Drilling rotary cutter blades
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Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
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URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=178901
Printed Date: 23 Aug 2025 at 5:19am
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Topic: Drilling rotary cutter blades
Posted By: AC since 12
Subject: Drilling rotary cutter blades
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 9:57am
| I have a 48" Club Clipper belly mower on my B. I could not find blades for it. I fownd some Woods blades on RCS that will work. The only problem is they need new holes drilled in them. They are really hard. I have tried high speed drill bits, cobalt bits. Nothing works. I have thought about heating them before drilling, but I am not sure what this would do to the temper of the blad.It would also ruin the bit. Any suggestions. |
Replies:
Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 10:54am
| Not sure what size you need to go drill? And what do you have for a "machine"? But carbide should drill it. Pricey, and in a hand drill you'll probably just chip it, but it should work. |
Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 10:56am
| Heat might be OK too. If you soften the center area of the blade, the cutting are will still hold an edge. Might wollow out the holes though, just all depends on many things.. |
Posted By: AC since 12
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 1:51pm
| 7/16 is the six I need to drill. I am using a Drill Press at a low speed. |
Posted By: iowallis
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 1:57pm
| Long shot suggestion but a machine/tool and die shop with a punch press to punch the correct size hole? |
Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 2:46pm
On a drill press, IF you want to try a carbide drill, be certain your vice is secure and other items don't have slop in them. It won't be forgiving to anything "grabby", or it will chip. A mill would be better, if you had a buddy with a Bridgeport or something.
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AC since 12 wrote:Posted By: JTOOL
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 5:23pm
| I was told several years ago that if you heat it red hot and let it cool slowly, then that softens the metal. I've never tried it. I don't know if slowly means let cool back to ambient or put in warm sand or ash. Then after drilling your holes, heat it back up and then quench it in something. Again, I don't know if that means water or oil or super quench. Let us know what you end up doing. |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 8:42pm
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At work the Machinist use to take carbide concrete drill bits and resharpen them with a cutting edge for steel.. Worked on Most hard steels... They used them to driil out broken bolts / old drill bits/ etc. If you have a plasma cutter, you could blow the hole thru, then grind it to size. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: MACK
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 9:02pm
| I agree with concrete bits. May need ear plugs, it will squeal like a pig caught in a fence . MACK |
Posted By: allischalmerguy
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 10:16pm
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I would take it to a machine shop and have them do it. ------------- It is great being a disciple of Jesus! 1950 WD, 1957 D17...retired in Iowa, |
Posted By: Tracy Martin TN
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 10:20pm
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Let a machine shop do them in a vertical mill and use carbide cutter. Much better , cheaper and damn sure safer! HTH Tracy ------------- No greater gift than healthy grandkids! |
Posted By: JTOOL
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 11:18pm
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Tracy, Safety is something I thought of AFTER I posted. Probably don't want to go messing with the temper of steel. Especially at the speeds that mower blades turn. steve(ill) and MACK; What is used to sharpen/reshape the blades? Grinder? Flapper wheel? Thanks.
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Posted By: JTOOL
Date Posted: 08 Mar 2021 at 11:19pm
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Whoops! Not blades; concrete drill bits. Thanks.
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Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 09 Mar 2021 at 4:45am
Green wheel...  ------------- Source: Babylon Bee. Sponsored by BRAWNDO, its got what you need! |
Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 09 Mar 2021 at 6:52am
| Concrete bit is an interesting idea. Carbide tip to cut the hard metal, but steel body so not so likely to break. Carbide is a bugger to grind though, diamond does it the best. |
Posted By: TramwayGuy
Date Posted: 09 Mar 2021 at 7:10am
| Water jet would work really well...if you can find a shop that has one. |
Posted By: AC since 12
Date Posted: 09 Mar 2021 at 7:04pm
| Thanks everyone. Now you have me thinking. I'll let you knoiw how this turns out. |
Posted By: DonDittmar
Date Posted: 10 Mar 2021 at 7:21am
 ------------- Experience is a fancy name for past mistakes. "Great moments are born from great opportunity" 1968 D15D,1962 D19D Also 1965 Cub Loboy and 1958 JD 720 Diesel Pony Start |
Posted By: bigal121892
Date Posted: 10 Mar 2021 at 4:56pm
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There is a company called Rodman, and they make carbide drill bits, looks a lot like a hammer drill bit, but are used for drilling tough things like stainless steel. |
Posted By: Ed (Ont)
Date Posted: 10 Mar 2021 at 5:57pm
| Mark where you want to drill the holes. Heat a spot the size of a dime red hot. Let it cool slowly and then drill. It will drill easily. Did this several times on dump truck boxes. Lot of these boxes are made from “hardox t100” steel. Drill bits won’t do anything but squeal. After heating drilled easily. Of course that spot is now weaker so make your decision accordingly. |
Posted By: Joe(TX)
Date Posted: 10 Mar 2021 at 6:20pm
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I have done as Ed stated. Only heat a small area. A cutting torch tip works best for this. ------------- 1970 190XT, 1973 200, 1962 D-19 Diesel, 1979 7010, 1957 WD45, 1950 WD, 1961 D17, Speed Patrol, D14, All crop 66 big bin, 180 diesel, 1970 170 diesel, FP80 forklift. Gleaner A |
Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 11 Mar 2021 at 6:59am
There's probably 300 companies that make carbide drill bits!
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Posted By: bigal121892
Date Posted: 11 Mar 2021 at 6:56pm
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Like these? https://bluebulletdrlll.com/" rel="nofollow - https://bluebulletdrlll.com/
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Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 11 Mar 2021 at 9:31pm
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YEA Allen............ that would work !!
"drill bit must be run a minimum of 2000 rpm"... WOW.. never would have guessed that. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 12 Mar 2021 at 4:37am
That reminds me of the guy demo-ing them drill bits, at the farm shows, NC accent, and a total intact finger count of 6, on both hands! ------------- Source: Babylon Bee. Sponsored by BRAWNDO, its got what you need! |
Posted By: AC since 12
Date Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 2:17pm
Well they are done. I decided to Take them to a local machine shop. As it turned out I knew the guy who worked there. He used a water pressure machine to blast the holes through. It took about 10 minutes . The holes are perfect, and the blades fit well. I also got to see their setup. The said if I need anything else let them know. It turned out to be a good experience. Thanks for all the suggestions from everyone.
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Posted By: CTuckerNWIL
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2021 at 6:41pm
RED HOT is a very loose term. Really red hot will cook the carbon out so you won't get it hard again. Critical temperature is where it needs to be to harden, and that varies with the type of steel. Quenching can be done with air, water or oil, depending on the type of steel. Annealing temperature is lower than the critical temperature, maybe just starting to show a red glow, and cooling should be SLOW. After re-hardening, it should be put thru a draw heat, which kinda stress relieves the part and lowers the hardness a bit so it doesn't break like glass.  ------------- http://www.ae-ta.com" rel="nofollow - http://www.ae-ta.com Lena 1935 WC12xxx, Willie 1951 CA6xx Dad bought new, 1954WD45 PS, 1960 D17 NF |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2021 at 6:47pm
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YEP... When FIAT and ALLIS got together, then wanted to send over TRACK CHAINS for the larger tractors.. We told them ours were TOUGH and would last forever.. They said their were HARDER !!.... ALLIS chains were like a hammer head.. TOUGH all the way thru.. FIAT chains were " red hot and quench".. Top 1/4 inch was hard as a FILE... after that it was PURE MUSH.. Wear thru the surface and they were GONE !. ... You got to know what your doing when you HARDEN STEEL. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |