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2023 -10 -04 By 3keego

What is a step drill/ step bit/ step drill bit?

Recommended Articles Thin Metal Sheets Tia Coating Tin Coating Straight Flute Spiral flute Hex Shank Step drills HSS
Contents

Step Drill


A step drill , also known as stepped drill bit, step drill bit or step bit, is a conical drill bit with increasing diameters step by step. A step bit can be made of steel, high speed steel and cobalt or carbide tipped for drilling holes through soft materials like aluminum, plastics and wood,and hard materials such as bronze, cast iron and steel.


Sometimes, step drills will be coated by TiN (titanium-nitride) and TiAlN (titanium-aluminum-nitride) which makes it harder and more durable to offer a longer service life.




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Highlights and Features of the Step Drill
What is a Step Drill Used For?
Application of Step Drill
Advantages of Step Drill
Watch Step Drill Video
Support

[ Highlights and Features of the Step Drill ]

Stepdrill Features



  • Split Point Design (for spiral flute)


    • The design of split point tip, which has a thinner cutting point, can help the step drill catch the workpiece to ensure the step drill will not drift by added pressure when starting drilling.


    As a result, no need for center punching when drilling holes with a step drill.



  • Spiral-Flute Design

    • The fluted shape, for chip collection and faster removal, can avoid overheating to extend the service life of the step drill.


    Besides, if the chips can be removed over the flute quickly, the drilling process will also become faster. A spiral fluted step drill can remove chips better than a straight fluted one.

    Lasered dimension for easy visual.

    Lasered Dimension

    Flute

    Lasered dimension

  • CBN (Cubic Boron Nitride)-ground
    • Cubic Boron Nitride (in a cubic crystal structure) is a super hard material after diamond. With properties of superior thermal stability and chemical inertness, CBN is widely used for grinding cutting tools while diamond will deteriorates when contacting with steel.

    As a result, CBN processed step drill has a better cutting performance by sharp flutes and split points.


  • Chamfer Edge (bevel edge)
    • When reaching the desired hole size, the chamfer edge (the transition of two steps) is used to make a smooth and burr-free surface of the cutting hole.

    As all steps have the same step chamfer angle, the transition between the current step and the previous step is hard to notice.

    Stepdrill chamfer

  • Step Height
    • The step height determines the thickness of the workpiece which a step drill can create a straight hole in. All materials you are going to drill should be thinner than the step height of the step bit you use.

    In addition, each step height corresponds to a diameter with a laser etched markings for easy identification.


  • Hex Shank
    • Hex shank fits in any portable drilling machine (manual type) and pillar drilling machine while quick shank can also fit in automatic portable drilling machine without the need of screwing.

    Stepdrill shank size



    Difference Hex Shank and Quick Shank ?


    Stepdrill shank difference

    What is a Step Drill used for ?


    A step drill is used for Drilling a hole or Enlarging an existing hole in thin materials, especially for thin sheet metal.

    Not solely drilling, a step drill also has the ability of chamfering and deburring the cutting edge of workpiece by using the bevel of the next step. Therefore, step drill is a good choice for one-step drilling operations.


    SDR

    [ Application of Step Drill ]

    For Thin Materials (up to 4 mm)

    Metal, Stainless steel, Cast iron, Aluminum, Copper, Bronze, Fiber glass, Plastic, Acrylic, Wood.


    Industry and Career

    General construction
    Mechanical engineering- panels and covers, switching systems
    Automotive industry - chassis
    Aviation industry
    HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system
    Sanitary engineering
    Electrician - electrical boxes, project enclosures
    Glaziers -fiber glass
    Carpenters -wood, plywood, particle board
    Housings

    SDR

    [ Advantages of Step Drill ]

  • Convenient (one tool for various holes)
    • Due to the feature of multiple diameters of the step drill, you can drill holes of different sizes by carrying just one step drill bit, or two if larger holes are needed, rather than several twist drills.

    Besides, a step drill is suitable for making holes in wood, plastic, metals and other materials.


  • Clean (smooth and burr-free)
    • By the CBN-ground sharp cutting edges, step bits can create smooth-walled and straight hole sides in the workpiece. The finished hole is burr-free and clean by the chamfer edge design for each step.


  • Fast (no need to change drill bit)
    • As there is no need for a pilot hole or to switching between many twist drill bits, the step drill can shorten the cutting time of small holes.

    Additionally, the straight and spiral fluted design helps the step bit cutting through material smoothly without grabbing and it also guides the chip to go out which lead to a faster drilling process.


  • Multifunction (drill, enlarge and chamfer)
    • In addition to the basic function of drilling holes, step drills are usually used for enlarging the original hole. While drilling to a desired diameter, you can chamfer the hole surface with the bevel of the next step.


    [ Step Drill comes with a kit ]

    Step drill comes with a kit with different steps.

    SDR Kit


    [ Watch Step Drill Video ]




    Next step: How to use a step drill bit properly?


    [ Support ]

    3keego provides spiral-fluted step drill (SDR) with 6 flat shank or hex shank. All step drills are CBN ground and SDR Type is available with Standard, TiN coating and TiAlN coating. You can search more information on our product page of Step Drill . If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to CONTACT US .

    Step Drill Product List



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