[ughmas]

Originally Posted by Megadan

I am amazed at how many people are burning up drill bits doing these flanges. I machine and work with stainless steel (and other metals) on a daily basis. Three things to prevent these issues. 1. Use a cutting oil. Most hardware stores sell small bottles cheap. If you don't want to spend the money, then use a light oil of some kind. It reduces the friction on the head as it cuts, and allows it to cut easier while also cooling it. Be liberal with it! Oil is cheap compared to what coated bits cost. 2. Step up in size. Don't go for broke straight to half an inch. Find the size of the hole, go a little bigger, then again, and work up to that half inch bit. This reduces the friction on the cutting surfaces even more. It also allows the sharpest and most effective part of the bit to do the work - the outer edges. 3. Go slow. Drilling hard metals on our presses at work we usually set the press RPM to around 330-360rpm. Obviously, hand drills don't quite have that option, but a little trigger control goes a long way - patience is a virtue. Pull enough to get it spinning and cutting and just let the drill and the bit do the work. Again, this reduces unecessary friction, and as a result, heat. It's not the hardness of the metal that is killing the bits, but the heat generated by that friction, and if you heat that cutting edge up enough, it softens and deforms. Coated drill bits have a hard coating to help reduce deforming, but even the best bit can be destroyed by improper use. We had a new guy at work destroy a $140 end mill bit because his feed rate was too high.

Ok, sorry, rant and hijack over. Nice clean install. I hope when my bike gets delivered (waiting a month sucks) and parts in I can pull off a nice clean install like that. I would recommend maybe massaging that exhaust pipe a little with a few light ball peen hammer blows covered in cloth to give you a tiny bit of clearance instead of bending the clutch lever. A teeny ding in the pipe will have no measurable effect on performance (been researched and proven many times), and being at that angle it probably won't even be noticeable. I would rather do that than risk potentially weakening the clutch arm, by trying to bend it. Just my 2 cents, and take it as such.

Thank you for the kind words and advice, I am definitely a novice when it comes to machining type operations. I did apply some oil and went as slow as I could with the hand drill, but doing steps up in size definitely would have been a better choice in retrospect. Also the bits were just cheapo Lowes generic brand so that could have been a factor. When I cut it with the dremel I was getting a lot of flowering sparks so it must have been pretty high carbon steel. Also I like the idea of putting a dimple in the pipe instead of bending the lever, will definitely do that if it becomes an issue!