Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web
Stay Connected:
Drilling a hole - smoothest finish?
- Thread starter GregSY
- Start date
- Replies 23
- Views 3,936
67Cuda
Banned
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2008
- Location
- West Coast, CA
Drill under size, then ream with the quill feed. Reaming is similar to boring. If you've ever hand fed a boring bar, boring a hole, the finish will look less than stellar. Similarly if you hand feed when tuning on a lathe or fly cutting on a mill, hand fed finishes look worse than power fed finishes . If you use the quill feed when reaming, it should turn out the best it can, unless you hit it with a hone after. An end mill will usually chatter, and if it doesn't, the results are typically not the best.
Tom
Tom
starbolin
Stainless
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2007
- Location
- Far Northern California, USA
Standard finish is drill then ream but that is not the best 'possible'. What other specs would the hole have to meet? Straightness, roundness, taper?
Other operations possible are grinding, honing, roller burnishing, electo-polishing, plating and probably a few others I've missed.
Other operations possible are grinding, honing, roller burnishing, electo-polishing, plating and probably a few others I've missed.
DaveE907
Titanium
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2007
- Location
- Spanish Springs, NV
There's ballizing too. Superb finish very quickly. Ream hole ~.001 undersize, lubricate and press a .250 ball (hardened 51100, common ball bearing ball) through the hole.
Metalcutter
Titanium
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2005
- Location
- San Diego
Ball burnishing after a good drilled hole.
Regards,
Stan-
Regards,
Stan-
Marty Feldman
Titanium
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2005
- Location
- Falmouth, Maine
Simple 1-step holes, accurately placed and smooth bored -- look up Annular Cutters (Rota-Broach is one) in MMC, MSC, etc.
register
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
The OP said a 1/4" hole through 1" of plate. I'm not sure they make annular cutters in that small a diameter.
For superb finish, single point boring is the best IMHO.
Henry
Cole2534
Diamond
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2010
- Location
- Oklahoma City, OK
This gets my vote.
Mikemaxcel
Plastic
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2010
- Location
- Italy
I am total `raw` in this field please advice me if you could.
Could I use a 1/2 bearing ball to burnish a hole diameter of 12.65mm so to fit a 1/2 sleeve bearing?
Limy Sami
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Location
- Norfolk, UK
Mine too, and as they have a habit of ''cutting tight'', they leave just enough for ball finish if you want that extra bit.
Monarchist
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2012
- Location
- Sol, Terra
gwilson
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2006
- Location
- williamsburg va
ball bearing steel,to my knowledge,is 52100 steel. Some gun barrel makers at least for black powder shot gun barrels,will force a carbide ball through the bore.
Monarchist
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2012
- Location
- Sol, Terra
D-dill/reamer approach, ELSE cylindrical roller-burnisher is better for shiney-wood.
Spotty history of steel or carbide balls tending to discover ways to degrade the hole rather than improve it.
Bill
EPAIII
Diamond
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2003
- Location
- Beaumont, TX, USA
If you really want a spectacular finish, you could drill, ream, saw it in half, and then use abrasives to polish it to whatever degree you wish. Start with a coarse grade and work your way down. You could wind up with a mirror finish with 1000 or 2000 grit and some oil. I believe you said the diameter was 1/4" so you could use a cotton swab in a drill. Charge it with the abrasive and oil mixture and have at it.
steve45
Stainless
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2012
- Location
- Midland, Texas
Extrude hone.
Usually the fastest method if you don't have a reamer handy is to drill 1/16" undersize and chamfer the corners of your on size drill at 45 degrees and hone a flat on the cutting face so the drill won't pull itself through, this has the effect of creating a reamer out of a drill bit such as an end cutting type reamer.
Works well enough that most people think you reamed the hole and gives similar finish results as an end cutting reamer if done properly.
Works well enough that most people think you reamed the hole and gives similar finish results as an end cutting reamer if done properly.
Ha!Ha!... Bill you have to be smoking the shit that killed Elvis to come up with that stuff...lol
Brent
Monarchist
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2012
- Location
- Sol, Terra
Quite the reverse.
I would NOT be reminiscing about 'anatomy' if I WAS 'impaired' by anything stronger that old age.. and a ration of Pall Mall menthols to prevent my actually chasing .. and whimpering pitifully at failure.
A man's got to know his limitations.
BTW. In pre "politically correct" days, or at least before bikini trims and waxing took off, aftermarket auto parts suppliers sold ready-made 'trim' to put around ignition key bezels.
Bill
LKeithR
Stainless
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2011
- Location
- Langley, B.C.
