Hammer Drill For Metal: What, When, How (Science Behind)

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Hammer drill is a power drill that basically uses hammering mechanism. Let us further discuss hammer drill for metals.

Hammer drill uses the rotatory motion in order for it to drilling process. Hammer drill has several terms, such as percussion drill and impact drill. In this whole process the electrical energy is converted into mechanical energy.

In this article we shall see, is hammer drill required for metal, when to use hammer drill for metal and how to use hammer drill for metal.

Is hammer drill required for metal?

Hammer drill is an ideal tool to drill in to concretes, bricks etc. Let us see if hammer drill can be used for metal.

Hammer drill is required for metal during the drilling process because the forward and backward motion present in the bit causes a hole in the target material. The motor present in the hammer drill possess the rotatory motion makes the drill bit to clean debris and finally pushes the drill bit forward.

The choice of metal to be drilled will be helpful in order to retain the cutting edges. Some metals will require lubrication in order for cutting and drilling purposes. Except for aluminum, brass and iron, other metals are easier to drill.

When to use hammer drill for metal?

Hammer drill works based on the triggering motion, when the trigger mode is activated the electric motor runs and makes holes. Let us see when to use hammer drill for metals.

Hammer drills are used for metals when there is a need to make designs and metal based wall hangings and for such cases the hammer drill must work under the drill-only mode. Hammer drills are used for metals since it makes the drill bit to move over and makes the necessary holes in the target metal.

The regular drill-mode, the hammer drill performs drilling into metals, wood and plastic when the torque is applied to the electric motor present in the hammer drill. Generally, a hammer drill is used on rough surfaces as it will minimize the pressure in order to make a proper hole in the target surface.

How to use hammer drill for metal?

Hammer drill has several uses like drilling into metals, plastics etc. Let us see how hammer drill is used for metals.

The following steps are used while using hammer drill for metal:

  • Firstly, a dimple must be created on the target metal because during the drilling process the drill bit is said to wander about the area and touching the target point.
  • Next, the drill bit must be lubricated because there will be reduction in the friction and heat produced.
  • The work piece must be held with minimum of two clamps so that it will not slip off making the metal to spin and the sharp edges of the metal will slice into different pieces.
  • The drill bits are available in different sizes which goes up to a maximum of one inch. So, in order to achieve drilling in metal, using suitable drill bit very small holes is made in the target area and then it is gradually the hole is made bigger.
  • The drill bit of hammer drill must be made up of titanium and cobalt due to the special property called as High Speed Steel drill bit.
  • After several steps of drilling and removing the debris in metals, drill press is used for better accuracy and good results in the metal.

The hammer drill offers different modes which can be switched between the rotatory hammer and drill mode. So, when the hammer drill is switched to drill mode it can be directly used for metal cutting and drilling process.

795px Hammer drill 1
Image Credits: Hammer Drill by Shakespeare (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Conclusion

Hammer drill is one of the best tool used to drill into concrete, masonry, wood, plastic and metals. It is an efficient tool which has different modes for different purposes like cutting and boring holes. Hammer drill is used for removing unwanted debris and also in design and manufacture purposes.

Read more about Hammer Drill for Concrete and How Does A Hammer Drill Work.

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