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Machined Holes 2. Hole-Making Operations

Hole-making is a machining process that cuts cylindrical holes into a workpiece using rotating cutting tools. Various machines like mills and lathes can perform hole-making. Common hole-making operations include drilling, reaming, tapping, boring, counterboring, and countersinking which use different tools to cut holes of different diameters, depths, finishes, and features like threads or recesses. Hole-making is often performed as part of machining a part or to add features to an existing part like a casting.

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141 views

Machined Holes 2. Hole-Making Operations

Hole-making is a machining process that cuts cylindrical holes into a workpiece using rotating cutting tools. Various machines like mills and lathes can perform hole-making. Common hole-making operations include drilling, reaming, tapping, boring, counterboring, and countersinking which use different tools to cut holes of different diameters, depths, finishes, and features like threads or recesses. Hole-making is often performed as part of machining a part or to add features to an existing part like a casting.

Uploaded by

Trieubinhan Nguyen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Hole-making

Contents

 1. Machined holes
 2. Hole-making operations

Hole-making is a class of machining operations that are specifically used to cut a hole into
a workpiece. Machining, a material removal process, creates features on a part by cutting away
the unwanted material and requires a machine, workpiece, fixture, and cutting tool. Hole-making
can be performed on a variety of machines, including general machining equipment such as CNC
milling machines or CNC turning machines. Specialized equipment also exists for hole-making,
such as drill presses or tapping machines. The workpiece is a piece of pre-shaped material that is
secured to the fixture, which itself is attached to a platform inside the machine. The cutting tool is
a cylindrical tool with sharp teeth that is secured inside a piece called a collet, which is then
attached to the spindle, which rotates the tool at high speeds. By feeding the rotating tool into the
workpiece, material is cut away in the form of small chips to create the desired feature.

Hole-making operations are typically performed amongst many other operations in the machining
of a part. However, hole-making may be performed as a secondary machining process for an
existing part, such as a casting or forging. This can be done to add features that were too costly
to form during the primary process or to improve the tolerance or surface finish of existing holes.

Machined holes

In machining, a hole is a cylindrical feature that is cut from the workpiece by a rotating cutting tool
that enters the workpiece axially. The hole will have the same diameter of the cutting tool and
match the geometry (which may include a pointed end). Non-cylindrical features, or pockets, can
also be machined, but they require end milling operations not hole-making operations. While all
machined holes have the same basic form they can still differ in many ways to best suit a given
application. A machined hole can be characterized by several different parameters or features
which will determine the hole-making operation and tool that is required.

 Diameter - Holes can be machined in a wide variety of diameters, determined by the


selected tool. The cutting tools used for hole-making are available in standard sizes that can be
as small as 0.0019 inches and as large as 3 inches. Several standards exist including
fractional sizes, letter sizes, number sizes, and metric sizes. A custom tool can be created to
machine a non-standard diameter, but it is more cost effective to use the closest standard
sized tool.
 Tolerance - In any machining operation, the precision of a cut can be affected by several
factors, including the sharpness of the tool, any vibration of the tool, or the build up of chips of
material. The specified tolerance of a hole will determine the method of hole-making used, as
some methods are suited for tight-tolerance holes.
 Depth - A machined hole may extend to a point within the workpiece, known as a blind
hole, or it may extend completely through the workpiece, known as a through hole. A blind hole
may have a flat bottom, but typically ends in a point due to the pointed end of the tool. When
specifying the depth of a hole, one may reference the depth to the point or the depth to the end
of the full diameter portion of the hole. The total depth of the hole is limited by the length of the
cutting tool.
 Recessed top - A common feature of machined holes is to recess the top of the hole into
the workpiece. This is typically done to accommodate the head of a fastener and allow it to sit
flush with the workpiece surface. Two types of recessed holes are a counterbore, which has a
cylindrical recess, and a countersink, which has a cone-shaped recess.
 Threads - Threaded holes are machined to accommodate a threaded fastener and are
typically specified by their outer diameter and pitch. The pitch is a measure of the spacing
between threads and may be expressed in the English standard, as the number of threads per
inch (TPI), or in the metric standard, as the distance in millimeters (mm) between threads.

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Hole-making operations

Several hole-making operations exist, each using a different type of cutting tool and forming a
different type of hole.

 Drilling - A drill bit enters the workpiece axially and


cuts a blind hole or a through hole with a diameter equal to
that of the tool. A drill bit is a multi-point tool and typically
has a pointed end. A twist drill is the most commonly used,
but other types of drill bits, such as a center drill, spot drill,
or tap drill can be used to start a hole that will be completed
by another operation

 Reaming - A reamer enters the workpiece axially and


enlarges an existing hole to the diameter of the tool. A
reamer is a multi-point tool that has many flutes, which may
be straight or in a helix. Reaming removes a minimal
amount of material and is often performed after drilling to
obtain both a more accurate diameter and a smoother
internal finish.

 Tapping - A tap enters the workpiece axially and cuts


internal threads into an existing hole. The existing hole is
typically drilled by the required tap drill size that will
accommodate the desired tap. The tap is selected based on
the major diameter and pitch of the threaded hole. Threads
may be cut to a specified depth inside the hole (bottom tap)
or the complete depth of a through hole (through tap).

 Boring - A boring tool enters the workpiece axially and


cuts along the internal surface of an existing hole to enlarge
the diameter or obtain more precise dimensions. The boring
tool is a single-point cutting tool, which can be set to cut the
desired diameter by using an adjustable boring head.
 Counterboring - A counterbore tool enters the
workpiece axially and enlarges the top portion of an existing
hole to the diameter of the tool. Counterboring is often
performed after drilling to provide space for the head of a
fastener, such as a bolt, to sit flush with the workpiece
surface. The counterboring tool has a pilot on the end to
guide it straight into the existing hole.

 Countersinking - A countersink tool enters the


workpiece axially and enlarges the top portion of an existing
hole to a cone-shaped opening. Countersinking is often
performed after drilling to provide space for the head of a
fastener, such as a screw, to sit flush with the workpiece
surface. Common included angles for a countersink include
60, 82, 90, 100, 118, and 120 degrees.

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