. But working with stainless steel can present challenges during fabrication – keeping it clean and free of fingerprints, and drilling through it efficiently.

For drilling, it’s common knowledge that treating it like any other metal, and applying sustained pressure until the hole is complete, causes problems such as overheating and occasional breaking of the bit.

The solution: it seems a little bit obvious, but you need to give the bit and the metal time to cool.

If you continue to drill stainless steel in a sustained way, you’re only making it more difficult, the longer you keep it up – stainless steel hardens even more when heated to a certain degree.

So, to get the job done, all you need it a little bit of patience, and drill the material on shorter bursts, applying firm pressure. It will surprise you how little extra time it takes, and what you will save on damaged drill bits and imperfect holes. And needless to say, use a quality drill bit; the little bit extra you spend can make up for the time spent replacing them or struggling with inferior bits.

Or, try the other two ways illustrated in this video – cool water or cutting compound/lubricant. Check out the best application of these techniques:

Any other drilling or fastener-related questions? Get in touch with the experts in All Things Fixings now.