Holemaking
Whether it’s using drills to make holes, borings bars or reamers to enlarge their IDs, or taps to thread them, this is where to read up about holemaking. Holemaking is a process used to cut a hole in a part or a workpiece.
ESSENTIAL READING
VIEW ALLHow to Turn Machine Shop Downtime Into Process Expertise
To take advantage of a lull in business, JR Machine devised a week-long cutting tool event that elevated the shop’s capabilities with aerospace alloys.
Read MoreHow to Tackle Tough Angled Pocket Milling With Two Tools
Milling a deep pocket with a tight corner radius comes with unique challenges, but using both a flat bottom drill and a necked-down finishing tool can help.
Read MoreChoosing Your Carbide Grade: A Guide
Without an international standard for designating carbide grades or application ranges, users must rely on relative judgments and background knowledge for success.
Read MoreCutting Tool Technology Aids Lights-Out Machining Applications
These features can help improve cutting tool stability, standardize cutting performance and extend tool life, enabling shops to confidently run unattended shifts.
Read MoreHow to Improve Peck Drilling Canned Cycles
Most CNCs don’t have a canned cycle for machining deep holes into malleable materials. Here’s what you do.
Read MoreTips for Thread Milling Tricky Materials
Compared to tapping, thread-milling technology offers advantages for creating threads in challenging materials, such as tool steel, stainless steel and high-temperature alloys. Here are a few tips for establishing an effective thread-milling process in those materials.
Read MoreLatest Holemaking News And Updates
Monaghan Tooling Group Solid Carbide Taps Enhance Performance in Demanding Materials
Monaghan Tooling Group’s Vergnano H-Series High Performance Machine Taps are designed for high-speed tapping in hardened steel, nonferrous metals and superalloys with superior tool life and thread quality.
Read MoreEmuge-Franken Drill Lineup Provides High-Precision Hole Quality
Emuge-Franken expands its range of holemaking tools with a number of new solid carbide drill lines.
Read MoreKennametal Enhances High-Performance Drill Lineup
The KenDrill HPR Solid Carbide Long Length Drills lineup is well suited for aerospace, transportation, general engineering, energy and earthworks shops seeking increased wear resistance, toughness and durability.
Read MoreStar Cutter Drill Lineup Provides Smooth Cutting Operations
The line of internal coolant drills is well suited for applications in all fields where stainless steel is used, such as watchmaking, medical, aerospace, automotive and so on.
Read MoreGrizzly Industrial Mill/Drills Feature Detailed Digital Readouts
The G0982 and G0983 mill/drill combination machines are designed for small metalworking shops with limited space.
Read MoreAllied Drilling System Enables High Penetration Rates
Eastec 2025: The T-A Pro high penetration drilling system offers customers a high performance drilling solution which combines excellent penetration capabilities with versatility across a wide range of sizes.
Read MoreFeatured Posts
Finding the Right Tools for a Turning Shop
Xcelicut is a startup shop that has grown thanks to the right machines, cutting tools, grants and other resources.
Read MoreCustom PCD Tools Extend Shop’s Tool Life Upward of Ten Times
Adopting PCD tooling has extended FT Precision’s tool life from days to months — and the test drill is still going strong.
Read MoreForm Tapping Improves Tool Life, Costs
Moving from cut tapping to form tapping for a notable application cut tooling costs at Siemens Energy and increased tool life a hundredfold.
Read More10 Ways Additive Manufacturing and Machining Go Together and Affect One Another
Forget “additive versus subtractive.” Machining and metal additive manufacturing are interconnected, and enhance the possibilities for one another. Here is a look at just some of the ways additive and machining interrelate right now.
Read MoreNew Machining Technology Works With Old to Restore WWII Submarine
A set of donated boring bars that can be used in a 1954 boring head will enable volunteer machinists to recreate a pair of binoculars for the USS Pampanito.
Read MoreHow to Turn Machine Shop Downtime Into Process Expertise
To take advantage of a lull in business, JR Machine devised a week-long cutting tool event that elevated the shop’s capabilities with aerospace alloys.
Read MoreFAQ: Holemaking
What Are Carbide Coatings?
Most modern carbide inserts and solid carbide tools are coated with a thin film (between 3 and 20 microns, or 0.0001 to 0.0007 inch). The coating is typically composed of titanium nitride, aluminum oxide and titanium carbon nitride layers. This coating increases the hardness and creates a heat barrier between the cut and the substrate.
What is a counterbore?
Counterboring is a machining operation that will enlarge an existing hole’s diameter to a specified depth. Traditionally, counterboring is done with either a special counterboring tool that has a pilot, or it is done with an end mill. In either case, the diameter of the tool (end mill or counterbore) must match the diameter that is counterbored.
Traditional counterboring is great for smaller holes, but as holes get larger, the cutting tools get more expensive.
What is countersinking?
A countersink is a functional surface upon which a fastener head bears. Because fastener performance is so important, countersink tolerances are critical.
What is a chamfer?
Hole chamfers are usually specified simply to make it easier to insert a screw, pin, bushing, or other assembly component. The component doesn't bear on the chamfer, so diameter and angle tolerances are usually not critical to the part's performance.
Holemaking Supplier Categories
- Deep Hole Drilling Machines (Gun Drilling)
- Boring Tools & Heads for Machining Centers
- Drills
- Drill Bushings
- Fixtured Drilling & Tapping Units
- Boring Tools
- Multi-Spindle Drilling Machines
- Vertical, Up to Four-Axis
- Radial Arm Drilling Machines
- Drilling Heads/Attachments
- Bench & Column Drilling Machines
- Gundrills
- Boring Tools for Turning Machines
- Reamers
- Drill Chucks