Drilling Aluminum: Ideal Cutters and Drill Bits

To drill aluminum it's not enough to have a metal drill bit. Or at least it's not sufficient if you want quality work. A professional never uses inappropriate tools to drill iron. And the same applies if you want to make a hole in aluminum. In these circumstances you don't need the bits for drilling extremely hard metal, actually. You must always evaluate different nuances.

Aluminum has specific characteristics and must be treated differently: for certain work it's not enough to mount a universal drill bit and proceed with drilling aluminum. Here are the details to work like a certified professional.

What are the characteristics of aluminum?

Before we understand how to drill aluminum we need to get to know this material better. It's a ductile, soft and malleable metal with high plasticity. It's very light, generates no sparks, is easy to recycle and weld.

Moreover this metal (image taken from Wikipedia) is corrosion resistant and highly appreciated for its ability to combine lightness and withstand difficult working conditions for other structures.

In fact, aluminum is considered a metal very resistant to corrosion, long-lasting but easy to work. Precisely because it's used often, it's important to understand which tools to use to drill aluminum. I'll anticipate this: the choice of the drill bit makes the difference.

What is needed to make a hole in this metal?

Which tools to use to drill an aluminum block? The starting point is certainly the drill. It's enough to have a good model with adjustable speed and rotary movement: you don't use percussion, which is a solution to consider only for building materials.

Then you need a vise or work bench to fix the aluminum plate or profile, plus obviously drill bits suitable for the work to be performed. In some cases it may be useful to use a column drill which allows you to work with greater precision.

What drill bits to use for drilling aluminum?

Many are satisfied with normal metal drill bits. In part this can be considered a good choice if there are no particular requirements. And especially if you choose a quality universal drill bit like the MultiK. Or perhaps the Speedmaster which has unique qualities such as self-centering tip, double pair of cutting edges to increase cutting capacity and chip breaker to prevent built-up material formation. Then, if you're looking for clean results you can choose the Step + which allows you to drill aluminum too.

With Step + you can operate on round surfaces. Then there are aluminum drill bits that are preferred by those who aren't satisfied with generic results and need maximum professionalism. We're talking about series 01092 specifically for this long-chip material. The characteristics: HSS-G DIN 338 ground, with an angle of 135 degrees perfect for ductile materials.

How to drill aluminum: tips and tricks

Operational aspect: how do you make a hole in aluminum while maintaining high quality standards? The starting point is clearly centering: fix the aluminum in the vise without tightening too much, then make a mark on the block where the hole should be.

You can also use a center punch to have a clear mark on which to position the drill bit. Then you must proceed with minimum pressure, you don't need to shift your body weight onto the drill to drill an aluminum profile.

How to proceed if we need to drill a wide hole in aluminum or enlarge an already made one? You can use special tools: for aluminum sheets there are conical HSS-G TiAIN drill bits used for both drilling and enlargement operations. For other uses we have 8% cobalt hole saws for demanding work that you can also find on the Krino website.