Solid carbide drills

Solid carbide drills (solid carbide drills) can be reground several times and can therefore be used economically for drilling in the steel construction sector in the diameter range from 6.8 mm to 20 mm. However, we only recommend solid carbide drills for modern drilling systems with stable material clamping, at high speeds from 2500 rpm and high drive power, because the material or "solid carbide" of the carbide drills has very high wear resistance (hardness) but lower toughness than HSS tool steels and is therefore more sensitive than normal HSS tool steels if used incorrectly. the "solid carbide" of carbide drills has a very high wear resistance (hardness), but a lower toughness than HSS tool steels and is therefore more sensitive than normal HSS coolant drills or replaceable insert drills if used incorrectly.

You can buy solid carbide drills from us at fair prices. The usual standard versions 3xD, 5xD and 7xD in diameters from 6.8mm to 20mm can be easily requested and ordered from us below.

Special versions of solid carbide drills are also available on request.

Solid carbide drill bits: Areas of application and limits

The solid carbide drills have a modern multi-layer coating. The wafer-thin multilayer coating is a TiAlN/TiN multilayer coating. It increases the wear resistance and thermal load capacity of the carbide. You can recognize the coating on our carbide drills by the purple color.

Solid carbide drills in use on modern plate machining centers

Due to their extremely high wear resistance, solid carbide drills made of the composite material carbide offer very high cutting performance even without a special coating. However, by coating the solid carbide drills, these already very good wear values can be significantly improved even further.

In the video you can see some examples of the use of solid carbide drills for drilling flat steel and sheet metal. The Kaltenbach KF2506 and Voortman V320 flat steel drilling units or sheet metal processing centers shown in the video have the appropriate stability and correspondingly high drive power with high drill speed, high feed rate and torque. Only with these high-performance drilling units can the drilling performance of the solid carbide drills also be exploited economically.

What are the limits of solid carbide drills?

From a drilling diameter of approx. 20 mm, a carbide drill with a replaceable carbide cutting body makes more economic sense than a solid carbide drill, as the drill is comparatively expensive in this diameter range due to the volume (solid carbide). As a machine and tool specialist, we naturally also offer you modular drills with replaceable cutting edges:

• Nenok modular exchangeable insert system (drills with exchangeable cutting edge)
• Kennametal KSEM modular drill system (drills with replaceable cutting edge)

The Nenok modular carbide cutting inserts and Kennametal KSEM are screwed into a tool holder and replaced when worn. However, these carbide cutting bodies can only be re-sharpened to a limited extent and are therefore not sent out for re-sharpening by most machine users. Solid carbide drills have a clear advantage here, as they can be easily re-sharpened to achieve optimum cutting values and precision again.

Frequently asked questions about "Solid carbide drill bits"

What does "solid carbide drill bit" mean?

"Solid carbide drill bit" is used synonymously or as an acronym for "solid carbide drill bit" and is a common term in the steel construction industry due to the shorter spelling. Both terms describe a drill bit that is made entirely of solid carbide.

What is a solid carbide drill bit?

Solid carbide is a special composite material that is used for tools designed for extreme conditions, among other things. The metal is provided with so-called hard materials, which results in greater hardness, toughness and therefore an optimum service life for the drill bits. The hardness of the material is necessary in order to be able to drill metals such as hardened steel. Another advantage is the reduction in friction during drilling. Solid carbide drills are used at a very high speed in combination with a corresponding feed rate in order to achieve optimum drilling quality in the application. The disadvantage of solid carbide is its increased susceptibility to breakage. For this reason, solid carbide drills should only be used with appropriately designed drilling rigs.

What is the difference between a solid carbide drill bit and an HSS drill bit?

The main difference lies in the material used. An HSS drill bit is made of "high speed steel". However, the solid carbide drill bit is harder and has optimum performance parameters for drilling on professional drilling rigs.