Clearing Debris from Flutes Between Plunges...

BTW, the best answer we've had yet is to use inverter rated motors, slow and stop them on the retract, reverse their rotation at a slow speed whole a brush probes the flutes and forces the debris down and out of the drill. Then retract the brush and reverse back up to full RPM... Since they are drilling every 4-5 seconds and going 24/7, I figure this may work best and be quite a "How It's Made" filming opportunity.

Regards, Joe Agro, Jr. (800) 871-5022

Joe,

What is the material, and drill material/coating? figuring a way to keep the material from sticking IN the flute is the first place is the better solution. But,

Is the spindle free spinning, or geared? Are the drills the same diameter? If it is free spinning, and the material in the flutes is not packed at the drill tip, you could possibly stop the drill and plunge it into a plate with the drill flute section geometry that pushes the material UP the flutes. Kinda like a backwards broach.

Other questions. Is it possible to change the drill coating to be antistick?

Doing a reverse flute cleaning mechanism is practical, but probably more costly than the above. If you want to pursue that route I can design & fabricate one.

ca

Joe AutoDrill wrote:

Think of the material as government rated carbon fiber... That's about all I can say.

Drills run 24/7 unless they are changing tooling. No human interaction. All automated...

...Maybe but because the material is abrasive I guess it is possible that it could become prostick before it becomes antisharp or produll. :)

Might be justifiable for the customer based on their volume.

I've got your e-mail address and will let you know if they want to talk to you about it, etc. I won't get in the middle unless they want me to. I like doing what I know how to do... Or in other words, I want to visit all my customer's physical areas on vacation and not to fix a machine. :)

Hi Joe, If it's carbon fiber materials their drilling, I'd use a diamond (or "diamond like") coated drill at a minimum, or even a veined PCD drill for maximum abrasion resistance and low friction. If coated drills are used, a trial period with wear analysis should be done to come up with a swap-out schedule. For an example of the veined drill, see

For a positive cleaning method, you might try using a combination of vacuum nozzles (you want to make sure debris doesn't fall back into the drilled hole) and perhaps nylon-tipped pneumatic shot pins, arranged in a circle around the drill bit. If the drill is stopped, and the pins extended, then whichever pins fit into the flutes would then wipe the gullet of the drill if the drill is retracted while the pins are stationary. The vacuum nozzles would collect the chips.

It's a lot to pack into the area, especially if you're (presumably) using your multi-drill technology. A properly designed drill and vacuum arrangement might work fine by themselves.

Just some thoughts, HTH.

Wud