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LOGIQ 6 Turn. NEW Unique 6 Positive Cutting Edged Insert Shape Designed for Superior Finishing, Featuring 6 Cutting Edges that Provide Excellent Surface Finish.

"In aerospace manufacturing, it’s common to see longer-length drills," said Cormier. "Whether it’s a 6-in.- or 12-in.-long drill, the fluting part is only at the front because they’re only drilling through a little material, but have to reach into places to drill. We also see drills with adaptive shanks, which allow the drill to reach around the corner to drill the hole, like in the side beam of a fuselage. This style of drill drills at a 90-degree angle; the operator is holding it straight but it’s drilling on the side with a threaded shank that’s on the HSS drill, which actually makes the hole."

Our experts agreed that when a machine does not have internal coolant capabilities, HSS drills are the first choice for drilling stainless steel materials.

When HSS drills were first entering the market, they often came with a chisel point. The centre of the drill didn’t turn very fast but pushed and extruded the material until the lips could come and cut it.

"Today’s HSS drills have been configured to include split points that are able to grab the material and enter quickly, making accurate holemaking easier," said Dan Cormier, regional sales manager, Dormer Pramet.

The Walter Titex A1249XPL HSS drill’s wider flute design allows for better chip evacuation and helps with flood (external) coolant as well as pecking. Photo courtesy of Walter USA.

"HSS drills have higher toughness and lower hardness when compared to their carbide counterparts," said Adam Dimitroff, application engineer, OSG Canada.

These characteristics help improve tool life as HSS drills tend to spend less time in the cut because of their material softness.

Cormier said that HSS drills are also used in hand drilling applications, which are numerous. Millions upon millions of holes are drilled by hand. He gives the examples of aircraft skins and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). Using a HSS drill with split points enables quick entry into the material with no walking. If the drill wants to walk or move to the side, the hole won’t start in the right position, which could be extremely detrimental in precision positions on an aircraft. When a hole is being drilled to hold the skin on the wing or fuselage, you certainly want it in its exact location.

It really depends on a shop’s holemaking frequency and overall manufacturing strategy. A small or medium-size job shop that produces only one part that has eight holes in it may not need to spend a significant amount of money on a drill. It can choose the HSS option, and although it may produce holes slower, the overall cost per hole is also reduced.

The experts said that HSS drills are commonly used in the aerospace industry where deep reach but shallow hole depth is needed. Cormier added that drilling is a multimillion-dollar business in Canada’s aerospace industry with players like Bombardier, MHI, IMP, KF Aerospace, Asco, Avcorp, and more producing millions of holes.

Dormer’s A012 TiN tip drill resists flank and crater wear and has low friction, promoting higher cutting speeds. Photo courtesy of Dormer Pramet.

The Tang-Grip blades feature an engraved ruler to assist in overhang adjustment and are supplied in standard sizes that fit Iscar’s blocks.

Do-Grip – The one and only double-sided twisted parting insert with no depth of cut limitation In addition to highly efficient parting inserts in single and double-ended conventional configurations, Iscar offers a unique double-ended twisted geometry for unlimited depth of penetration. The Do-Grip range also includes the largest choice of parting widths available in today’s market, covering all application ranges. Iscar offers a wide variety of chipformers and advanced grades to ensure unbeatable performance and extended tool life.

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Penta-IQ-Grip assures prolonged insert tool life, at least double that of single, double or triple ended parting inserts. Penta-IQ-grip inserts are available in three sizes for parting: D22 (up to 22mm part dia), D32 (up to 32mm part dia), and D40 (up to 40mm part dia). D22 and D32mm sizes can also be used on Swiss-type and small CNC machine tools.

As well as delivering significant performance advantages, Penta-IQ-Grip provides excellent straightness and surface finish characteristics in parting applications.

Carbide drills have substantially taken over high-speed steel (HSS) drills in the industry. Before 2000 the market split between carbide and HSS drills was at about 50-50. The market share for HSS slowly shrank and today it sits roughly at 10 to 15 per cent of all drill purchases. However, millions of holes still are being made with HSS drills.

Under certain conditions, particularly when the operator with a hand drill begins to suffer fatigue, a carbide option has the potential to break, whereas the HSS option will stand up better to that flex.

"Coatings generally increase a tool’s hardness and its lubricity," he said. "Hardness allows for the tool to resist wear. Lubricity allows for the tool to move through material while avoiding built-up edge, which is material galling or sticking to the drill. It also lowers temperatures the tool is exposed to while cutting, further increasing tool life."

"If the HSS drill breaks inside the part, it can be drilled out," said Garud. "If a carbide drill breaks inside an expensive part, it can be very hard to remove. Also, smaller shops have always liked HSS for cost if not performance. Particularly with small and medium series production, with unstable machining conditions and always when toughness is required, users continue to rely on drilling tools in high- speed steel."

Luminoso has a bachelor of arts from Carleton University, a bachelor of education from Ottawa University, and a graduate certificate in book, magazine, and digital publishing from Centennial College.

Tang-Grip- A unique tangential single-ended insert with a revolutionary clamping method Iscar’s Tang-Grip is a high quality, single-ended insert that was developed to enable highly efficient parting. A revolutionary, secure clamping method using a tangentially orientated pocket provides pocket life three times that of any other conventional self-grip system. Tang-Grip’s robust clamping method enables machining at high feed rates and provides excellent straightness and surface finish characteristics.

The HX Jobber drill series combines the strength of HSS with a 135-degree split point to allow lower thrust requirements, improved cutting action, and reduced walking. Photo courtesy of Dormer Pramet.

HSS drills commonly are found in machine shops with low-volume runs in which some holes are being drilled but not too many per shift. They are also suited for shops where the equipment’s cutting speeds are limited, applications with heavy interruptions, and weak setups. In these situations, HSS drills prove to be an economical option.

The experts agreed that adding enrichments and coatings is another way to improve the drilling process. For example, adding an oxide treatment will enable the HSS to withstand heat better, allowing the drill to be used at faster RPMs.

Typically, HSS drills have a 118-degree angle on the drill point, although in recent years many manufacturers have introduced drills with 135-degree and 140-degree angles. A 135-degree drill is flatter than a 118-degree option, allowing the cutting lips to engage with the material sooner and begin full metal cutting action quickly. However, the 118-degree option remains the standard configuration.

Iscar’s latest Tang-Grip innovation is the introduction of cost effective blades. Tang-Grip flat top economical blades now feature four pockets compared to the previous version that had two pockets, whilst the integral shank tools feature two pockets compared to its predecessor that had a single pocket.

One of the major improvements in HSS drills has come from an evolving design. According to Garud, a wider flute design allows for better chip evacuation and helps with flood (external) coolant as well as pecking.

Lindsay Luminoso, sr. editor/digital editor, contributes to both Canadian Metalworking and Canadian Fabricating & Welding. She worked as an associate editor/web editor, at Canadian Metalworking from 2014-2016 and was most recently an associate editor at Design Engineering.

"These drills are suitable for non-ferrous materials because they typically have a sharp edge," said Dimitroff, "Whereas carbide drills typically have a honed edge to combat the brittleness of carbide material. Non-ferrous metals are also very soft and do not cause tools to wear as much as steel alloys. They are also suitable for interrupted cuts due to their higher toughness."

All inserts feature C- and J-type chipformers to accommodate a wide variety of machining and material applications. Penta-IQ-Grip is produced from grade IC808G, a hard, fine grain substrate with excellent chipping resistance, whilst a TiAlN PVD coating provides impressive wear resistance.

Iscar’s progressive policy of unceasing product enhancement is reflected in the recently launched additions to Iscar’s comprehensive Grip range of parting and grooving tools, and now provides one of the most comprehensive range of products for all parting and grooving situations. Included in the range is an extensive choice of insert geometries, chip breakers and carbide grades.

An innovative dovetail wedge clamping system ensures very stable Penta-IQ-Grip insert clamping, secure edge indexing and rapid insert replacement. In addition, the robust structure enables the application of high machining parameters, resulting in much reduced cutting time.

Penta-IQ-Grip – A 5-star pentagonal parting and grooving insert for up to 20mm depth of cut Following the successful introduction of the Penta 24 and Penta 34 inserts, Iscar has introduced the latest evolution of the Penta family Penta- IQ-Grip.

A common problem encountered when using conventional cooling in grooving and parting applications is that the chips can prevent the coolant from reaching the cutting edge, thus reducing the insert’s life. Jet-Cut DGNC inserts enable the efficient delivery of high levels of coolant contributing substantially to prolonged tool life.

As the Penta prefix suggests, Iscar’s advanced new parting insert boasts five cutting edges. Penta-IQ-Grip inserts, available in 2 and 3mm widths, are ideal for parting up to a 40mm part diameter or up to a 20mm depth of cut.

Jet HP – A cool answer to a hot problem! In grooving and parting operations, applying high-pressure coolant provides excellent chip breaking results on all materials. On exotic alloys such as Inconel and titanium, it is usually impossible to break the chips with standard external coolant pressure. High-pressure coolant reduces or even eliminates built-up edge phenomenon, especially when machining stainless steel and high temperature alloys.

"For the longest time that web was consistently straight, meaning the gullets were consistent the whole way back on the drill," he explained. "We made the gullets less deep as you work your way back to the shank and then that centre web tapered bigger, making the drill more robust to withstand the rigors of all the hand drilling."

"Cobalt enrichment improves the drill productivity," said Garud. "Typically, 5 to 8 per cent enrichment adds strength and wear resistance. Vanadium adds heat resistance, providing some ability to run at slightly higher speeds."

Jet-Cut, part of the Jet HP family, is Iscar’s Do-Grip parting insert that features an internal coolant channel that passes through the insert. This advantageous arrangement ensures that the insert’s body is internally cooled while also delivering an efficient coolant jet close to the cutting edge.

"A lot of job shops, even though they might have a machine that runs coolant-through, will tend to use HSS drills because of the cost," said Cormier. "They’re not making a million of anything so they don’t need to worry about the run time in the same way as someone like Linamar, where they are making millions of holes. They would opt for a solid-carbide drill because, for them, savings of seconds per hole can equate to weeks’ worth of production savings on a single shift."

Cormier added that another improvement was reinforcing the center web of a HSS drill, particularly when it came to hand drilling operations.

Materials such as titanium, Inconel, or austenitic stainless steel tend to harden during the cutting process and to form long and tangled chips. The delivery of coolant to the cutting zone by the use of Jet-Cut Do-Grip parting inserts improves chip formation and slashes flank and cratering rates.

The new Iscar Tang-Grip blades and tools are extremely rigid and are capable of bearing heavy tooth loads (high feeds). They resist lateral loads and deliver excellent surface straightness. The 35mm blades, that are 30mm longer than any other standard blades, can be used for deep grooving and parting applications.

Due to Tang-Grip’s beneficial flat top configuration, no chip obstructions are encountered under all possible machining conditions.

By doubling the number of insert pockets, when compared with other tools and blades, the advanced new shank tools and blades deliver the cost-effective advantage of half the price per pocket.

Covering all parting and grooving applications, the Tang-Grip range of inserts is available with a wide variety of chipformers, with both neutral and angular frontal cutting edges. The extensive range comprises blades and inserts in 1.4-12.7mm widths in IC5400, IC830, IC808, Sumotec grades and includes an easy to use clamping and extracting device.

According to Garud, if the machine doesn’t have a coolant-through option, these drills can be used with the pecking cycle. The overall process is slow, but this allows the machine to be used. He added that some shops also opt for HSS drills when producing holes in expensive parts.

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These different alloying elements can be made through powdered metallurgy. Beyond this, the addition of tip coatings such as TiAlN, TiCN, and CrN can improve heat resistance and the ability to run at faster speeds.

"The ability to flex has becomes a big advantage in unstable conditions—older machines with poor spindle runouts, loose slideways or fixtures, and in many other situations," said Sarang Garud, product manager, marketing, Walter USA LLC.