Gun drills are basically straight fluted rods that use highly pressurized fluids to achieve cutting into great depth in metal materials. The depth to diameter ratios that can be realized by those specialized tools ranges from 250 to 500.
Around this fluted rod that is essentially the drill, circulates the coolant that keeps drilling temperatures below melting point for both the drill and the workpiece while the chips that are produced from the process flow outside the drilled hole.
Features
The tip of the gun drill itself is the point that is called to withstand the deformation forces generated by the extreme pressures. For this reason, gun drill manufacturers choose the strongest metal alloys and composite materials that stay unaffected by intense pressure and sudden temperature changes for many years of operation.
In order for a gun drill to deliver the required levels of drilling accuracy, everything has to work precisely as intended and the affecting factors must all be carefully calibrated. This suggests for extreme manufacturing quality and the cost is naturally the equivalent. The speed with which gun drill machines can cut through rigid metals such as steel can reach up to 75 cm per minute. This makes up for the increased cost as speed of processing dramatically increases.
Uses
Gun Barrels
The most obvious use scenario for the gun drilling machines is for the drilling of gun barrels, which is where this specialized tool got its name from. Gun drills are ideal for the boring of such long holes into rigid metal materials.
The smoothness of the gun barrel's inner surface that only gun drills can achieve ensures that the projectiles will travel straight inside the barrel. The accuracy of the gun drills guarantees the homogeneous heating of the barrel, durability to explosive forces and long lifetimes. Before gun drilling machines were available, casting was used for the production of gun barrels.
Molds and Dies
Another case of gun drilling machine application is for the manufacturing of molds that are suitable for the production of metal parts or tools. In this case, gun drills are especially useful as the molten material may have to be inserted through a relatively long hole and into the casting mold.
Tool Manufacturing
A popular application for gun drills is tool manufacturing. There are several types of mechanical tools that feature deep holes that serve as fitting positions for extensions etc. Deep hole drilling machines can help boring the hardened alloys that tools are made of and can even achieve polygonal features.
Musical Instruments
Last, gun drilling machines are extensively used in the music instrument manufacturing industry and especially for wind instruments that require deep holes of small diameter. These instruments can be flutes, oboes, bassoons, saxophones, clarinets, trumpets, ocarinas and reeds. As most of these instruments are made out of brass and other soft metals, gun drill machines are required to work with precision and delicacy as the slightest deformation will result in wrong tonal performance.
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