I have to drill 1,000 holes 1/4" deep in 6061 AL, using a .020 dia drill. Does anyone have a secret speed feed method/combination to improve drilling time? Center drilling isn't happening, I have a new collet holder, and am not breaking drills but it is painfully slow. tia Michael
You need a hole popper. 5 seconds a hole.
Michael:
Well, standard values are like 10,000 RPM, Feed per revolution @ 1.5% of drill dia. (.0003 per rev.) X 10k RPM = 3 IPM, pecks equal to drill dia. (.020).
That comes out to roughly 10 holes a minute, 100 holes in 10 minutes and 1000 holes in 100 minutes. That's not counting rapid moves. Clearance plane .010 above stock.
You could always have the parts sent out to be laser drilled.
Michael, Stan aka Metalcutter posts this formula all the time on Practical Machinist. I'm not sure how well it works:
Best, Steve
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