Best method for drilling stainless steel and aluminum

Home Best method for drilling stainless steel and aluminum

It’s hard to imagine construction site without common and well-known drilling process. Complications arise once you need to make holes and you cannot take the work pieces to the machine. Then, the solution is portable drilling machines with an electromagnetic pad.

Drilling into aluminum plate

For the proper work of electromagnet, of course, drilled material base must be thick enough to obtain sufficient holding power. Rust, paint or zinc coating is reducing the clamping force but is possible to remove. What if it comes to drilling through anodized aluminum? Let’s be clear, magnetic base drills are also dedicated for neutral to mag base metals. There is a long list of special purpose metals characterized by low magnetic permeability. For example, aluminum which is non-ferrous (non-magnetic) metal. Because of its low density and high resistance to corrosion it’s often used in construction industry.

Drilling of austenitic stainless steel

Another example is well-known stainless steel which occurs in several different types. Technically, stainless steel is ferrous metal, but in practice, it’s as clear as mud. Without going into technical details (of alloying elements). Each type of inox steel exhibits a different atomic arrangement. This means that duplex, ferritic or martensitic stainless steels are magnetic metals. because of their strong response to a handheld magnet. For comparison – austenitic stainless steel is non-magnetic metal because of a minor response to a hand-held magnet. But aluminum and stainless steel are a beginning of a long list of special purpose metals and alloys often used in construction industry. The fastest and the simplest way to start a job with any type of material is vacuum pad system.

Solution for special purpose metals and alloys

Vacuum pad is a special type of clamping device for compact mag drills. Depending on the require-ments and operating conditions, vacuum pad system has two different ways of supply. First one is compressed air supply, generally available on any work site. The second one is vacuum supply, less common solution requiring portable vacuum pump with safety reservoir. Summarizing, vacuum pad is the only thing you need to set up mag drill for a drilling in non-magnetic metals like inox, duplex, aluminum. They are compatible with many types and sizes of magnetic drills and annular cutters for on-site hole-making. Prepare yourself for a work with special kind of materi-als and extend the scope of possibilities.

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