how do i safely drill a hole in a metal rod at home?

Answer 1

Kenny G had good advice.

A few other things:
- use sharp drill bits. dull bits take way too long to cut.
- start with a small drill bit for a pilot hole and progressively use larger ones until you reach your final size
- if the rod is solid, use cutting oil (or even plain motor oil) to lubricate the drill bit and minimize friction
- try to drill at slower speeds -- high drill speeds will burn out the bit and it will wander easily. If you get spiral cuttings, you are doing fine. If you get lots of chips, you are going too fast.

Answer 2

It depends how accurate you want the holes. For just one, centre punch it then clamp it in a vise with the punch mark vertical and use a drill press, or a hand drill being careful and starting with a sharp small-diameter bit and working up to the final size. A center drill bit would be a good idea - I should get some myself :-) If you want multiple holes all lined up and all bang through the centre of the rod, you will need to be much more careful and won't do it with a hand drill. I'd probably make some kind of jig that allowed the rod to be positioned reproducibly every time, maybe with pins to centre the previous holes

Answer 3

Before drilling it , use a punch and a hammer to put an indention into the rod so the drill bit will have something to grab onto and not run all over your piece. If you have a peice of angle iron or channel place the rod into the inside corner to help hold it in place. You could most likely put two pieces of wood together to creat the same kind of thing if the angle iron is not accessible.

Answer 4

These are tricky to do without a drill press and a vee shaped vice to hold the rod in place. With much patience and a good vice to hold the work, you may be able to do it with a hand drill, but I would wear safety glasses and have some extra drill bits. Also a back-up plan when it doesn't work out.

Answer 5

you'll need to clamp the rod so it doesn't spin or move when you drill it. if you don't have a vice wrap the rod in a t-towel and put it between some books and neel on it this will have the same effect. if you are neeling over it you'll be able to look down vertically and drill a straight hole all the way through.

Answer 6

Make sure you use eye protection.