Cutting-Parameters

Titanium alloys – particularly Ti-6Al-4V (Grade 5) and Ti-6Al-4V ELI (Grade 23) – are widely used in aerospace, medical, and marine applications. They offer an excellent strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance. Unfortunately, they also happen to be one of the most challenging materials to deep hole drill. I have spent years dialing in titanium drilling parameters for everything from aircraft landing gear components to medical implants. What follows is what I have found works consistently. ...

Spindle power and torque are related but different specifications. Power determines how fast material can be removed. Torque determines how much cutting force the spindle can deliver at low RPM. For deep hole drilling, misunderstanding these two specs leads to undersized spindles that stall in the cut. I have seen a 35 kW spindle stall out on a 60 mm BTA drill because the machine peaked at high RPM and delivered only 80 Nm at the feed rate needed for BTA parameters. ...

Here are the cutting parameters I use as starting points for deep hole drilling. These are starting points — adjust based on the specific material, machine, and tooling. I’ve collected these numbers over years of setup work, and they save me a lot of trial and error. Cutting Speed Selection by Material Cutting speed is the first parameter I set. It directly affects tool life and hole quality. Run too fast and the tool edge breaks down. Run too slow and you risk work hardening and poor chip formation. ...

I have been running gun drills for over a decade, and the single biggest productivity gain I ever made was laminating a reference card and taping it to every machine I run. When the spindle is stopped and chips need clearing, I don’t want to dig through a binder or scroll through a PDF. I want the number, right there. This article is that card, blown up with the context and edge-case notes that never fit on the laminated sheet. ...