Drill materials
Many inexpensive twist drills are made of carbon steel. These are quite adequate for making holes in soft metals, wood and plastics, but they will blunt quickly on hard metals and may not cut through some metals at all. Chrome-vanadium steel drills are next in price – these will cut through hard metals but [...]
Riveting is a method for making permanent joints. A rivet is basically a short metal rod with a head on one end. The head may be domed or countersunk. To make a joint, a clearance hole is drilled in the pieces to be joined, the rivet is inserted through the holes, the head supported, and [...]
The technique for bending is much the same for most metals, but the metals may require different pre-treatment. Thin sheets of mild steel can be bent cold; thicker ones may need to be at red heal before they can be bent easily.
Non-ferrous metals copper, brass and aluminium alloys are supplied in different tempers (degrees of [...]