Bill, I had the same experience drilling stainless. I used a good tungsten carbide bit and set the drill press for the correct speed. The first hole went in okay, the second much harder, and the third one gave me a ball of fire and a melted tip on the bit.
I contacted a friend that is restoring his eighth aircraft and had just drilled some 1 1/2 inch deep holes through a stainless steel gear leg mount. He said to run the drill as slowly as possible, use as much pressure as possible without bending the bit, and used GO-JO handcleaner for the lubricant. I followed his directions and drilled 125 more holes in the stainless without dulling the bit. Life is wonderful. His explanation is that stainless gets very hard when it is worked fast. The GO-JO doesn't sling off the bit and seemed to cool the metal quite well. Jim Vance va...@claflinwildcats.com
