Spot Weld Removal Tools

[Mocky]

Hi

I am looking for spot weld drill bits or cutters for Stage 1 firewall repair.
Has anyone purchased these and if so where from.
The welds are 5-6 mm in diameter.
Any help would be appreciated.

Mocky

[Bigbjorn]

Go to any decent engineer's supplier. Suttons/P&N make them.

[Mocky]

Hi

I have done a fair bit of searching but the smallest I can find is 8 mm,
this is to big as most of the welds are 5 mm.
Thanks for your help but I will need to look into other ways of doing this repair.

Mocky

[Bigbjorn]

Hi

I have done a fair bit of searching but the smallest I can find is 8 mm,
this is to big as most of the welds are 5 mm.
Thanks for your help but I will need to look into other ways of doing this repair.

Mocky

Suttons sell them under their P & N brand. They are called spot weld drills and the smallest is 6.5 mm. They are meant to cut outside the weld area so the panel can be removed.

[bee utey]

You could try using a drill bit of the size you want, and resharpening it with a slitting wheel to look somewhat similar to this one:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=22452&d=1265859523

This one is 13mm and I use it for drilling thin sheet metal. It works a treat.

[bobslandies]

Here's a tip profile. Getting the centre in the centre is the tricky bit. Any machinist or saw/milling cutter sharpener should be able to make some up for you:

http://www.physics.wisc.edu/ishop/images/defimages/drillsheetmetalsideview.gif

Bob

[jackafrica]

Alpha make them in 6.5mm (1/4" in the old money)

Theirs is a HSS Cobalt coat tip, I've been using them on chassis restoration.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/1113.jpg

I've drilled the odd hole...


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/1114.jpg

Alpha are available from panel and spray paint suppliers.
Sometimes the 6.5 are difficult to buy, 8mm seem more common.

Hope this helps

[DoubleChevron]

How well did they last for all of those holes ?? I haven't figured out how to sharpen spot weld drills. And find even the quality HS steel cutters I used last time would dull after about 1/2 dozen holes (welds are incredibly hard after all). Given you'll probably be drilling 50 spot welds to cut nearly any panel off .... This makes for a bloody expensive exercise :( Just using a standard drill you can re-sharpen dozens of times leaves you with holes everywhere you need to then close back up with a MIG. Not a big deal, but very time consuming where you have 50 holes to weld closed.:eek:

seeya,
Shane L.

[Bigbjorn]

How well did they last for all of those holes ?? I haven't figured out how to sharpen spot weld drills. And find even the quality HS steel cutters I used last time would dull after about 1/2 dozen holes (welds are incredibly hard after all). Given you'll probably be drilling 50 spot welds to cut nearly any panel off .... This makes for a bloody expensive exercise :( Just using a standard drill you can re-sharpen dozens of times leaves you with holes everywhere you need to then close back up with a MIG. Not a big deal, but very time consuming where you have 50 holes to weld closed.:eek:

seeya,
Shane L.

If you are blunting drills by cutting in the hardened weld zone then you are using too small a drill. The whole idea of these drills is to cut outside the weld in order to remove the panel. Yes, you will have to weld up the holes and metal finish the new welds to an acceptable surface for surface finishing.

[DoubleChevron]

If you are blunting drills by cutting in the hardened weld zone then you are using too small a drill. The whole idea of these drills is to cut outside the weld in order to remove the panel. Yes, you will have to weld up the holes and metal finish the new welds to an acceptable surface for surface finishing.

These were the sort I was using. They do cut away the welded metal.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/1023.jpg

seeya,
Shane L.

[Bigbjorn]

These were the sort I was using. They do cut away the welded metal.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/1023.jpg

seeya,
Shane L.

So they should. They are Cobalt HSS. However, if you use too small a drill you will have the panel hanging up on uncut welds. It should fall off. You need to cut outside the weld zone to get the panel to release without resorting to physical violence.

[Killer]

I recently sharpened a standard HSS jobber drill to a spot weld drill profile in order to remove a floor pan from a Defender firewall, I drilled a least 90 holes and the drill was still going fine at the end of it. No resharpening. I used an 8mm drill and was careful not to go any further than needed to seperate the panels. If you are wearing drills out, I suspect you are drilling with too much speed. I doubt that the hardness of the weld is any greater than the original material, unless you panels are made of a high tensile steel.

Cheers, Mick.

[Bigbjorn]

I recently sharpened a standard HSS jobber drill to a spot weld drill profile in order to remove a floor pan from a Defender firewall, I drilled a least 90 holes and the drill was still going fine at the end of it. No resharpening. I used an 8mm drill and was careful not to go any further than needed to seperate the panels. If you are wearing drills out, I suspect you are drilling with too much speed. I doubt that the hardness of the weld is any greater than the original material, unless you panels are made of a high tensile steel.

Cheers, Mick.

Most steel panels on modern cars are made of what is called HSLA or high strength light alloy steel. It is sensitive to heating and should not be welded with oxy-acetylene.

[Bigbjorn]

I used an 8mm drill and was careful not to go any further than needed to seperate the panels. If you are wearing drills out, I suspect you are drilling with too much speed.Cheers, Mick.

Most handymen drill too slowly. Workshop formula for speed using HSS in mild steel is 9000/drill diameter in millimetres. So 1100 rpm is about right for 8 mm. Squirt a bit of light oil into the cut. Dexron is good. EP diff oil for stainless if nothing better is around. Tool steels need to be run at the efficient speed. HSS and CoHSS can be run red without damage just don't quench a red hot drill with water. Tungsten carbide and ceramics don't cut efficiently unless hot.

[sheerluck]

Most handymen drill too slowly. Workshop formula for speed using HSS in mild steel is 9000/drill diameter in millimetres. So 1100 rpm is about right for 8 mm. Squirt a bit of light oil into the cut. Dexron is good. EP diff oil for stainless if nothing better is around. Tool steels need to be run at the efficient speed. HSS and CoHSS can be run red without damage just don't quench a red hot drill with water. Tungsten carbide and ceramics don't cut efficiently unless hot.

Thanks Brian, they say you should learn something new every day, this is mine for today [thumbsupbig]

[jackafrica]

How well did they last for all of those holes ?? I haven't figured out how to sharpen spot weld drills. And find even the quality HS steel cutters I used last time would dull after about 1/2 dozen holes (welds are incredibly hard after all). Given you'll probably be drilling 50 spot welds to cut nearly any panel off .... This makes for a bloody expensive exercise :( Just using a standard drill you can re-sharpen dozens of times leaves you with holes everywhere you need to then close back up with a MIG. Not a big deal, but very time consuming where you have 50 holes to weld closed.:eek:

seeya,
Shane L.

I used 2 for the entire car, 1 x 6.5mm and 1 x 8mm.
You know the extent of the work, that was only part of one side worth in the pics.:)

Then bought another 2 for the future, they've been handy.

Cheers,
Richard