The Evolution of Hole Making
From Twist Drills to Rotabroach Cutters – The Evolution of Hole Making
For over 100 years the most common method of producing holes in steel work was with conventional type twist drills. The 1970’s saw the first ever annular hole cutter which became known worldwide as the Rotabroach cutter. With the introduction of TCT cutters 15 years later, mag drills have evolved from the two man operation “widow makers” weighing 45kg to now just weighing 8.5kg.
The Widow Maker
Stephen A. Morse of East Bridgewater, Massachusetts invented the twist drill in 1861. They have remained the most common way of producing holes, up to this present day. The early drill bits were manufactured by producing two grooves opposite sides to each other in a round bar, the bar was then twisted to produce the flutes. Nowadays, the flutes of the drill bit are ground into the bar by rotating and passing the bar over a grind wheel which precision grinds the flutes. The force and energy required to the produce the large holes with the twist drills meant that steelworkers had to use heavy portable magnetic drilling machines. The magnetic drilling machines were very large and could weigh up to 45kg. This meant it was a two-man operation because not a single man could lift the machine. They were nicknamed “The Widow Maker” because the drill bit would often snag, spinning the machine and knocking the operators from the structure
Rotabroach Annular Hole Cutter System
In the early 1970’s, Dough Houghen invented the Rotabroach Annular Hole Cutter System. As with many innovations, the market was not ready to accept the concept of cutting holes with an annular cutter. Houghen shared the annular cutter idea to a few drill bit manufacturers, but they were all very content with producing drill bits. Finally, he decided to take the idea directly to the fabricators and steelworks who saw the benefits straight away and became extremely interested in the concept.
Benefits of the Rotabroach Annular Hole Cutter System
The Rotabroach cutters invented by Dough allowed the operators to produce holes in just one pass which made them up to three – four times faster than conventional drill bits. Even though the fabricators and steelworkers liked the Rotabroach cutters, it did not solve the problem of having to move around heavy magnetic drill machines. The geometer and multiple cutting teeth of the Rotabroach cutters are designed to cut just a 5mm section around the holes periphery, unlike conventional drill bits which cut away all the material of the hole. Not only did this offer the benefit of faster cutting speeds, it also meant that they required far less motive force and energy to product the equivalent size holes. This benefit allowed Doug to later reinvent the magnetic drilling machine, giving them smaller motors and magnets making them considerably lighter and weighing around 12.5kg.
Due to the Rotabroach cutter system being very light, it meant that in a workshop environment the drill could be taken to work. This made the process a lot safer and only a one-man operation.
Annular Hole Cutters – High Speed Steel
TCT Broaching Cutters
HMT Max 30 Magnetic Drilling Machine
As with the Rotabroach cutters, the CarbideMax thinner wall and tooth geometry allows for increased cutting 
In a controlled test we compared the leading manufacturer against the HMT Max 30 Magnetic Drill Machine. To see Max 30 Magnetic Drill and TCT Cutter Combination performed, watch the video below.
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Trumpf
Trumpf is a family-owned metal fabrication equipment company and is one of the largest machine tool suppliers in the world. The company has production facilities in Germany, France, the UK, China, Japan, and the US. Under their machine and systems product portfolio, the company offers products and services including laser cutting machines, 3D laser cutting, laser tube machine cutting, marking systems, punching machines, bending machines, and storage systems. In September 2017, Trumpf opened a technology center in Chicago, Illinois, catering specifically to Industry 4.0 solutions. The company spent more than $30 million for the technology center that covers an area of 50,000 sq.ft.
Shenyang Machine Tool
Shenyang Machine Tool is the most significant machine tool and equipment manufacturer in China and is one of the leading companies of metal fabrication equipment globally. The company’s products are mainly used for cutting and processing of metal materials. The company has a wide array of metal fabrication tools including cutting, milling, boring, and drilling equipment. The company has an R&D center in Berlin that ensure quality product design and performance accuracy. The company manufactures about 80,000 small and large equipment annually.
Amada
Amada is a global manufacturer of metal processing equipment and machinery, involved in producing the metal cutting, forming, punching, and shearing equipment. The company is headquartered in Kanagawa, Japan and employs more than 8,000 people across the globe. Apart from metal fabrication tools and equipment, the company also offers software solutions for machine automation and training. Their latest product 3kW ENSIS utilizes a highly innovative resonator to precisely and automatically adjust the diameter of the laser beam which enables continuous processing of thin-to-thick materials by a single machine with no lens change.
Okuma
Okuma is a machine tool builder that started operations as Okuma Noodle Machine company in 1898 but started making machine tools under Okuma Machine Works, which was established in 1918. The company was involved in producing lathes in the earlier days but now offers CNC lathes and machining centers. Their CNC machine tools renowned for excellence and delivering innovative and groundbreaking technologies. The company reported revenues of $1.45 billion for the year 2016 which was a significant 13.7% increase over the previous year.
DMG Mori Seiki
DMG Mori Seiki was formed by a strategic partnership between Deckel-Maho-Gildemeister of Gildemeister and Mori Seiki around 2009. The Japnese company has since grown to be one of the world most significant suppliers of the machine and metal fabrication tools and markets its products under the name DMG Mori. The company has developed and produced more than 200 models of CNC lathes and machining centers since its establishment.
A similar blog post we wrote Welding Terminology and Abbreviations
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