A Comprehensive Guide to Deep Hole Drilling

Dec 18
07:25

2015

Brad Wolaver

Brad Wolaver

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In this article, the Top-Seiko has explained the process of deep hole drilling. Since, it is a tedious process and should be trusted with the experienced professionals.

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Deep hole drilling is a process of drilling deep into materials.  This method is widely used in the machining process to drill materials for a variety of applications.  Hole drilling is commonly performed on a vertical machining center. Since it involves drilling deep holes,A Comprehensive Guide to Deep Hole Drilling Articles it makes the process extremely challenging.  To meet the challenges, numerous advanced tools and machining equipments are used.  Before you drill a hole into the material, you will have to understand what happens inside the hole and how it is being drilled.  The process of deep hole drilling addresses three main issues, which are- evacuating chips without damaging the surface finish, using coolant to keep the drill cool and reducing the cycle time. Several other factors such as accuracy, repeatability and surface finish are also considered.

With the help of CNC gun drills, extra deep holes can be drilled, without requiring specialized gun drill equipment. Hole drilling can be classified as  drilling, core drilling, reaming, boring, deep hole drilling and face drilling.  The maximum drilling depths are coated with carbide headed drills that allow manufacturers to achieve a precision hole in a wide variety of applications. Brazed carbide headed gun drills are also used for precise drilling of deep holes when conventional drills cannot be employed.

Conventional gun drills provide excellent surface quality and finish. The gun drills have a pilot hole and support brushings to operate effectively. Most machine tools  offer deep hole drilling cycles that feed the drill into the material. When you have this kind of deep hole cycles, it will feed drill into the material and feed it back once done. However, on a manual mill, the operator would be responsible for feeding the chip spinning and stop drilling to blow out the hole and clear stray chips.  The drill cycles can also be programmed to stop above the last peck.

The drills become hot while they are in action and contain different coolant delivery options.  The common types of coolant systems are- flood coolant, low pressure through spindle coolant and high pressure through spindle coolant.  When you flood coolant, less coolant reaches the tool tip and deeper the drill penetrates the workpiece. Eventually, no coolant is able to get to the bottom and machining gets dry.  Consequently, chips become impacted in the flues of the tool even through coolant visibly flows over the top of the hole.

Lack of stiffness in the machine tool causes the column of the machine to bend when pressure is put on it from deep hole drilling operations. You may also experience decreased accuracy, bent drill or even a broken tool. When you exert excessive pressure on the head, the drill enters at an angle and will miss the correct position.