What is Gun Drilling?

Gun drilling process is used to produce deep and straight holes. This process is very specialised as compared to the conventional twist drilling process. The standard gun drill tool geometry has a single effective cutting edge. Unlike the twist drill the gun drill cuts through the metal eccentrically and once inside the component the tool self-pilots itself. The hole is further burnished due to the guide pads which finally results in a precise round hole with maintained straightness. The Coolant enters the tool through the coolant through hole and the chips are gushed out through the V shaped profile on the gun drill. Gun Drilling is effective from ф1 to ф30, but if you wish to go higher, BTA drilling becomes more effective than gun drilling.

Gundrilling, one of the basic and frequently performed material removal processes in the automotive, die and mold, and turbine industries, is becoming increasingly more complex, demanding, and experiences an unprecedented growth. Inspite of significant increase in the demand for economically producing holes and forprocess reliability, gundrilling and gundrill manufacture are still considered an esotericart, and there still exists a lackof knowledge on the exact relationships between the point geometry, the grinding process parameters, and the process mechanics, resulting inmany methods for drill production and, consequently, in wide variations in process performance.

Gundrills are known for generating long, straight, close tolerance holes with exceptional surface finish at a high penetration rate.  A gundrill diverges from a regular twist drill by its distinctive head geometry. A standard gundrill has a single effective cutting edge that removes chips as it advances into the workpiece. The gundrilling process can drill deep holes past what is possible with conventional machinery and tooling like twist drills, by utilizing high pressure coolant for clean chip removal, even at extreme depths.

These deep hole drilling tools hold location to accurate tolerances, generate burr-free holes, and are sized to precise specifications. They can also be formed, with Additionally, this operation creates accurate, repeatable holes with outstanding surface finishes, which eliminates the need for one or more secondary or finishing operations.

Gundrill Configurations

Solid carbide gundrills offer high performance, process reliability and longer tool life in many applications due to the reduced torsional vibration and higher rigidity.

Indexable carbide gundrills also offer many benefits, such as the increased tool life due to full coating, indexable design and edge treatment. This design reduces downtime with the quick replacement of worn parts, and versatility for use on machining centers, deep hole machines and lathes.

Gundrills are available in both single-flute and two-flute configurations. Two-flute gundrills are usually the best choice for drilling aluminium or cast iron, as these can be run at twice the penetration rate of single flutes. In the single flute gundrilling process, the coolant is fed through the coolant hole in the tool and exits along with the chips in the V-shaped groove (flute) on the drill tube from the drilled hole.

Benefits of gundrilling

• High cutting performance;
• Minimum centreline deviation;
• Outstanding drilling quality (surface, drilling tolerance);
• High process reliability through trouble-free chip removal;
• Suitable for minimum quantity lubrication (MQL).