JacksonH

Thanks vapremac, that does help.

vapremac,

I looked into how to re-grind drills, and like you said, there is a lot to it.  The cutting oil that I used was for aluminum, but it seemed to work just fine.  I may pick up some that is meant for steel.  I never really paid any attention to the speed of the drill press, or used cutting oil very much, but I definitely will in the future.

What's your take on good vs cheap drills?

I think that the two hex bolts idea is a great way to get a 60 degree angle so that one can check the angle of the drill bit cutting edge. Thanks.

Holeage has been accomplished.  I re-heated the metal to orange color then cooled it very slowly in a warm wood stove.  When it was cooled down I took it to the drill press, put on a drop of cutting oil, slowed down the drill press speed, put my Harbor Freight :( drill bit in the chuck, and had no problem drilling my holes.

Thanks for all the great advice.  You guys rock. :)

Jackson

P.S.  I found a great drill speed chart online, which I will laminate and hang by the drill press.

WOW! 3 answers in 6 minutes!  Thanks guys.

The drill bits are designed for metal, and were new.  I have drilled holes in this same metal without any problems, that's why I figured that I hardened it.  I didn't use any cutting oil, I'll try that.

sweedfiddle - you say to cool it slowly.  How slowly are you talking about.  If I just let it cool down in the air, will that do it?  Also, do I need to re-heat it to orange?

First of all, I have no idea what I'm doing, so I'm sorry if this is a dumb question.
 
I heated a piece of mild steel bar stock 1" X 1/4" X 12", bent the end to a 90 degree angle, then tried to drill a hole in it (yep, should have done that first), and I can't seem to get it done.  The drill bit doesn’t make much headway, then just becomes worthless.  I'm thinking that I may have inadvertently heat treated the metal by not cooling it properly.
 
My question is this:  How can I un-treat the metal so that it won't be so darned hard to drill?
 
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks