What IN THE WORLD is the shaft made of???!!

[metoo2]

...first, sorry huma for stealing your picture.


Back to the subject.

I attempted to drill the hole in the shaft bigger so I can use a larger diameter pin. I tried using a standard high-speed steel bit. I may as well have used yarn. Then I tried a hardened coated Dewalt drill bit. It just shinned the edge of the hole a bit. I then bought a cobalt bit which made zero extra progress. The only thing left to do is shell out the $11 for a carbide bit. I will be totally ticked off if that doesn't work.

Any of you have success in this task?

[NathanM]

Are you using a drill press or a hand held drill???
How big is the hole now and how big do you want to make it???

[upbasher]

The drill is spinning the right way, right?

[Wolfslash16]

The drill is spinning the right way, right?

LOL, it's only funny untill you spend 30 minutes trying to figure out why it's not drilling...

[Snook Man]

The stock shafts are mild steel and easily drilled with any cheap bit as long as the bit is sharp. Use oil and a slow speed on the rotation and feed. If you force it or go too fast, you will smoke the bit and get nowhere.

[deanwrx]

I used carbide bits from eBay.

[Redsawacs]

yup - shouldnt be too difficult. If you're using a bit designed for wood, plastic or aluminum....you'll get nowhere even faster than you're getting there now.

Check your bits and worse case, may have to pony up a few $$ for a new bit worthy of the task

[Oomp]

The shaft is case hardened. It is a heat treatment of steel, that basically makes only the outer surface of a material hard, to a certain depth (or thickness, I guess I should say). The sides of the hole are hardened just as deep (thick) as the outside diameter of the shaft.

Like Snook Man said, slow drill RPM's, slow feed, and keep it oiled. If you try to go too fast, you are only hardening the surface more, and wearing down the cutting edge of the drill bit.