Took me 5 hours to drill 12 holes in a beam today

I was working on a repair job at a chemical plant near Baton Rouge and had to drill through an old I-beam that was harder than any steel I've hit. Burned through three bits and had to keep stopping to sharpen them on the grinder. The foreman kept walking by asking if I was done yet lol. Has anyone else run into a beam that fought back way harder than it should have?

2 comments

2 Comments

susan_wells11d ago

Bet that beam had some serious chromium content, chemical plants spec weird alloys sometimes. Might've been a stress relieved weld zone too, those turn your day upside down.

william91710d ago

456 stainless or something higher?