On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:17:46 +0100, "Edgar"
wrote:

I needed to drill a 1/4 hole in a thick stainless bracket on deck so I could
fix a shackle for the end of a jackstay.
I blunted three HSS drills without making much impression at all so went to
a really good tool shop they have here and explained the problem.
They sold me a cobalt steel drill especially intended for stainless and it
went through the stuff as if it was not there, producing long unbroken
strands of swarf that looked like springs.
It was a very expensive drill but the job was done in a few minutes and the
cost of several ordinary drills and lots of my time saved was worth it.
After the job was finished the cobalt steel drill still looked and felt so
sharp that it might have been new.

You can drill SS with ordinary bits but you need a *lot* of pressure
to keep it from work hardening, easy in a drill press, not so much up
the mast on a rainy day with a battery drill motor. :-)