DRILLING & RELATED OPERATIONS

Introduction

Drilling is a process of producing round holes

in a solid material or enlarging existing holes
with the use of multi-tooth cutting tools called
drills or drill bits. Various cutting tools are
available for drilling, but the most common is
the twist drill.
Drilling is most common single machining
operation Drilling makes up 25% of machining
Drilling occurs at the end of a tool within the
material, four actions take place at the drill tip
 A small hole is formed by the web—chips
are not cut here in the normal sense.
 Chips are formed by the rotating lips.
 Chips are removed from the hole by the
screw action of the helical flutes.
 The drill is guided by lands or margins
that rub against the walls of the hole

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Classifications

Classification Based on Construction

 Solid Drills: Those made of one piece of material such as high speed steel
 Tipped Solid Drills: Those having a body of one material with cutting lips made of
another material brazed or otherwise bonded in place
 Composite Drills: Those having cutting portions mechanically held in place

Classification Based on Methods of Holding or Driving

 Straight Shank Drills: Those having cylindrical shanks which may be the same or
different diameter than the body of the drill; the shanks may be made with or
without driving flats, tang, grooves or threads
 Taper Shank Drills: Those having conical shanks suitable for direct fitting into
tapered holes in machine spindles, driving sleeves or sockets; tapered shanks
generally have a driving tang

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 Classification Based on Number of Flutes
 Two-Flute Drills: The conventional type of twist drill used for originating holes
 Single-Flute Drills: Those having only one flute commonly used for originating
holes
 Three-Flute Drills (Core Drills): Drills commonly used for enlarging and finishing,
drilled, cast, or punched holes; they will not produce original holes
 Four-Flute Drills (Core Drills): Used interchangeably with three-flute drills; they
are of similar construction except for the number of flutes
Classification Based on Hand of Cut
 Right-Hand Cut: When viewed from the cutting point the counterclockwise
rotation of a drill in order to cut; the great majority of drills are made right hand
 Left-Hand Cut: When viewed from the cutting point the clockwise rotation of a
drill in order to cut

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Cutting Tools for Drilling Operations
Twist Drill: The most commonly used drill is the general-purpose twist
drill, which has two helical flutes. This drill is designed to perform well on
a wide variety of materials, equipment, and job conditions. The general-
purpose drill can be made to suit different conditions and materials by
varying the point angle.
Core Drill: A coredrill, designed with three or four flutes, is
used primarily to enlarge cored, drilled, or punched holes. Due
to greater number of teeth the core drill has advantages over Twist drill
the twist drills in productivity and finish. A core drill is named
because its first use was in drilling out the hole left by a casting
core, a cylinder placed in a mould for a casting that leaves an
irregular hole in the product.
Spade Drill: Spade bits are for fast boring in
wood or plastic. They cannot be used to ream
out a hole to a larger diameter and are poor at Core drilling: to
clearing debris from the bore. Twist drills are for increase diameter of
existing holes
general use and suitable for a variety of
materials.They are available in a wide range of
sizes from very small microdrills to drills up to
300mm in diameter. Some of the smaller spade Spade drill: for large,
deep holes
drills have replaceable carbide inserts.
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Cutting Tools for Drilling Operations
Step Drill: A multiple diameter drill with one
set of drill lands which are ground to different
diameters
Step drill: for stepped holes

Gun Drill: A gun drill is used for drilling deep

hole. All gun drills are straight-fluted, and
each has a single cutting edge. A hole in the
body acts as a conduit to transmit coolant
under considerable pressure to the tip of the
drill. Gun drill with holes for coolant

Center Drill: Center drill bits are used in metalworking to

provide a starting hole for a larger-sized drill bit or to make
a conical indentation in the end of a workpiece in which to
mount a lathe center. In either use, as the drill is either
establishing the center of a hole or making a conical hole
for a lathe center. However, the true purpose of a center
drill is the latter task, while the former task is best done
with a spotting drill.

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Cutting Tools for Reaming Operations
Reamers

The reamer has similar geometry. The difference in geometry between a

reamer and a twist drill are:
The reamer contains four to eight straight or helical flutes, respectively
cutting edges.
The tip is very short and does not contain any cutting edges.

Straight-flute reamer with taper shank.

Helical-flute reamer with taper shank.

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Difference Between Drilling, Boring
& Reaming
The main difference between drilling, boring and reaming is that
drilling is when you make a brand new hole in your work piece. But
boring is when you enlarge the hole. When you give a finishing
touch to your hole that means you are reaming. Giving a finishing
touch to the hole means making the hole smoother.
Next thing about the three processes is that they have individual
tools for them. The process of drilling uses a drill bit. But the boring
process uses a lathe and reaming uses reamers. So there is also a
difference in terms of tools.
The process of boring always comes after the drilling. And reaming
comes at last. The sequence is always the same. You cannot bore
until you drill. And you cannot ream until you bore. So by drilling,
you can directly have a hole you want. But boring and reaming are
the helping processes. Or they are the processes that will make a
better hole.
Operations Related to Drilling
Centering: Also called center drilling, this operation drills a
starting hole to accurately establish its location for subsequent
drilling. This tool is called a center drill.

Boring : A boring tool enters the

workpiece axially and cuts along the
internal surface of an existing hole to
enlarge the diameter or obtain more
precise dimensions. The boring tool is a
single-point cutting tool, which can be
set to cut the desired diameter by using
an adjustable boring head.

Reaming: Reaming is used to slightly enlarge a hole, to

provide a better tolerance on its diameter and to improve its
surface finish. The tool is called a reamer and it usually has
straight flutes.

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Operations Related to Drilling

Tapping: This operation is performed by an tap and is used to provide internal

screw threads on an existing hole.

Countersinking: This is similar to Counterboring, except that the step in the hole is
cone-shaped for flat head screws and bolts.

Counterboring: Counterboring provides a stepped hole, in which a larger diameter

follows a smaller diameter partially into the hole. A counterboring hole is used to seat
bolt heads into a hole so the heads do not protrude above the surface.
Spotfacing: Spotfacing is similar to milling. It is used to provide a flat machined
surface on the workpart in a localized area.
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Drills and Drilling Related Operations

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Drill Press

Drill press Although a hand drill is commonly used for drilling of small holes,
a drill press is preferable when the location and orientation of the hole must
be controlled accurately. A drill press is composed of a base that supports a
column, the column in turn supports a table. Work can be supported on the
table with a vise or hold down clamps, or the table can be swivelled out of
the way to allow tall work to be supported directly on the base. Height of the
table can be adjusted with a table lift crank than locked in place with a table
lock. The column also supports a power head containing a motor. The motor
turns the spindle at a speed controlled by a variable speed control dial. The
spindle holds a drill chuck to hold the cutting tools (drill bits, center drills,
reamers, etc.).The machine tool described is a typical upright drill press. The
smaller modifications, mounted on a table rather than the floor are known as
bench drills.

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Drill Press

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Specialized Drill Presses
Gang-drilling machines: independent columns, each with different drilling
operation, work piece slid from one column to next
Numerical control drill presses are available to control the positioning of the holes
in the workparts. These drill presses are often equipped with turrets to hold multiple
tools that can be indexed under control of the NC program. The term CNC turret drill
is used for these machine tools.

Gang-drilling machines CNC Turret drilling machines

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Specialized Drill Presses
Radial drilling machines: used on large workpieces, spindle mounts on radial arm,
allowing drilling operations anywhere along the arm length
Multiple-spindle drilling machines: Single powerhead operates multiple spindles
enabling multiple holes at one time, each hole can be unique

Radial drilling machines Multiple-spindle drilling machines

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Workholding equipement
Workholding on a drill press is accomplished by clamping the part in a vise, fixture, or
jig.

A vise is a general-purpose workholding device possessing two jaws that grasp the
work in position.
A fixture is a workholding device that is usually custom designed for the particular
workpart. The fixture can be designed to achieve higher accuracy in positioning the
part relative to the machining operation, faster production rates, and greater
operator convenience in use.
A jig is a workholding device that is also specially designed for the workpart. The
distinguishing feature between a jig and a fixture is that the jig provides a means of
guiding the tool during the drilling operation. A fixture does not provide this tool
guidance feature. A jig used for drilling is called a drill jig.

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