Increased drilling speeds double production

In the food industry, materials made of stainless steel are an absolute must, they are constantly in contact with water and often with acids. This is also valid for the single elements of coffee machines, for example a steam valve, able to withstand this level of exposure only if made of high-quality stainless steel. This in turn makes machining a challenge: these kinds of steel are poor conductors of heat, they are viscoelastic and stick easily.

The challenge

To keep a handle on both quality and costs, one of the leader manufacturers of steam valves depended on a very safe production process and short manufacturing time. His challenge was drilling a 41 mm deep hole with a diameter of 2.75 mm in austenitic stainless steel (Aisi 340) as fast and precisely as possible. None of his conventional drills were up to the task. They were too slow to get the desired result. He wasn't satisfied until he tried CrazyDrill Cool SST-Inox from Mikron Tool. This drill has a unique internal cooling system. "Helicoidally arranged coolant ducts in drop form bring huge volumes of coolant right up to the drill tip and thus cool the drill’s cutting edges. The drill is also designed to ensure that chips break off optimally and are safely flushed from the drill hole, thanks to a chip breaking zone in the front part of the flutes and an open flute profile in the back part", explains Alberto Gotti, Head of Research and Development at Mikron Tool. "You can achieve exceptionally high drilling speeds and feed rates as well as very deep drilling depths."

Doubling of production

With conventional drills, the steam valve manufacturer used to produce only half as many valves as today.  and the manufacturing process took much longer. Furthermore, he broke down half the time for drilling each hole.