Ode to the Step Bit

I’ve used drill bits before but until this moment, I never came across a step bit. I chucked it up in the drill press and I marked with tape where I needed to stop drilling on the bit itself to get a half inch hole.

I flicked on the drill press, held my metal enclosure in place and started drilling. Now, I know the phrase “like butter” has been used over and over again to describe anything that fits nicely or goes smoothly, but it’s the only way to describe the feeling when the step bit smoothly drilled through the eighth inch thick metal enclosure.

Once the step bit took its first bite into the material, it felt like it knew what it was doing. It just ripped through the material with ease.

When I stopped at my marked location, I retracted the drill press and shut it off. I looked at the hole I made expecting to debur the metal shards but it was the cleanest hole I’ve ever seen.

Since this moment, I’ve only used a step bit to drill precision holes in metal and some plastics. It’s by far my favorite bit. I recommend having a few step bits in your tool arsenal. The step bit doesn’t bind in the material. It’s thick enough to never break and it’s the cleanest way to make a manual hole.

And now a step bit in action in slow motion with music:

Originally published at https://www.craigrettew.com on May 28, 2021.