rotabroach cutters ??s

glennster · Apr 6, 2017

whats the skinny on the rotabroach hole cutters? good, bad, ugly,worth it or not?? i currently have a cincinati bickford radial drill in the shop at the farm. have drill bits up to about 3 inch. boring bigger holes in steel with it isnt too bad, has a morse #4 taper. will these cut better than a drill bit? looks like you dont need a pilot hole with em, just chuck the size you need and plow thru. any body use them?? what is the thickest steel you can bore with em?

Butch(OH) · Apr 6, 2017

I have a Hougen and it has its advantages and its issues. If you are working primarily with plate and not over an inch thick they are great. Doing similar work they are much lighter than a regular mag drill and will drill much larger diameter holes than any mag drill of similar size and weight They are also very quick. You do NOT want a pilot hole, just a center punch mark. The broaches are expensive and unlike a regular drill bit when they dull they stop, you cant force your way through a job. You also must send them out for sharpening unless you have a tool grinder with jigs. They are much less versatile than a regular mag drill for most repair work. If I could only have one I would have a regular mag drill but the Hougen sees much more work in my shop due to being light and quick.
Hougen

jniolon · Apr 6, 2017

(quoted from post at 08:55:08 04/06/17) whats the skinny on the rotabroach hole cutters? good, bad, ugly,worth it or not?? i currently have a cincinati bickford radial drill in the shop at the farm. have drill bits up to about 3 inch. boring bigger holes in steel with it isnt too bad, has a morse #4 taper. will these cut better than a drill bit? looks like you dont need a pilot hole with em, just chuck the size you need and plow thru. any body use them?? what is the thickest steel you can bore with em?

glen
we use them with a mag drill making pipe flanges and such where holes need to be precise... I've seen 1" metal done with no problem and up to 2"... just take it very slow and lube the crap out of it... back out often to clear the chips.

john

glennster · Apr 6, 2017

heres a picture of a radial drill similiar to mine. i do have sprindle speed controls and feed controls, and can also feed manually. not sure if the rotabroach would be a good choice with this

Butch(OH) · Apr 6, 2017

Sorry,had mag drill on the brain for some reason. With a horse like that at my disposal I would only consider broaches for large diameter holes and lots of them in a production environment. The broaches excel when you are pushing the envelope of machines vs work but dont offer much of an advantage if the machine tool is up to the job with twist drills. They make much less chips and use a bit less power. Another thing you might consider is a spade drill kit. I have a ATP kit that goes up to 3" and use it a lot. Pilot hole is 1" and diameters are up to 3" and you can sharpen them in the shop.

glennster · Apr 6, 2017

where do you get the spade drills at? i googled it and only came up with wood spade bits. a couple parts for them came up, but no set like yours.

JD Seller · Apr 6, 2017

They are great for thinner sheet steel. They are more like a hole saw than a drill bit. The disadvantage is IF you hit some thing too hard they are dull and need to be sharpened on a tool grinder.

rotabroach cutters ??s

glennster

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Butch(OH)

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jniolon

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glennster

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Butch(OH)

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glennster

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JD Seller

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