Think reliability, Think HSS

DRILLING
 SUMMARY
DRILLING TOOLS DRILLING PROCESS
2 Zoom on a drill 18 The basics of drilling
3 Which HSS for maximum efficiency? 19 Typical cutting speeds
4 Surface treatments for the best performance
20 Feeds
5 Vocabulary
21 Cooling and chip removal
6 Choose the optimal flute length
7 Choose the right design 22 Oil-hole drills
8 Other solid drill designs 23 How to monitor wear
9 Web thickness 24 What chips have to say
10 Different helix angles 25 Solve your drilling problems
11 Point angles 26 Tips for special drilling conditions
12 Examples of point designs
27 Useful drilling formulae
13 Examples of point thinnings
14 Benefits of point thinning
15 Drill types
16 Hole accuracy and positioning
17 Clamping drills
1 DRILLING
 Shank types: straight, Flute form Surface treatment
morse taper, etc. and web thickness and coating

Point shapes:
design, angles,
thinning

Tool material

Helix angle Number of teeth:

from 1 to 4
Dimensions

2 ZOOM ON A DRILL
TOOL MAKER’S TIP

Discover the HSS HSS-E HSS-E HSS-PM

performance of 5% cobalt 8% cobalt (powder
coated HSS-PM metallurgy)
drills, especially
when carbide
drills are not • For conventional • Basic choice • For drilling of • For high
successful use for industrial difficult-to-machine performance
applications materials machining
• Combines the
performance of
carbide with the
toughness of HSS

SUCCESS STORY
Operation • Drilling of holes Ø 8.25 mm, depth 80 mm
Tool • Coated HSS-PM drill
Grey cast iron Cutting data • vc 60 m/min, fz 0.25 mm /rev.
Tool life • More than double compared with carbide (812 holes vs. 375)
Cost per hole • Divided by 2 compared with carbide

3 WHICH HSS FOR MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY ?

 TOOL MAKER’S TIP
• Popular surface • High wear resistance
Chip removal is treatment • For steels
easier with coated
Steam • For ferrous materials TiCN • For interrupted cuts in
drills, due to lower
oxide only Grey-violet difficult-to-machine
friction and increased
cutting data. materials
DLC coatings can
also be used to drill
non-ferrous materials. • High performance
• Seldom used
TiAlN or multipurpose coating,
• For cast iron and
for higher cutting speeds
Nitride
aluminium TiAlCN
• For ferrous alloys (steels,
Black-violet
cast iron), hard or
abrasive materials
• Suitable for dry machining

• Conventional multi- • Good anti-welding

purpose coating MoS2 or properties, reduces friction
TiN • Cost efficient • Used in combination with
Gold • Medium performance WC-C other coatings
Grey-black • Suitable for dry machining

4 SURFACE TREATMENTS FOR THE BEST PERFORMANCE

 A DRILL AROUND
THE WORLD

French: un foret
German: ein Bohrer
Overall length
Italian: una punta
Lip relief width Flute length Shank length
Spanish: una broca Point
Margin width Lip relief angle
Body diameter
Margin clearance

Shank diameter
Lip relief Radial point
thinning
Drill

130°
Body clearance
diameter
Radial point thinning
Helix angle
Radial corner Point angle

th
wid
te
Flu
La
nd
wi
dth
Lip Core

Web Flute run-out

5 VOCABULARY
TOOL MAKER’S TIP
Flute length (of new drill)
Longer drills should
Clearance for chip ejection
be used only when Penetration length Thickness of work piece (2.0 x D)
Length of point
strictly necessary
Resharpening length

Bush

Bush plate

Flute length is one of the most critical determinants of In most operations, the flute length can be calculated as
tool life: for longer tool life, the flute length should be as follows:
short as possible. Longer flute length results in a lower Depth of hole
rigidity of the drill, which causes unstable drilling + bush length
+ distance between bush and workpiece
+ 2x diameter (clearance for chip ejection)
+ resharpening length
+ penetration length

6 CHOOSE THE OPTIMAL FLUTE LENGTH

 TOOL MAKER’S TIP

Solid twist drills are

also suitable for high
performance drilling,
thanks to advanced
designs, coatings and
HSS-PM The most popular

Solid twist drill Drill with HSS indexable inserts

+ Multi-purpose tools For drilling large holes, especially above 20 mm, or for
+ The widest range of diameters (from 0.05 up to 80 mm combined operations
or more) + No resharpening needed (throw-away inserts)
+ Available in 4 lengths: extra short, short, long, extra + Multi-purpose tool holder, for several insert diameters
long + Auto-centering point and sharp edges for lower cutting
+ The longest tools (for instance 1000 mm, in diameter forces, compared with carbide inserts
10 mm) + Can be used in stacked plates and holes > 50 mm
- More fragile and not cost efficient in small diameters

7 CHOOSE THE RIGHT DESIGN

 Oil hole

Oil-hole drill Double margin drill Parabolic drill Pivot drill

For high performance and For improved hole quality For deep holes Increased rigidity for small
deep hole drilling diameter holes

Core drill Step drill Center drill Starting drill

Basic choice to enlarge a For combined operations To produce the center For spotting and
hole in one pass holes needed for turning or chamfering
Highly productive for IT8 grinding operations
hole quality

8 OTHER SOLID DRILL DESIGNS

 TOOL MAKER’S TIP

The web is the drill’s

backbone

Conventional Medium web Parabolic type

• For general purpose • High rigidity against high feed rate. • High rigidity with smooth chip
• Wide chip room Thinnings for low thrust load are removal
necessary • Used for aluminium alloys and
• Small web thickness: 0.10~0.25 D
• Used for steels and cast iron stainless steels
• For high efficiency drilling and • Long tool life
longer tool life • For deep holes, to prevent drill
• Web thickness: 0.20~0.35 D breakage or curved hole
• Web thickness: 0.30~0.45 D

9 WEB THICKNESS
TOOL MAKER’S TIP

Do not forget that

on a drill
the helix angle is
the cutting angle
30°

Low helix angle Standard helix angle High helix angle

Use: hard materials, bronze, brass Basic choice Use: soft materials (aluminium,
Also recommended for small The most popular design copper)
diameter drills, to improve tool + Reduces cutting forces
rigidity - Decreases cutting edge resistance
+ Increases cutting edge resistance
- Increases cutting forces

10 DIFFERENT HELIX ANGLES

TOOL MAKER’S TIP

HSS drills offer

the widest range of
point angles: make
use of them !
118°
or 120°

Small angle Standard angle Large angle

Small angles: 90° General purpose Large angles: 130°, 135°or 140°
For soft materials Note: point angle has an impact on For hard materials
thrust load and torque as well as on Prevents drill deviation under special
the length of the cutting edge and drilling conditions (deep holes,
the thickness of the chips crossing holes, lock pin holes,
angular holes, etc.)

11 POINT ANGLES
 TOOL MAKER’S TIP
Conical Center point
Boost drilling quality • Conventional drill • Easy drill positioning
and performance:
choose the right point • General purpose • Prevents burrs and vibrations
design when used for drilling thin
sheets and pipes
The most popular • Use: structural steels

Four facet Double angle

• For precise hole • High corner resistance
tolerances • Use: hardened material,
• Recommended for small abrasive material, cast
holes iron
• Easy to resharpen

Spiral
• Good centering
• Reduce burrs
• Use: aluminium

12 EXAMPLES OF POINT DESIGNS

 TOOL MAKER’S TIP

Advanced HSS drills

are autocentering:
starting drills
are not required

No thinning Three-rake W type Radial point

• General purpose • Precise cutting edge • For heavy drilling and • For heavy drilling. Good
• For difficult-to-machine hard materials biting action
materials or deep holes • Effective for prevention of • Produces short, broken
chipping chips
• Effective for reduction of
thrust load

13 EXAMPLES OF POINT THINNINGS

 Standard drill geometry (without point thinning)
TOOL MAKER’S TIP

Point thinning
reduces thrust force
for improved cutting
data, hole accuracy
and tool life

A-A Cross Section B-B Cross Section C-C Cross Section

Positive angle Positive angle No cutting, only deformation

Advanced drill geometry (with point thinning)

A-A Cross Section B-B Cross Section C-C Cross Section C-C Cross Section
Positive angle Positive angle Positive angle Positive angle

14 BENEFITS OF POINT THINNING

 TYPE WEB HELIX ANGLE POINT ANGLE USE

Standard Ferrous materials

N Standard web Standard (30°)
(118° or 120°) Cast iron
Short chip materials
Standard (118° or 120°)
H Small web Small (12 or 16°) Bronze
or large (130°)
Brass
Long chip materials
W Small web High (35-40°) Large (130°) Aluminium alloys
Copper
Easy-to-machine
Large web Standard (118° or 120°)
Parabolic High (35-40°) materials
or small web or large (130°)
Long chip materials
Difficult-to-machine
materials (stainless
Highly rigid Large web Medium (20-35°) Large (130°)
steels, heat resistant
steels, spring steels)

15 DRILL TYPES
 TOOL MAKER’S TIP

Improve hole
accuracy with
advanced HSS drills

Standard geometry Advanced geometry

• Tool diameter: 10 mm • Tool diameter: 10 mm
• Hole diameter: 10.07 mm • Hole diameter: 10.025 mm
• Poor localization: AV 0.15 mm • Improved localization: AV 0.045 mm
• IT12 • IT9

16 HOLE ACCURACY AND POSITIONING

TOOL MAKER’S TIP

Drills are also

available:
-with a reinforced
shank for higher
rigidity and
small tools
Straight shank Straight shank with an Straight shank with a Morse taper shank
-or with a smaller inclined flat tang with a tang
shank for bar • Basic choice
turning lathes • For large diameters • For quick tool change • For large diameters
(between 6 - 20 mm) • Simple holder with high • For quick tool change
• For oil-hole drills rigidity • High rigidity
• Prevents the drill from • Large runout
slipping out of the chuck

17 CLAMPING DRILLS
 TOOL MAKER’S TIP
• Drilling is a machining operation in which the tool
Did you know? There rotates with an axial displacement, except when
are drilled holes mounted on lathes, where the drill is fixed and the
in 75% of all drilled bars rotate.
mechanical parts
• In drilling, the cutting speed varies along the
cutting edge. At the drill point, the cutting speed
is zero. The point does not cut, but pushes the
metal.

18 THE BASICS OF DRILLING

 Aluminium Si <5% (Feed No. 7)
Uncoated HSS Cooper alloys - long chips (Feed No. 5)
drill Copper alloys - short chips (Feed No. 5)
Coated HSS Pure copper (Feed No. 5)
drill Plastics (Feed No. 5)
Aluminium Si 5-10% (Feed No. 7)
Coated PM-HSS Magnesium (Feed No. 6)
drill Aluminium Si > 10% (Feed No. 6)
Steels < 550 Mpa (Feed No. 6)
Pure Nickel (Feed No. 4)
Graphite (Feed No. 5)
Cu Al Ni (Feed No. 4)
Nodular graphite cast iron (Feed No. 7)
Steels: 550 - 850 Mpa (Feed No. 5)
Pure Titanium (Feed No. 2)
Lamellar graphite cast iron (Feed No. 7)
Steels 850 - 1200 Mpa (Feed No. 3)
Thermosetting plastics (Feed No. 5)
Hardened cast iron > 270 HB (Feed No. 4)
Austenitic stainless steels (Feed No. 4)
Cu Al Fe (Feed No. 5)
Ferritic , martensitic , ferritic-austenitic stainless steels (Feed No. 4)
Nickel alloys < 850 Mpa (Feed No. 3)
Duplex / highly alloyed stainless steels (Feed No. 4)
Titanium alloys (type TA6V) (Feed No. 2)
Nickel alloys >850 Mpa (Feed No. 2)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Cutting speed in m/min
19 TYPICAL CUTTING SPEEDS
 Feed column No.
Drill Ø
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
mm
F (mm/rev.)
0.50 0.004 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.010 0.012 0.014 0.016 0.019
1.00 0.006 0.008 0.012 0.014 0.016 0.018 0.020 0.023 0.025
2.00 0.020 0.025 0.032 0.040 0.050 0.063 0.080 0.100 0.125
2.50 0.025 0.032 0.040 0.050 0.063 0.080 0.100 0.125 0.160
3.15 0.032 0.040 0.050 0.063 0.080 0.100 0.125 0.160 0.160
4.00 0.040 0.050 0.063 0.080 0.100 0.125 0.160 0.200 0.200
5.00 0.040 0.050 0.063 0.080 0.100 0.125 0.160 0.200 0.250
6.30 0.050 0.063 0.080 0.100 0.125 0.160 0.200 0.250 0.315
8.00 0.063 0.080 0.100 0.125 0.160 0.200 0.250 0.315 0.315
10.00 0.080 0.100 0.125 0.160 0.200 0.250 0.315 0.400 0.400
12.50 0.080 0.100 0.125 0.160 0.200 0.250 0.315 0.400 0.500
16.00 0.100 0.125 0.160 0.200 0.250 0.315 0.400 0.500 0.630
20.00 0.125 0.160 0.200 0.250 0.315 0.400 0.500 0.630 0.630
25.00 0.160 0.200 0.250 0.315 0.400 0.500 0.630 0.800 0.800
31.50 0.160 0.200 0.250 0.315 0.400 0.500 0.630 0.800 1.000
40.00 0.200 0.250 0.315 0.400 0.500 0.630 0.800 1.000 1.250
50.00 0.250 0.315 0.400 0.500 0.630 0.800 1.000 1.250 1.250
63.00 0.315 0.400 0.500 0.630 0.800 1.000 1.250 1.600 1.600
80.00 0.400 0.500 0.630 0.800 1.000 1.250 1.600 1.600 2.000

20 FEEDS
TOOL MAKER’S TIP
• Cutting fluids are essential for heat evacuation, chip
Oil-hole drills removal and for lubrication, to prevent adhesive wear
Pressure and quantity
increase tool life at the drill point (where the cutting speed is zero).
• In drilling, soluble oils are usually preferred but oil can
also be used.
• Soluble oils with additives significantly prolong the tool
life of HSS drills.

Coolant pressure (in bars)

Coolant quantity in I/min

• The cutting fluid must be supplied directly to the
cutting edge.
• The amount of lubricant required depends on drill
diameter, hole depth and cutting data.

Drill Ø in mm

21 COOLING AND CHIP REMOVAL

TOOL MAKER’S TIP

Oil-hole drills are

essential for longer
tool life, higher
speeds and deep
holes Oil hole

Benefits of oil-hole drills and high pressure coolant + prolong tool life (up to 300%)
+ prevent chip welding + allow an increase of cutting speeds by more than 30%
+ prevent damaging chemical reactions that occur at + improve surface finish
high temperatures

SUCCESS STORY
Operation • Drilling of holes Ø 8.25 mm, L 80 mm in an automotive part
Tool • HSS-PM 9% Co. Drill with oil holes + coating + special geometry
Cutting data • vc 60 m/min, f 0.25 mm/rev
Cast iron
Tool life • more than doubled compared with a carbide drill (812 holes instead
of 375 holes)
Costs per hole • divided by 2 compared with a carbide drill

22 MAKE THE BEST USE OF OIL-HOLE DRILLS

 Flank wear Crater wear Chipping Deformation Built-up edge

• Normal wear • To be avoided • To be avoided • To be avoided • To be avoided

pattern • Decrease the • Decrease the • Decrease the • Increase the
• Increase the cutting speed (vc) cutting speed (vc), cutting speed (vc) cutting speed (vc)
cutting speed (vc) and/or the feed (fz) increase the and/or the feed (fz) and/or the feed (fz)
and/or the feed (fz) coolant pressure
• Use a coated tool • Use a coated tool • Use a coated tool
• Increase the and a harder HSS • Use a tougher and a harder HSS and a harder HSS
effective cutting material HSS material material material
angle

23 HOW TO MONITOR WEAR

 TOOL MAKER’S TIP

Short chips are proof • Long curly chips stick to the flute and prevent the Chip form at each stage of the drilling process
that the feed rate is coolant from going through the hole. The result is tool when a drill with point thinning is used
well chosen melting or breakage.
• When too short, chips are difficult to evacuate and
sometimes pack in the flute. This worsens the quality
of the drilled hole and shortens tool life.

Drilling chip shapes

24 WHAT CHIPS HAVE TO SAY

 Problem Causes Solutions
Oversize hole Loose hold, unequal point angle, Check holder and run-out
varying length of lip Regrind and check precision
Irregular hole size Loose hold, unequal point angle, Check holder and run-out
large length of lip, excessive feed rate, Regrind and check precision
poor lubrication Decrease feed rate
Use an oil-hole drill
Low position accuracy Spindle run out Check holder and run-out, check
Low alignment accuracy alignment, select a low cutting resistance
Run out when cutting thinning, use a drill bush, or use centering
Poor hole perpendicularity Excessive tool wear, unequal point angle, Regrind and check precision, check the
drilling surface not horizontal, poor workpiece position, make a center hole
alignment (on lathes)
Bad cylindrical accuracy Unequal point angle, loose hold, Regrind and check precision
relief angle too wide, low drill rigidity Check holder and run-out
Use a large web drill
Poor surface finish Poor regrinding, cooling problem, loose Regrind correctly, increase coolant volume
hold, excessive feed rate, chip packing and improve quality, reduce feed rate,
select a wide flute, high helix oil-hole drill
Drill breakage Low rigidity, excessive feed rate, tool wear, Increase rigidity, reduce feed rate, select
chip packing, difficult entering a wide flute, high helix oil-hole drill, use a
drill bush or centering
Tang breakage Slipping chuck, defect (damage, swarf) Modify the surface of the holder or
of the inner surface of morse taper change the holder

25 SOLVE YOUR DRILLING PROBLEMS

 Drilling of Cross-hole and Drilling sheets Drilling stacked Pipe drilling
inclined non-symetric plates
surface hole

• Mill a flat surface • To be avoided • Use a back-up • Use a brad point • Use a brad point
before drilling • Use a highly rigid plate or a step drill or a step drill
• Make a pre-hole drill or a double • Use a brad point • Reduce the feed • Use an end mill
with a center or margin drill or a step drill rate instead of a drill
starting drill • Reduce the feed • Reduce the feed
• Use a guide bush rate rate
• Use a highly rigid • Fill the hole with
drill the same material
• Decrease the feed in order to balance
rate the cutting

26 TIPS FOR SPECIAL DRILLING CONDITIONS

 Symbol Unit Name

D mm Tool diameter
Symbol Unit Name Formulae
I mm Hole depth
vc m/min Cutting speed vc= πDN
L mm Total run: 1000
approach run vf =Nf
vf m/min Feed per minute
+ hole depth
+ length of point vf
f mm/rev Feed per revolution f=
N
N rev/mm Revolution per
minute T min Machining time T= L
fN

27 USEFUL DRILLING FORMULAE