I got a bunch of old bed frames for make total destroy robot frames, and ended up having to drill holes in them. I figured this was mild steel, so HSS bits should cut it, right?

Turns out bed frames are made of some medium-carbon badassery that laughs at HSS bits. Slow speed on the drill press, plenty of oil, and all it does is burn bits. I got it red hot with a torch, let it cool slow, hoping to anneal it, and no dice, it’s still not going anywhere. I had to go up to cobalt steel bits to get through it, and I’m concerned that I fucked that bit too. Angle grinder/cutoff wheels will eat through it, but I’m not going to waste my time with a hacksaw.

Thinking about it, it makes sense to have them be kind-of spring steel. Queen beds sleep two, people can weigh north of 200lbs, so figure 100lbs of mattress and 500lbs of (kind of chunky) people, plus uneven load distribution when someone gets out of bed, and yeah, the bed frame has to be sturdy. Still, this is harder than my car.

On the up side, this means I can make knives out of it (because I totally need another knife).