As long as the wood is not so thick that you will have problems with chips being ground up and creating excess heat, you will be fine. Step drill bits can also be used when drilling into wood, however they are less popular for this purpose. They are useful for drilling into plastic, including acrylics. Unibits are suitable for other electrical-based work as well. These types of bits work best on softer metals such as aluminum, however some heavy-duty unibits can also be used on harder metals such as steel. The most common use of a step drill bit is to make holes in thin sheet metal, up to 1/4″ thick. What material can I drill with a step drill bit? They are very difficult to sharpen, and if the tip becomes too dull, you will have to begin drilling pilot holes.As a result of the above, they are not great for drilling holes in thick material.Since they come with a single flute, unibits generally have poor chip ejection.However, there are some downsides to step drill bits that you should be aware of. For example, to route cables through electronic components, where they may be different sizes of cables that require different size holes. Most people use unibits when drilling holes in thin sheet metal, or wood. They allow for precise hole creation, as they very rarely walk or jump over the material due to the shape of their tip.They normally create very clean holes, depending on the material being drilled.They allow for easy and efficient hole drilling.They allow you to drill different-diameter holes with the same bit.There are a number of benefits to using step drill bits over a hole saw or traditional-shaped drill bit. Benefits of step drill bits Photo by Horst licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5.
Since step bits do not have the same type of traditional-shaped flutes that you would expect to find on a drill bit for plastic for example, they do not do a good job efficiently removing chips, making them less appropriate for drilling through deep material. Some larger unibits have a larger tip diameter, meaning they must be used to enlarge holes that have already been started using other drill bits, or using a center punch tool. This means that you can begin your hole with the unibit, and continue drilling through each of the different steps, until you reach your desired hole size. With most step drill bits, they’re self-starting. They’re often used as an alternative to a hole saw, because of how useful they are for making clean holes in many different types of material. How do step drill bits work?Īs the name suggests, step drill bits (also known as unibits) have different “steps”, which the bit moves through as you drill each hole. Now we’ll discuss some key things to consider when buying a step drill bit, or a set of step drill bits.
#2 STEP DRILL BIT HOW TO#
How To Choose A Step Drill Bit Photo by Dmitry G licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Given the price, these bits work extremely well with sheet metal, including thicker sheets, as well as plastics such as acrylic. The sizes of each step are engraved into the bit, ensuring they don’t rub off. Plus, they come with a titanium coating, which does a good job keeping the tip sharp. They won’t walk across the surface due to the split-point tip, and won’t require pilot holes in most cases, especially with the smaller two bits. The first thing you notice about these unibits is how easy they are to use. This set from Neiko comes with three unibits – there’s a 1/2″ one for general use, a 3/4″ one for larger holes, and another 1/2″ one with more steps for more precise drilling.įor most uses, this set has everything you need – no longer will you have use tape wrapped around the bit to ensure you get the right size hole. In this section, we’ll showcase some of the best step/uni drill bits you can buy right now.
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