EZ sheet metal drilling

[C9]

Not a how-to, just a recommendation on a product.

Most of you know I'm in the midst of moving - and on the last trailer load (shop stuff) that I'm gonna move.
The 'real' movers come next week.

One of the big problems has been getting my 15'2" long about 500# workbench ready to go.
To that end I stuck a couple of pre-drilled 15' long 1/8 x 2" angle pieces under the legs so I could slide it without having the sheet metal legs collapse.

I wasn't looking forward to drilling the sheet metal legs to match the 3/8" holes in the angle skids.
Seems like it takes forever for a regular drill to get through sheet metal when using a hand-held drill.
Granted, I could have pilot drilled the angle pieces, but it was a lot easier to drill it once and then get it under the workbench legs.
Removal and drilling the angle pieces twice wasn't too appealing.

To that end I went looking for a sheet metal drill and found a Dewalt Pilot Point Tip 16 drill index at Orchard Supply.
They have a 29 drill index as well, but I didn't see those in stock.
Orchard Supply is owned by Sears so you could get the bigger index at Sears.

Anyway, the drills start at 1/16" and go to 3/8".
The count comes out a little off because they give you two 1/16" drills.
Some good thinking there.
Drill sizes 7/64 and down do not have the power point, but the rest do.
The Power Point being in effect a small sized, built in pilot drill scaled to match the drill size proper.
Along with that, the flute is a fast twist as well as the angle on the drills cutting edge is very flat as compared to a regular twist drill.
Another nice point is the three flats ground into the shank which makes for no spinning in the chuck.

Drilling the holes was easy and quick.
The pilot drill part of the drill punched right through without the interminable wait involved with drilling sheet metal without a pilot hole and the main body of the drill went right through the sheet metal just a couple of seconds after the pilot drill went through.
All this with reasonable pressure applied.

A bit of a long treatise for something as simple as drilling holes in sheet metal, but the Dewalt drills worked so well I thought I'd pass the info along.

It would be interesting to see how these drills work on thicker pieces, but I think I'll save them for sheet metal.

And . ..  fwiw, I do know how to sharpen drills.
By hand on the big ones and the rest with a Drill Doctor.  

[DRD57]

I've had a set of those for a few years and they work really good as long as they're sharp.

Once they're dull though I think they're throw away. You can't sharpen them with the Drill Dr.

[C9]

I've had a set of those for a few years and they work really good as long as they're sharp.

Once they're dull though I think they're throw away. You can't sharpen them with the Drill Dr.

True, but I think hitting the main cutting edge with a hand-held stone every once in a while would help.
If not, individual drills are available, but one at a time can get expensive.
If I remember right the drill index and drills mentioned were $29.95.

[enjenjo]

If you do a little experimenting, you can grind regular drills for use on sheet metal.  A little more angle with a little less lead seems to work good. Use a little more than normal lead for use on stainless steel.

FWIW, it's hard to beat a Unibit for drilling sheet metal, but a pilot hole even helps them.

[Roadstar]

I use them at work for drilling out spotwelds on new cars too.