Making Holes in Stainless Stockpots

[rad14701]

With stainless steel it works well to drill as small of a pilot as possible and then increase the drill size... I try to drill a pilot hole using a .125" (1/8") drill or smaller...

[Wanker]

On my stock pot lid I started with small drill bits and worked my way up to half inch then I soldered my 2” to 1.5”copper reducer to the lid cented on the half inch hole then flipped the lid over and opened up the half inch hole with a die grinder Carbide Bur Cylinder bit till the hole matched the inside dia of the 2” end of the reducer. With a die grinder those bits go through thin SS like butter but if you don't have one a drill will do it too with that bit, just take longer!

[ScottishBoy]

I usually use a smaller bit and drill a series of holes around the inside of where I want the hole. It comes out like a perferated boxtop. Then I take a dremel with a metal rasp on it and zing off the inside circle and that leaves me with about 10 minutes of work with a grinding stone. Simple and easy.

[BanjoTed]

While looking into a way to cut a hole into my SS stockpot lid I looked into the IKEA Fixa tool you described in previous post. The tool is actually call a q-max cutter and comes in lots of sizes:

http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/scripts/pro ... %20Cutters" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

You still need to drill a central hole but from what I gather from the reviews it leaves a very neat hole with with no burrs etc. so this is what I am going to use. Will let you all know how easy it is to use.

[Tom Kat]

I have a question-
I am making a beer keg boiler. I intend to put a 240 VAC element attached to a 2" ss ferrule welded at the bottom of the keg to heat the boiler. The element is a Dernord bend back?
wavy looking thing. How big of a hole do I need to drill? My thought is about 1 7/8" but if it needs to be smaller that would probably be a plus.
Thank you for your help in advance.

[still_stirrin]

I have a question-How big of a hole do I need to drill?

Tom,

The 2" SS tri-clover ferrule is 2" OD and 1.870" ID.
https://www.gvc.net/p/242/butt-weld-ferrules

You could drill/punch a 2" hole and slide the ferrule in to TIG weld it to the keg. Or, you could grind a "saddle" shape on the ferrule and weld it on and then drill a 1.8125" (1-13/16") hole through the ferrule.

Help you?
ss

[Tom Kat]

Yes it did, that is what I was looking for. THANK YOU