With every day rising demand for higher productivity and low-cost Auto components;Â High-Performance Solid Carbide Drills are becoming the need of the hour. Solid carbide drills are a great option for excellent process security, manufacturing economy and good hole quality. They provide the best combination of penetration rate and precision, with tolerances capable of achieving IT8. Recondition your solid carbide drills for even greater cost efficiency.
What is solid carbide?
Solid carbide is normally used to make solid carbide cutting tools. The hardness of solid carbide cutting tools ranges from 77 to 81 HRC. Carbide is brittle, however, and rough handling. Solid carbide cutting tools, such as drills and end mills, are thermally stable and offer high resistance to abrasive wear.
HSS V/S Carbide
In general, the main characteristic of all High-Speed-Steels is a high working hardness with excellent toughness. HSS DRILLS cost less than CARBIDE DRILLS. Carbide is much harder, so it has a longer tool life and faster cutting data than conventional HSS. But the downside of that hardness is brittleness, so the cutting edge on carbide tools can quickly fracture or chip in certain situations. The main reasons for carbide failures are –
- The component to be machined is poorly clamped.
- The set-up is not rigid.
- The tool is a long-reach type with the excessive overhang from the tool holder.
- Poor machine-spindle condition.
Carbide drills are generally used for high-volume hole production, where the higher tool cost can be justified on a cost-per-part basis. For deep high-volume holes, they are often available with internal coolant ducts, resulting in longer tool life and stable production. Use of through-the-spindle and high-pressure coolant offers excellent chip evacuation, particularly in deeper holes, and is the most effective method for cooling the edge in a cut.
Carbide drilling is also the fastest way to produce holes in a wide range of metals, due to the higher cutting speeds and feeds possible. However, it’s important to know that in some higher Ni-Cr alloy steels (such as stainless steels) although the hole can be produced with high speeds, the condition of the walls of the hole can quickly work-harden. This can lead to other issues in the machining process, particularly if the hole is to have an internal thread the tool life of the tap will be considerably shortened since it will be trying to cut through a hardened skin or surface.
Importantly, Carbide tools can be justified in low-volume production for their higher hardness because they enable harder materials to be machined, potentially up to 70+HRC.
HSS drills have a very wide range of uses – from handheld applications to CNC machining in short batch runs – due to their toughness and lower cost. They are ideal for less rigid applications, such as hand-held drilling, stack drilling, and for deep hole drilling where an internal coolant supply is not available.
There are various geometries available for specific material grades, to really cut through the material and leave it in its best-annealed condition.
Guidance before buying solid carbide drills:
- Have a proper knowledge of the workpiece (such as – metal grades and hardness ).
- Solid carbide drills work best in CNC machines, should always be hydraulic, avoid the use of manual fixtures with tightening screws/bolts as it may cause the failure of high-performance tooling and will also lower your productivity considerably as you may encounter noises & poor finish due to the poor fixtures.
- The good quality cooler is required to cool down the drill at its peak temperature.
- Always select the lowest possible flute length Carbide Drill for best rigidity and a better life. Do not go for long flute lengths Carbide Drills in order to get maximum regrinding’s, As it leads to premature breakage of Carbide Drill and hence your tooling cost goes up considerably.
- Shorter flute length will also mean that you can have higher parameters, better Drill life the study shows that reducing the L/D ratio from 8 to 4 leads to more than 3 Times the life improvement & close to Double feed rates can be used.
- Keep the overhang to least possible to prevent premature failures of the Carbide Drills
So, if you are looking for solid carbide drills you can contact us today. We have various range of solid carbide drills stocked.