Holemaking is a pretty common procedure in any machine shop, but selecting the best type of cutting tool for each job isn’t always clear cut. You want a drill that caters to the workpiece material, produces the specs required, and ultimately provides the most profit for the job at hand.
So, which drill provides the most value? When it comes down to the variety of jobs manufactured in your machine shop, there is no “one-drill-fits-all.” According to experts from Allied Machine & Engineering, you can simplify the process by considering five criteria when choosing between two big players in the world of metal-cutting: solid drills and replaceable insert drills.
Is your next contract long-term or a short run?
Ask yourself if this particular job is a high production run of the same part or is it a custom prototype or small batch of components?
If you are running a long-term, repeatable process, invest in a replaceable insert drill, like the T-A Pro™ drill manufactured by Allied Machine and Engineering. Commonly referred to as a spade drill or replaceable tip drill, these drills are engineered so that machine operators have the ability to change out the worn cutting edge quickly. This reduces the overall cost per hole in these types of high production runs. The initial investment of the drill body (insert holder) is recouped quickly by the reduction of cycle time and cost of replacing inserts versus the cost of new solid tooling. Simply put, speed of changeout coupled with a lower long-term cost of ownership makes replaceable insert drills the better choice for your high production jobs.
Read more: How to Choose the Best Drill Type for Your Next Job