Gun Drilling

Gun drilling is the oldest and most widely used method of deep hole drilling employed by industry today. The drill or “gun drill” is generally a one-piece assembly consisting of a hollow cylindrical drill driver. Also, it is brazed to a V-shaped crimped tube and finally assembled to a brazed-on solid carbide drill head. Both the crimped drill shank and the brazed-on carbide drill head from a kidney-shaped cross-section. Whereby the open V-shaped section acts as a chip flute.

Gun Drilling Systems Features

In all cases, gun drills require filtered, the high-pressure coolant that is introduced through the center of the crimped gun drill shank. Then the drill is directed to a coolant orifice in the carbide drill head. The high-pressure coolant provides lubrication for the drill head. Also, this assures that all of the chips produced by the drill head are exhausted through the V-shaped chip flute of the gun drill shank. Gun drilling is better known as an internal coolant supply / external chip exhaust method of drilling.

Gun drills are generally used on single purpose gun drilling machines as well as on a variety of machining. They have turning centers that are equipped with sufficient high-pressure coolant and filtrations systems. With this system of drilling, one can expect to drill to depths in excess of 100 x dia.

Sunnen offers gun drilling systems ranging from 1.40 mm to 50.80 mm (0.055″ to 2.000”) diameter with several different carbide grades, coatings and cutting edge geometry options.

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