New Micro Component Drilled At Mollart Chessington

Customers frequently set us challenges as far as drilling requirements go and this is something we thrive on here at Mollart Engineering. Finding solutions to new challenges is an important and effective way of continually pushing our own boundaries and keeping us at the forefront of deep hole drilling innovation.

Micro Component Drilling
The Challenge

The latest challenge was to drill a 0.8mm x 25mm long hole in a 1.6mm diameter part in SS 316 material, which had been fully turned on a swiss lathe prior to drilling.   

The Problem

The main problem being that the customer’s sliding head machine had a limited capacity and therefore could not achieve the required 200 bar of pressure and 20,000 RMP required to drill the hole.

The Solution

Chris Barker, our Tooling Director took on the main challenge, regarding how best to hold the work in order for it to be successfully drilled. This was a very small part and therefore some thought had to go into how best to secure it. Drawing on a wealth of experience in the industry we were able to hold the part on axis at a level better than 0.010mm TIR.

The tool chosen was a type 113 solid carbide tool from Botek which was fitted to the Mollart Microsprint and had a 12mm per minute drilling feed rate. The end result was impressive and the surface finish was better than 0.8Ra with a deviation of 0.010mm. 

If cost-effective drilling is a problem and you need the precision and depth afforded by the gun drilling process then we would be pleased to hear from you. For more information and advice call +44 (0)20 8391 2282 or email sales@mollart.co.uk.