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.

Measuring Torque, Thrust Force for Smart Drilling Operations
Measurement

Measuring Torque, Thrust Force for Smart Drilling Operations

To monitor drilling operations for smart manufacturing solutions, torque and thrust force can be measured.

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ESSENTIAL READING

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Basics

How 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.

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Holemaking

How 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.

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Holemaking

Choosing 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.

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Milling Tools

Cutting 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.  

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How 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.

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Holemaking

Tips 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.

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CERATIZIT MaxiMill S-Power face mill for cast iron
Allied Machine & Engineering
Cut cycle times with Scientific Cutting Tools
Horn USA
Horn USA

Latest Holemaking News And Updates

Holemaking

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.

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Holemaking

Emuge-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.

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Aerospace

Kennametal 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.

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Automotive

Star 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.

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Machines

Grizzly Industrial Mill/Drills Feature Detailed Digital Readouts

The G0982 and G0983 mill/drill combination machines are designed for small metalworking shops with limited space.

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Holemaking

Allied 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.

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Iscar
Ingersoll Cutting Tools
IMCO POW-R-FEED M935
Sumitomo

Featured Posts

Holemaking

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.

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Holemaking

Custom 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.

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Holemaking

Form 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.

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Holemaking

10 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.

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Holemaking

New 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.

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How 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 More
Sumitomo
IMTS 2026
paperlessPARTS
DN Solutions
IMCO POW-R-FEED M935

FAQ: 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.

Source: Choosing Your Carbide Grade: A Guide

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.

Source: Custom Macro To Helically Mill A Counterbore

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.

Source: Gaging Countersunk And Chamfered Holes

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.

Source: Gaging Countersunk And Chamfered Holes

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EMUGE FRANKEN
YCM Alliance
Gravotech
CERATIZIT MaxiMill S-Power face mill for cast iron
Iscar