VIDEO: Large Diameter Drilling with KSEM PLUS™

Drilling up to 10xD? No problem. Drilling up to 101 millimeter diameter holes? No problem. Drilling challenging applications? No problem when you apply the KSEM Plus for these tasks. We are drilling with this 40 millimeter diameter 5xD KSEM Plus drill and 4140 steel. So let's do it.

First, we're going to apply the KSEM Plus drill with an A1 drill head and drill a 5xD through hole. The A1 drill heads are for high-performance, high-productivity straight hole entry and straight hole exits. We're drilling a second through hole next. This time with the B1 head we're using the same exact drill body but we're replacing the A1 head against the B1 head. One of the many benefits of this modular drill system is the capability to apply different head styles to the same drill body but also different head diameters adapt to the same drill body. For those reasons, the KSEM Plus is a very cost-effective drilling system. Comparing the outboard inserts of the B1 head and the A1 head, you see the B1 head has rectangular shaped inserts. They provide more contact to the hole and the corner radius acts like a wiper edge so we should see a much different surface finish. We're applying the B1 head with the same parameters.

We're moving on to the third and fourth hole. This will be very interesting as we're addressing typical applications you find, for example in manifolds. Aligned and misaligned cross holes are common features of such components and those applications can make or break apart. This is where another main feature of the B1 head comes into play. The guide pads, they are helping to support the drill body within the material during interrupted cuts like these. The third hole is aligned with the pre-drilled hole of the same diameter. We're running it again with the same speed and feed rates. Quite noisy but looking good so far.

Lastly, the fourth hole. We're applying the drill misaligned to the pre-drilled hole when entering. The material speed and feed is the same again as we get close to the pre-drilled hole, we're reducing the feed rate by 50 percent and as soon as the drill re-enters and is fully engaged, we're going back to the original feed rate.

Let's get the block out and take a look at everything. Check out the difference between this first and the second hole we drilled. You can see it with the bare eye already but let's measure it. We got a surface finish of 0.63 RA for the A1 head which is really sufficient for most of the applications that are out there. For the B1 head we got a surface finish of 0.18 RA. Keep in mind a modular drill is always a roughing tool, so what we're seeing here is far better than anyone would expect from a modular drill. Check out these cross holes we just drilled. Hole quality is just as good as we've seen on the second hole. The intersection here shows minimal burr.

The KSEM Plus modular drilling system with its two effective cutting edges is a great solution provider. The A1 head should be used when simple but large diameter and large L to D holes need to be drilled and the B1 heads should be used for tough jobs or when a better hole quality is the requirement. Thanks for checking out the KSEM Plus. Don't forget to like this video and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out on any of our upcoming videos.