Helmut Gschrey, Senior Product Manager for Holemaking at Walter AG and one of the pioneers of the new performance class in drilling, explains why Walter has developed the DC170:
The idea: From the start, improving the four most important parameters of the DC170 was our primary concern during the development phase: We wanted to improve tool life - but do so reliably.
Secondly, it was very important for us to bring the drill as quickly as possible into a condition of ‘guidance', because that's particularly important during deep-hole drilling where cross holes and inclined exits are involved.
The matter of heat exchange was also a development requirement: Given the high temperatures generated during drilling, our intention was for this new generation of drills to be optimally cooled, while they also actively cooled the interface to the material. Finally, we wanted our customers to be able to dispense with the costly business of reworking holes after drilling - and so the new drills had to leave an excellent surface finish.
Feedback from our customer advisors: After the test phases, we can already say that the DC170 enables significant increases in productivity, when gauged against all these four criteria. The fact that our customers always need faster and more favourably priced processes is nothing new.
But the challenge is to make that a reality, and continue to do so. With its ‘Engineering Kompetenz', Walter is setting a new standard here - and the first customers have confirmed that to us.
The trend in the requirements for drilling tools: Our customers have to contend with worldwide competition and that drives requirements increasingly higher, especially for high-performance applications. Machining tools supplied to serve this market are therefore also high-tech tools. More productivity than that achieved with the preceding generation of drills is now expected.
What needs to be done, anyway, is to also offer these very good tools together with good handling properties and after-sales service, as is provided by regrinding, for example. Tool manufacturers expect to see that they will acquire more responsibility along the entire process chain, in order that customers can concentrate on their core competencies.
Product features of the DC170 at a glance:
• Suitable for ISO-P and ISO-K materials in all industries.
• Preferable for difficult machining operations such as cross holes and inclined exits.
• Upon its launch, available in the lengths of 16xDc and 20xDc.
• Proven piloting strategies can continue to be used.
Contact details
Walter Tools India Pvt. Ltd.
E-mail: service.in@walter-tools.com
Tel.: +91 20 30457300
Fax: +91 20 30457340
www.walter-tools.com
