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• cut long, continuous "chips" (strings, really) that come off like spaghetti, to the point where you actually have to intervene to break them, to keep them from rats-nesting around the drill.
• run quite cool, to where you can disengage the bit from the work and grab it with your fingers without fear, and it feels barely warm.
• move efficiently through the work

If anything else is happening, stop doing that RIGHT NOW.

To be clear, one type of "wrong feed" is too little feed. Unfortunately with hand drills, there is no such thing as feed rate, and "feed force becomes a weak substitute. Being gentle/wimpy is the most common error.

That is one way to work-harden the surface of the steel inside the hole. This will make it more difficult to start up again, and requires decisive action to punch through it and get back into normal metal. This happens from poor cut rate, galling, or rarely heat, which is to say, ignoring the "stop doing that RIGHT NOW" advice above.

• cut long, continuous "chips" (strings, really) that come off like pasta, to the point where you sometimes have to intervene to break them, to keep them from rats-nesting around the drill.
• run quite cool, to where you can disengage the bit from the work and grab it with your fingers without fear, and it feels barely warm.
• move efficiently through the work

If anything else is happening, stop doing that RIGHT NOW.

Continuing not only wrecks the bit, but can work-harden the surface of the hole, which will make it harder to start doing it properly.

To be clear, one type of "wrong feed" is too little feed. Unfortunately with hand drills, there is no such thing as feed rate, and "feed force" is an imprecise substitute. Being gentle/wimpy is the most common error.

Feeds and speeds

Honestly, I'm a big fan of pilot holes simply because they are easier to position precisely (start with a center punch, and a 1/8" drill will stay inside the dimple much better). A hole, even a small one, also makes drilling much easier. Probably because the center of the drill has 0 speed, which makes it difficult for it to cut.

Cutting should be easy

Feeds and Speeds

Honestly, I'm a big fan of pilot holes simply because they are easier to position precisely. Punch a dimple with a center punch, and start with a small drill, which will stay in the dimple better than a big one. My go-to is 1/8”. A hole, even a small one, also makes drilling much easier. Probably because the larger drill doesn't have to cut the center, which is difficult because the center of the drill is at the wrong speed (nearly 0).

Honestly, I'm a big fan of pilot holes simply because they are easier to position precisely, and they do make drilling easier - even a 1/8" hole on a 1/2" drill. Also, start with a bap from a center punch,and it's much easier to keep a 1/8" drill inside the dimple than a 1/2".

On lubricant, I am pretty slack about that if the cutting is going well. In the shop, cutting oil or GST are right at hand, but in the field on small holes, I'll use spit, or even nothing if I'm "dialed in" and being highly productive. Really, anything will do - motor oil, 3-in-1, a spray can of Liquid Wrench remember, we're not letting things get hot!

Pilot holes help

Honestly, I'm a big fan of pilot holes simply because they are easier to position precisely (start with a center punch, and a 1/8" drill will stay inside the dimple much better). A hole, even a small one, also makes drilling much easier. Probably because the center of the drill has 0 speed, which makes it difficult for it to cut.

Lubricant

On lubricant, I am pretty slack about that if the cutting is going well. After all, things aren't getting hot, so it's only lubricant, not heat removal, and efficient cutting is easy on tool heads. In the shop, cutting oil or GST are right at hand, but in the field on small holes, I'll use spit, or even nothing if I'm "dialed in" and being highly productive. Really, anything will do - motor oil, 3-in-1, a spray can of Liquid Wrench, remember, we're not letting things get hot!

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