Today I tried drilling a hole in the guardrail - but the drill bit wouldn't make a dent.
See picture here:
Drill bits aren't supposed to make dents.
To drill metal, you need a sharp, quality drill bit. Not the cheapo home improvement center bits. You also need some cutting oil, although lubricating oil will do in a pinch. Also, start with a 1/8" drill and work your way up. High RPM for the small bit, lower as you get bigger.
Lastly, lean into it. WIth a drill press, the quill handle gives you a lot of mechanical advantage without you necessarily being aware of it. WIth a handheld drill, you have to put your weight behind it. If you don't, the drill will just get dull, rapidly.
For the guard rail, since it's curved, you might want to center punch it to keep the drill from walking.
I'd probably just use a cheap ratchet strap or bungee cord to hold the can. Another thought would be an over door hanger of some sort. Would an animal feed bucket fit your needs? Or this
Some sort of glue (RTV) comes to mind.
That railing doesn't look like the kind of thing a poster here would own...
Are you sure the owner wants holes drilled in his railing?
As well as the 'center punch' and "lean on it" advice, get a titanium drill bit. Probably not really needed but they are designed for 'hard material'.
Harry K
Occasionally, my drill is spinning the wrong direction. Don't do that.
Consider attaching the clamp to the garbage can instead of the guard rail.
If you do attach to the guard raile, consider that when your garbage can wears out, they might not be selling new ones of the same shape.
(Although my plastic cans are 30 and 25 years old. One of the 30-year old ones got several vertical splits in it, and the garbage men took it and kept it. (Another time, someone stole the rectangular lid to a borrowed plastic can with wheels. I think it waw the garbage man because no one else was around. A couple weeks later, a repacement lid was left, same brand, but one size bigger) )
I'd use a good quality bit and some oil. Even a spray of WD-40 works. A guy at work was having a similar problem drilling a hole in metal. He brought the bit to the maintenance supervisor and had is sharpened. Still would not drill right and he kidded the guy about his poor sharpening skills.
The supervisor then went over, picked up his drill and changed it from reverse to forward.
My friend gave me a little chain saw left behind at the ministorage she runs. It didn't cut. I'm glad I checked the chain. On backwards. Maybe that's why t hey left it behind.
James:
The problem is likely to be a dull drill bit.
That guard rail is most likely made of mild steel that has a Rockwell Hardness of about Rc=35. Your drill bit looks like just a high speed steel bit, and it's got a hardness of about Rc=50 or so. So, if that were a sharp bit, you should have made some progress.
If you were wanting advice from me on buying a new SET of drill bits, I'd tell you to buy a set of cobalt steel drill bits. These are the brownish coloured ones that look like this:
But, for a one-time project like this one, my advice to you would be to buy a titanium nitride coated drill bit of the size you need. Titanium nitride coated drill bits are the gold coloured ones that look like this:
For a one time project like this, I'd pay a few dollars for a titanium nitride bit in the size you need, and just chuck it once it gets dull. You CAN have titanium nitride bits sharpened, but sharpening them grinds off the super hard titanium nitride cutting edges at the front of the bit, so you're effectively left with a sharp high speed steel bit that will dull just as quickly as any other high speed steel drill bit.
And, as previously suggested, I'd use a cutting oil if you have any. If not, just stop frequently and use a Q-tip to apply any kinda oil (even cooking oil or engine oil) onto the hole you're making. That'll help to keep the drill bit cool.
That's pretty much what I was going to write. Prick punch, to get the location started. Brand new bit, 1/8. Use the next size larger, after that. Can also drill from the inside out, which will help with the drill bit wandering.
Some country folks would use a .22 rimfire rifle, from about 50 feet, to make the initial hole. 40 grain jacketed solid.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
To drill metal, you need a sharp, quality drill bit. Not the cheapo home improvement center bits. You also need some cutting oil, although lubricating oil will do in a pinch. Also, start with a 1/8" drill and work your way up. High RPM for the small bit, lower as you get bigger.
Lastly, lean into it. WIth a drill press, the quill handle gives you a lot of mechanical advantage without you necessarily being aware of it. WIth a handheld drill, you have to put your weight behind it. If you don't, the drill will just get dull, rapidly.
For the guard rail, since it's curved, you might want to center punch it to keep the drill from walking.
Is that a wooden post the guiderail is attached to? You might have better luck drilling that.
Use a sharp bit. Or use a $20 Harbor freight magnet.
Jim [not to be a nanny-- but is that *your* hardware you're trying to drill a hole in?]
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in news:M8G0s.4246$ snipped-for-privacy@fed05.iad:
Who makes a jacketed .22 rimfire bullet?
I think a .22 would probably not make it through steel that thick; I think you'd need a centerfire bullet to do it.
Dunno about the jackets. I havn't researched that. Sounded good. You may be right about the steel thickness. Calls for some testing.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
Who makes a jacketed .22 rimfire bullet?
I think a .22 would probably not make it through steel that thick; I think you'd need a centerfire bullet to do it.
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in news:mZH0s.32539$ snipped-for-privacy@fed06.iad:
That's the fun part...
Thinking the same thing. If the objective is to use fasteners then driving a couple screws with washers into the post from the inside of the can is a quick way to do it without drilling someones guard rail.
Right!
Those guardrails are designed to collapse in the event a vehicle hits one. This reduces injuries to people in the vehicle. I would rather not be responsible for modifying one or mounting objects on one which would in any way alter the function of it! (And then get some lawyer claiming I was partially responsible for injuries caused in an accident.)
Traffic engineers would have a fit if they saw that. They go to a lot of work to get road signs and so forth to "break away" if a vehicle hits them. Like this...
As long as it is a HSS twist bit, it doesn't matter if you buy it from the big box; if he follows the rest of your suggestions it will work just fine.
The only thing I would add is to start with a smaller bit and work up to the size he wants.
Jon
When people are killed in car accidents, instead of leaving flowers at the site, we should just leave the dead bodies there. Then we'd develop safer drivers, instead of this ridiculous fascination we have with compensating for stupidity. By using terms like "errant vehicle" we absolve the nut behind the wheel. I think we've taken that absolution a little too far.
Attach a beam clamp to the garbage can....
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