Diamond Tipped Twist Drill

This full-helix, PCD drill offers a tool life of between 10 and 50 times that of conventional carbide equivalents when drilling abrasive non-ferrous high strength materials. This extended life, together with increased machining speeds and feeds will lead to substantial increases in productivity and reduced machine downtime. Significant additional benefits are consistent surface finishes and the maintenance of tight size tolerances over the whole working life of the tool.

Unlike previous drills this diamond-tipped twist drill matches exactly the helical geometry of existing carbide drills. It has been developed using Hamilton's latest state-of-the-art wire erosion techniques which allow the replication of complex three-dimensional helical flute forms in the recently released, deep layer PCD from the Industrial Diamond Division of De Beers. (A measure of the potential breakthrough that this tool represents in future twist drill manufacture is the fact that its development qualified for one of the much sought after Regional Enterprise Grants for Innovation from the UK's Department of Trade and Industry.)

Available in any size from 3 to 10mm diameter, these drills are making a large impact in the Aerospace and Automative industries where carbon fibres, silica glass resins and metal matrix composites are widely used.