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Holder/drill combo for tight tolerance drilling in aluminum

GiroDyno

Aluminum
Joined
Apr 19, 2021
Location
PNW
Like the title says... what is the best style holder and tool for "tight tolerance" holes?
.3165 dia, +/-0.0008, .315-.355 deep, through the part, 6061. This hole needs a slip fit for a pin, so we need a reasonably smooth surface finish to boot.
This is a feature we have interpolated for years but I'm sure there is some sort of holder/tool combo that will let us blast them out in a lot less time, especially considering we're running these through a Brother w/16k spindle.
We do 100k's of these holes so something that will hold size and doesn't have to be swapped regularly is a huge bonus.
PCD tipped drill? Regular ol' solid carbide good enough? Coated or bright?
We don't have a shrinkfit or rego machine, is a collet chuck going to be good enough? SK vs ER?
 

michiganbuck

Diamond
Joined
Jun 28, 2012
Location
Mt Clemens, Michigan 48035
I'm not the CNC guy but think a bright carbide or PDC drill or reamer made to .3157 would cut at .3159 after a pre drill and be in spec for a good long time, with over .001 of safety.
Perhaps a 3 flute drill might be good.
 
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michiganbuck

Diamond
Joined
Jun 28, 2012
Location
Mt Clemens, Michigan 48035
QT: (would you try to compensate for the hole coming out larger/smaller than the nominal drill diameter?)
Very often a drill (with a pre-drill) / reamer / gun drill or gun reamer will finish at .0002 over the cutter size.

The back taper OD will make them grow smaller in diameter as they are sharpened shorter, so a balance of the first hole and after sharpened a number of times is considered to get the best tool life...
All of these have a cylindrical OD grind, unlike an end mill that is sharp on the OD and so tries to cut the OD larger with any spindle or holder run out.

I suspect a G-drill would be like a single flute gun drill so would do the same.
 
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