DRILLING OPERATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Drilling is an operation of making a circular hole by removing a volume of metal from the job by
cutting tool called drill. A drill is a rotary end-cutting tool with one or more cutting lips and
usually one or more flutes for the passage of chips and the admission of cutting fluid.

A drilling machine is a It is the simplest and accurate machine used in production shop to produce a
circular hole. It is one of the most important and versatile machine tools in a workshop. Besides
drilling round holes, many other operations can also be performed on the drilling machine such
as counter- boring, countersinking, honing, reaming, lapping, sanding etc.
PROPERTIES OF METALS
The important properties of an engineering material determine the utility of the material which
influences quantitatively or qualitatively the response of a given material to imposed stimuli and
constraints. The various engineering material properties are given as under.
1. Physical properties
2. Chemical properties
3. Thermal properties
4. Electrical properties
5. Magnetic properties
6. Optical properties, and
7. Mechanical properties
Mechanical Properties
Under the action of various kinds of forces, the behavior of the material is studied that measures
the strength and lasting characteristic of a material in service. The mechanical properties of
materials are of great industrial importance in the design of tools, machines and structures. The
mechanical properties of the metals are those which are associated with the ability of the material
to resist mechanical forces and load. The main mechanical properties of the metal are strength,
stiffness, elasticity, plasticity, ductility, malleability, toughness, brittleness, hardness,
formability, castability and weldability. These properties can be well understood with help of
tensile test and stress strain diagram. The few important and useful mechanical properties are
explained below.
1. Elasticity
It is defined as the property of a material to regain its original shape after deformation when the
external forces are removed. It can also be referred as the power of material to come back to its
original position after deformation when the stress or load is removed. Itis also called as the
tensile property of the material.

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2. Proportional limit
It is defined as the maximum stress under which a material will maintain a perfectly uniform rate
of strain to stress. Though its value is difficult to measure, yet it can be used as the important
applications for building precision instruments, springs, etc.
3. Elastic limit
Many metals can be put under stress slightly above the proportional limit without taking a
permanent set. The greatest stress that a material can endure without taking up some permanent
set is called elastic limit. Beyond this limit, the metal does not regain its original form and
permanent set will occurs.
4. Yield point
At a specific stress, ductile metals particularly ceases, offering resistance to tensile forces. This
means, the metals flow and a relatively large permanent set takes place without a noticeable
increase in load. This point is called yield point. Certain metals such as mild steel exhibit a
definite yield point, in which case the yield stress is simply the stress at this point.
5. Strength
Strength is defined as the ability of a material to resist the externally applied forces with
breakdown or yielding. The internal resistance offered by a material to an externally applied
force is called stress. The capacity of bearing load by metal and to withstand destruction under
the action of external loads is known as strength. The stronger the material the greater the load it
can withstand. This property of material therefore determines the ability to withstand stress
without failure. Strength varies according to the type of loading. It is always possible to assess
tensile, compressive, shearing and torsional strengths. The maximum stress that any material can
withstand before destruction is called its ultimate strength. The tenacity of the material is its
ultimate strength in tension.
6. Stiffness
It is defined as the ability of a material to resist deformation under stress. The resistance of a
material to elastic deformation or deflection is called stiffness or rigidity. A material that suffers
slight or very less deformation under load has a high degree of stiffness or rigidity.
For instance suspended beams of steel and aluminium may both be strong enough to carry the
required load but the aluminium beam will “sag” or deflect further. That means, the steelbeam is
stiffer or more rigid than aluminium beam. If the material behaves elastically with linear stress-
strain relationship under Hooks law, its stiffness is measured by the Young’s modulus of
elasticity (E). The higher is the value of the Young’s modulus, the stiffer is the material. In
tensile and compressive stress, it is called modulus of stiffness or “modulus of elasticity”; in
shear, the modulus of rigidity, and this is usually 40% of the value of Young’s modulus for
commonly used materials; in volumetric distortion, the bulk modulus.

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7. Plasticity
Plasticity is defined the mechanical property of a material which retains the deformation
produced under load permanently. This property of the material is required in forging, in
stamping images on coins and in ornamental work. It is the ability or tendency of material to
0undergo some degree of permanent deformation without its rupture or its failure. Plastic
deformation takes place only after the elastic range of material has been exceeded. Such property
of material is important in forming, shaping, extruding and many other hot or cold working
processes. Materials such as clay, lead, etc. are plastic at room temperature and steel is plastic at
forging temperature. This property generally increases with increase in temperature of materials.
8. Ductility
Ductility is termed as the property of a material enabling it to be drawn into wire with the
application of tensile load. A ductile material must be strong and plastic. The ductility is usually
measured by the terms, percentage elongation and percent reduction in area which is often used
as empirical measures of ductility. The materials those possess more than 5% elongation are
called as ductile materials. The ductile material commonly used in engineering practice in order
of diminishing ductility are mild steel, copper, aluminium, nickel, zinc, tin and lead.
9. Malleability
Malleability is the ability of the material to be flattened into thin sheets under applications of
heavy compressive forces without cracking by hot or cold working means. It is a special case of
ductility which permits materials to be rolled or hammered into thin sheets. A malleable material
should be plastic but it is not essential to be so strong. The malleable materials commonly used
in engineering practice in order of diminishing malleability are lead, soft steel, wrought iron,
copper and aluminium. Aluminium, copper, tin, lead, steel, etc. are recognized as highly
malleable metals.
10. Hardness
Hardness is defined as the ability of a metal to cut another metal. A harder metal can always cut
or put impression to the softer metals by virtue of its hardness. It is a very important property of
the metals and has a wide variety of meanings. It embraces many different properties such as
resistance to wear, scratching, deformation and machinability etc.
11. Brittleness
Brittleness is the property of a material opposite to ductility. It is the property of breaking of a
material with little permanent distortion. The materials having less than 5% elongation under
loading behavior are said to be brittle materials. Brittle materials when subjected to tensile loads,
snap off without giving any sensible elongation. Glass, cast iron, brass and ceramics are
considered as brittle material.
12. Creep

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When a metal part when is subjected to a high constant stress at high temperature for a longer
period of time, it will undergo a slow and permanent deformation (in form of a crack which may
further propagate further towards creep failure) called creep.
13. Formability
It is the property of metals which denotes the ease in its forming in to various shapes and sizes.
The different factors that affect the formability are crystal structure of metal, grain size of metal
hot and cold working, alloying element present in the parent metal. Metals with smal1 grain size
are suitable for shallow forming while metal with size are suitable for heavy forming. Hot
working increases formability. Low carbon steel possesses good formability.
14. Castability
Castability is defined as the property of metal, which indicates the ease with it can be casted into
different shapes and sizes. Cast iron, aluminium and brass are possessing good castability.
15. Weldability
Weldability is defined as the property of a metal which indicates the two similar or dissimilar
metals are joined by fusion with or without the application of pressure and with or without the
use of filler metal (welding) efficiently. Metals having weldability in the descending order are
iron, steel, cast steels and stainless steels.
CLASSIFICATION OF ENGINEERING MATERIALS
A large numbers of engineering materials exists in the universe such as metals and non metals
(leather, rubber, asbestos, plastic, ceramics, organic polymers, composites and semi conductor).
Some commonly used engineering materials are broadly classified as shown in Fig. bellow.
Leather is generally used for shoes, belt drives, packing, washers etc. It is highly flexible and can
easily withstand against considerable wear under suitable conditions. Rubber is commonly
employed as packing material, belt drive as an electric insulator. Asbestos is basically utilized for
lagging round steam pipes and steam pipe and steam boilers because it is poor conductor of heat,
so avoids loss of heat to the surroundings. Engineering materials may also be categorized into
metals and alloys, ceramic materials, organic polymers, composites and semiconductors. The
metal and alloys have tremendous applications for manufacturing the products required by the
customers.
Metals and Alloys
Metals are polycrystalline bodies consisting of a great number of fine crystals. Pure metals
possess low strength and do not have the required properties. So, alloys are produced by melting
or sintering two or more metals or metals and a non-metal, together. Alloys may consist of two
more components. Metals and alloys are further classified into two major kind namely ferrous
metals and non-ferrous metals.
(a) Ferrous metals are those which have the iron as their main constituent, such as pig iron, cast
iron, wrought iron and steels.
(b) Non-ferrous metals are those which have a metal other than iron as their main constituent,
such as copper, aluminium, brass, bronze, tin, silver zinc, etc.

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DRILLING MACHINE
Construction of drilling machine
Different parts of a drilling machine are shown in Fig, and are discussed below:
i) The head containing electric motor, V-pulleys and V-belt which transmit rotary motion to the
drill spindle at a number of speeds.
ii) Spindle is made up of alloy steel. It rotates as well as moves up and down in a sleeve. A
pinion engages a rack fixed onto the sleeve to provide vertical up and down motion of the
spindle and hence the drill so that the same can be fed into the workpiece or withdrawn from it
while drilling. Spindle speed or the drill speed is changed with the help of V-belt and V-step-
pulleys ,Larger drilling machines are having gear boxes for the said purpose.
iii) Drill chuck is held at the end of the drill spindle and in turn it holds the drill bit.
iv) Adjustable work piece table is supported on the column of the drilling machine. It can be
moved both vertically and horizontally. Tables are generally having slots so that the vise or the
workpiece can be securely held on it.
v) Base table is a heavy casting and it supports the drill structure. The base supports the column,
which in turn, supports the table, head etc.
vi) Column is a vertical round or box section which rests
on the base and supports the head and the table. The round column may have rack teeth cut on it
so that the table can be raised or lowered depending upon the workpiece requirements.

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TYPES OF DRILLING MACHINE
Drilling machines are classified on the basis of their constructional features, or the type of work
they can handle. The various types of drilling machines are:
1) Portable drilling machine
Portable drilling machine is a small compact unit and used for drilling holes in worpieces in any
position, which cannot be drilled in a standard drilling machine. It may be used for drilling small
diameter holes in large castings or weldments at that place itself where they are lying. Portable
drilling machines are fitted with small electric motors, which may be driven by both A.C. and
D.C. power supply. These drilling machines operate at fairly high speeds and accommodate drills
up to 12 mm in diameter.

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 2) Sensitive drilling machine
It is a small machine used for drilling small holes in light jobs. In this drilling machine, the workpiece is
mounted on the table and drill is fed into the work by purely hand control. High rotating speed of the
drill and hand feed are the major features of sensitive drilling machine. As the operator senses the
drilling action in the workpiece, at any instant, it is called sensitive drilling. This type of machine drill
holes from 1.5 to 15mm. There two types of sensitive drilling machine:
a) Bench mounting
b) Floor mounting

3) Upright drilling machine

The upright drilling machine is larger and heavier than a sensitive drilling machine. It is designed for
handling medium sized workpieces and is supplied with power feed arrangement.
In this machine a large number of spindle speeds and feeds may be available for drilling different types
of work. Upright drilling machines are available in various sizes and with various drilling capacities
(ranging up to 75 mm diameter drills). The table of the machine also has different types of adjustments.
Based on the construction, there are two general types of upright drilling machine:
a) Round column section or pillar drilling machine.
b) Box column section.

4) Radial drilling machine

The radial drilling machine consists of a heavy, round vertical column supporting a horizontal arm that
carries the drill head.

Arm can be raised or lowered on the column and can also be swung around to any position over
the work and can be locked in any position.

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The drill head containing mechanism for rotating and feeding the drill is mounted on a radial arm
and can be moved horizontally on the guide-ways and clamped at any desired position. These
adjustments of arm and drilling head permit the operator to locate the drill quickly over any point
on the work. The table of radial drilling machine may also be rotated through 360 deg. There
are : 1. Plain radial drilling machine
2. Semi universal drilling machine, and
3. Universal drilling machine.
5) Gang drilling machine

In gang drilling machine, a number of single spindle drilling machine columns are placed
side by side on a common base and have a common worktable. A series of operation may be
performed on the job by shifting the work from one position to the other on the worktable.
This type of machine is mainly used for production work.

A series of operation may be performed on the job by shifting the work from one position to the other
on the worktable. This type of machine is mainly used for production work.

6) Multiple spindle drilling machine

7) Automatic drilling machine
8) Deep hole drilling machine
9) CNC drilling machine

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CUTTING TOOLS ON DRILLING MACHINES
Various cutting tools besides twist drills are used on a drilling machine, and some of them are
described below.
1. Twist drill

Twist drills are available with parallel shanks up to 16mm diameter and with taper shanks up to
100mm diameter and are made from high-speed steel. Standard lengths are known as jobber-
series twist drills, short drills are known as stub series, and long drills as long series and extra
long series.

Combination drills known as Subland drills combine a number of operations in a single tool; e.g.
drill and ream, drill two diameters, drill and chamfer, drill and spotface, drill and counterbore.
Each cutting edge has a separate land and flute which enables cutting to take place and
resharpening to be easily carried out.

Drilling And Drills

Types of drills
– Twist drill: most
common drill
– Step drill:
produces holes
of two or more
different
diameters
– Core drill: used
to make an
existing hole
bigger

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Cutting tool nomenclature

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 2. Machine reamer

A reamer is used to produce a hole of greater accuracy than can be obtained using a drill. The hole is
drilled undersize by an amount depending upon the diameter, the required finished size is then
obtained with the reamer.

Types of reamers

3. Countersink

Countersink cutters, made from high-speed steel, are used to cut a large chamfer of the
correct angle, usually 90°, as a seating for countersink-head screws. Countersinks should be
run at a fairly slow speed to avoid chatter. They are available with parallel and taper shanks.

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 4. Counterbore

A counterbore cutter is used to enlarge an existing hole to provide a flat and square seating for a screw,
bolt or nut under the workpiece surface. Teeth are provided on the end face and on the circumference,
to permit cutting to a depth. Counterbore cutters are made from high-speed steel and may have parallel

or taper shanks.

5. Spotface

A spotface cutter, is used to provide a flat and square seating for a screw, bolt or nut on the
surface of the workpiece, usually on the surface of a rough casting which would not otherwise
provide a sufficiently accurate seating. The spotface is similar to a counterbore cutter, but has
teeth on the end only. It will cut to only a very limited depth and cannot be used to counterbore.

General purpose drills may be classified as;

• According to material :
 High speed steel – most common
 Cemented carbides
- Without or with coating
- In the form of brazed, clamped or solid
• According to size
 Large twist drills of diameter around 40 mm

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  Microdrills of diameter 25 to 500 μm
 Medium range (most widely used) diameter ranges between 3 mm to 25 mm.
• According to number of flutes
 Two fluted – most common
 Single flute – e.g., gun drill (robust)
 Three or four flutes – called slot drill

According to helix angle of the flutes

-Usual – 200 to 350 – most common
-Large helix : 45o to 60o suitable for deep holes and softer work materials
-Small helix : for harder / stronger materials
-Zero helix : spade drills for high production drilling micro-drilling and hard work materials.

• According to length – to – diameter ratio

-Deep hole drill; e.g. crank shaft drill, gun drill etc.
-General type : L/φ ≅ 6 to 10
-Small length : e.g. centre drill.

.According to shank
-Straight shank – small size drill being held in drill chuck
-Taper shank – medium to large size drills being fitted into the spindle nose directly or through
taper sockets
• According to specific applications
- Centre drills : for small axial hole with 60o taper end to accommodate lathe centre for support
-Step drill and subland drill : for small holes with two or three steps.

-Half round drill, gun drill and crank shaft drill (for making oil holes)
-Ejector drill for high speed drilling of large diameter holes
-Taper drill for batch production
-Trepanning tool for large holes in soft materials

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TOOL HOLDING DEVICES
The different methods used for holding drill in a drill spindle are
• By directly fitting in the spindle hole.
• By using drill sleeve
• By using drill socket
• By using drill chuck
Drills and similar tools with parallel shanks are held in a drill chuck. Many different types of chuck are
available, each being adjustable over its complete range, and give good gripping power. By rotating the
outer sleeve, the jaws can be opened and closed. To ensure maximum grip, the chuck should be
tightened using the correct size of chuck key. This prevents the drill from spinning during use and
chewing up the drill shank.

WORK CLAMPING

Work is held on a drilling machine by clamping to the worktable, in a vice or, in the case of production
work, in a jig. It is sufficient to say here that work held in a jig will be accurately drilled more quickly than
by the other methods, but large quantities of the workpiece must be required to justify the additional
cost of the equipment. Standard equipment in any workshop is a vice and a collection of clamps, studs,
bolts, nuts and packing. It should be stressed that work being drilled should never be held by hand.

High forces are transmitted by a revolving drill, especially when the drill is breaking through the bottom
surface, which can wrench the work from your hand. The resulting injuries can vary from a small cut to
the loss of a finger. Never take a chance – always clamp securely. Small workpieces with parallel faces
can be quite adequately held in a vice.

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The work is then positioned under the drill and the vice is clamped to the worktable. Larger work and
sheet metal are best clamped direct on to the worktable, care of course being taken to avoid drilling into
the worktable surface.

When required, the work can be raised off the worktable surface by means of suitable packing or on
parallels. Tee slots are provided in the worktable surface into which are fitted tee bolts, or tee nuts in
which studs are screwed. Various styles and shapes of clamp are available, one of which is shown in Fig
bellow.

Tee nut and tee bolt

Clamp

Clamping forces

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OPERATIONS PERFORMED ON DRILLING MACHINE

A drill machine is versatile machine tool. A number of operations can be performed on it. Some
of the operations that can be performed on drilling machines are:

1.Drilling :This is the operation of making a circular hole by removing a volume of metal from
the job by a rotating cutting tool called drill .

2. Reaming
This is the operation of sizing and finishing a hole already made by a drill. Reaming is performed
by means of a cutting tool called reamer as shown in Fig bellow.

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3. Boring
Boring is operation where enlarging a hole by means of adjustable cutting tools with only one
cutting edge is accomplished. A boring tool is employed for this purpose.

4. Counter-Boring

Counter boring is the operation of enlarging the end of a hole cylindrically, as for the seat of a
counter-sunk rivet. The tool used is known as counter-bore.

Counter boringoperation

5. Counter-Sinking

Counter-sinking is the operation of making a cone shaped enlargement of the end of a hole, as
for the recess for a flat head screw. This is done for providing a seat for counter sunk heads of
the screws so that the latter may flush with the main surface of the work.

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6. Lapping

This is the operation of sizing and finishing a hole by removing very small amounts of material
by means of an abrasive. The abrasive material is kept in contact with the sides of a hole that is
to be lapped, by the use of a lapping tool.

7. Spot-Facing

This is the operation of removing enough material to provide a flat surface around a hole to
accommodate the head of a bolt or a nut. A spot-facing tool is very nearly similar to the counter-
bore.

8. Tapping

It is the operation of cutting internal threads by using a tool called a tap.

CUTTING SPEED

The cutting speed in a drilling operation refers to the peripheral speed of a point on the surface of
the drill in contact with the work. It is usually expressed in meters/min.

The cutting speed (Cs) may be calculated as:

Cs = ((22/7) × D × N)/1000

Where, D is the diameter of the drill in mm and N is the rpm of the drill spindle.

Example1

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Example2

At what spindle speed would a 15 mm diameter drill be run in order to drill a hole in a mild steel
workpiece at a cutting speed of 28 m/min.

FEED

The feed of a drill is the distance the drill moves into the job at each revolution of the spindle. It
is expressed in millimeter. The feed may also be expressed as feed per minute. The feed per
minute may be defined as the axial distance moved by the drill into the work per minute.

The feed per minute may be calculated as:

F = Fr × N

Where, F = Feed per minute in mm.

Fr = Feed per revolution in mm.

N = R.P.M. of the drill.

Cutting Speed (v):

It’s the peripheral speed of the drill
v = π*D*N
where
D = dia of the drill in m
N = Speed of rotation in rpm
Depth of Cut (d):
The distance from the machined surface to the drill axis
d=D/2

CUTTING FLUIDS.

The rapid temperature rise of the work and the cutting tool can be lead to inaccuracy and short
tool life. A coolant is requred to prevent this. Usually coolants are poor lubricants, and lubricants
are poor coolants. During metal cutting operations, frictional forces oppose relative movements
between the work and tool. The affects of frictions are :
a) Generate heat which can
1) Cause expansion of the work and dimensional inaccuracies,
2) Temper tool,

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 3) When combined with the pressure of the cutting action, weld chips to the
tool point (build up edge) and so affect surface finish;
b) Cause wear on the tool edges with the need for constant regrinding
c) Increase the power required for the cutting action

The reason for using cutting fluids are threfore to:

a. Cool the hot areas of the tool and work
b. Lubricate (reduce friction) between
i. The tool point and the work
ii. The rake face of the tool and chip sliding over it
c. Wash away chips (swarf).
d. To lubricate some of the moving parts of the machine tool.

Type of Cutting fluids Applications

Soluble oil (Emulsion of oil and water) The main property is cooling, these fluids have
general purpose use when turning, drilling or
milling stell, medium carbon steel, brass or
copper.
Straight oils (not mixed with water) Main property is good lubrication.
(A) Mineral oils Made from crude peteroleum. Used for ligth
cutting operations on free cutting brass and
aluminium.
(B) Fatty oils Not widely used, as they tend to break down.
Lard oils are still used for cutting threads by
taps and dies.
Sulphurized oils, called extreme pressure oils (EP) Addition of sulphul makes them suitable for
heavy cutting operation with materials that are
difficulty to machine.
Water mixed with an anti corrosion agent (Soda in Used for a wide range of precision grinding
water) operations
In addition, the cutting fluids should not corrode work or machine tools, be stable and not (foam)
and be safe to handle. Cast iron is an expeception and should be cut dry, the one problem is that
there is a large amount of cast iron dust when machined.
Operating Precautions of drilling machine

1. Never wear a tie, loose clothing when using a portable power drill. Tie long hair back or
secure under a cap.
2. Always wear safety glasses or goggles when drilling.
3. Avoid using a portable electric drill when it is raining or in wet conditions.
4. Use the correct drill bit for the type of material to be drilled to suit the task at hand..
5. Make all portable power drill adjustments with the power switch off and the drill
unplugged.
6. Insert the drill bit into drill chuck and tighten with the chuck key.
7. Remove the chuck key from the drill chuck before starting the machine.
8. Start the drill to ensure that the drill bit is fitted correctly in the chuck.

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 9. Keep your hands and fingers away from the rotating drill chuck and bit.
10. Do not force a drill bit against the work piece being drilled. If a drill bit is not penetrating
properly, turn the drill off and change the drill bit.
11. Use caution when changing drill bits, as they are sharp and can become hot during use
12. Never stop the rotation of the drill chuck or bit with your hands or fingers.
13. Always clean your work area upon completion of the drilling task.
14. When you finish drilling, replace the drill in its case. Never leave your power drill
plugged in while not in active use. When returning the drill to the tool room or carrying it
to a jobsite, take out the bit. This eliminates the chance of your stabbing yourself or a co-
worker.

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