Five Tips for Using Carbide Drill Bits
Dullness
You should always be aware of how dull the tip is. You can tell if your carbide drill bits are dull when they don’t cut as fast as they did when they were new. When this happens, you need to have your carbide drill bits resharpened by a professional. Dull tips will significantly reduce the lifespan of the drill bit.
Pressure
You should always use enough pressure to keep your carbide drill bits in the drill. Applying adequate pressure will also keep the tip cutting and not just rubbing the surface of the material. However, while using this pressure, you need to be sure you don’t overload the drill.
Depth
Carbide drill bits have spiral flutes that are designed to remove dust and debris from the hole. You should never drill deeper than the length of these flutes. Doing so will cause debris to clog in the flutes. This will also significantly reduce the lifespan of your carbide drill bits.
Heat
You need to avoid drilling too fast when you are using carbide drill bits. If you drill too fast, the tip will likely turn red. This will indicate that there is too much friction and build up of heat. Slower speeds will not create as much heat when using carbide drill bits. You should try to avoid using these bits when the drill is going faster than 200 revolutions per minute.
Realignment
You may be tempted to try to realign a hole that is off-center after you have already started drilling. You should avoid trying to realign the hole by putting side pressure on the carbide drill bits. This will likely cause them to break.
These are a few tips for using carbide drill bits. You should always pay attention to how dull the bits have gotten and have them resharpened as needed. You should also use enough pressure to keep the carbide drill bits in the tool, but not enough to overload the drill. Make sure that you don’t use these drill bits at very fast speeds because there will be too much friction and build up of heat.
