How To Drill And Tap Sheet Metal

Place the die over the draw.

How to drill and tap sheet metal. A draw stud punch and die. To 3 16 in you can drill through most metals at 3 000 rpm. With a small twist bit 1 16 in. Make a dimple drill bits can be reluctant about metal.

For the cleanest hole clamp a second piece on top of the metal making a sacrificial sandwich. This should help whenever you run into a situation you need to drill a pilot hole and are not sure the size bit. When drilling thin sheet metal clamp the metal over a piece of sacrificial plywood or other flat sheet good like mdf or particleboard to help prevent the bit from tearing up the hole. Coat the tap with cutting and tapping fluid.

To setup the punch first drill a pilot hole into a piece of sheet metal with a step drill bit. Hard metals like steel and larger drill bits require even slower speeds. Align the tap with the drilled hole in the metal. A knockout punch consists of three parts.

However there are times when sheet metal screws are required. Start threading the hole in the metal by turning the tee handle tap wrench clockwise for a right hand threaded hole or counter clockwise for a left hand threaded hole. There is nothing more aggravating when you just don t know what size drill bit to use for a pilot.