Operating skills of radial drilling machines

Equipment maintenance tips

Before each start-up, move the spindle box to walk the entire swing arm guide rail. This small step not only enables the lubricating oil to be evenly distributed but also helps to detect any remaining iron filings or foreign objects on the guide rail in advance, preventing the guide rail surface from being scratched. If persisted in for a long time, it can significantly reduce equipment wear and maintain the smoothness of the spindle movement. When changing the gear of the spindle box, if you encounter a situation where it cannot be turned, do not force it. You can gently rotate the spindle to align the gears with the meshing position and then turn it. Forcing it to turn is very likely to damage the gear tooth surface, causing the gear to get stuck.

Precision control techniques

Before drilling, if you want to quickly calibrate the perpendicularity of the spindle and the hole position, you can find a right-angle backboard and stick it on the processing surface of the workpiece. Bring the right-angle edge close to the drill bit. With the naked eye, you can quickly determine whether it is vertical, which saves more time than repeated measurements. When processing multiple continuous holes, it is advisable to stop and check the wear of the drill bit every two or three holes. Minor wear can be promptly ground to prevent the hole diameter from gradually increasing due to wear, which could lead to the scrapping of the entire batch of workpieces. If it is necessary to ensure the flatness of the hole opening after drilling, after the drilling is completed, the feed rate can be slightly increased to allow the flat bottom of the drill bit to gently scrape the hole opening, and a flat hole opening can be obtained, eliminating the need for an additional 锪 plane process.

Advanced tapping techniques

When tapping with a radial drilling machine, set the automatic feed to neutral, place your left hand on the spindle handle to sense the force, and control the forward and reverse rotation handle with your right hand. During the tapping process, reverse and remove the chips every half to one turn. This operation can prevent the vast majority of tap breakage problems. When tapping difficult-to-machine materials such as stainless steel, use sulfurized oil or rapeseed oil for lubrication instead of ordinary emulsions. The lubrication effect is better, which can significantly reduce the wear of the tap and make the tapped threads smoother. When tapping blind holes, a thin iron wire can be wound around the tap in advance to mark the depth. When the mark is about to touch the surface of the workpiece, the feed should be stopped and the tap should be reversed and withdrawn in time. This can precisely control the depth and prevent the tap from breaking at the top.

Emergency skills for Faults

If slight shaking is found after the rocker arm is locked during the processing, the friction plates of the locking mechanism can be inspected. If there is wear, the tensioning bolts of the locking mechanism can be appropriately adjusted to restore the locking force, and there is no need to replace the parts immediately. When the main shaft suddenly stops rotating, do not rush to disassemble and repair it. First, check if the travel limit block has triggered the protection. Many times, it is just accidentally touching the limit. After resetting, it can work normally. If the drill bit breaks in the hole, do not forcibly pry it with sharp tools. Instead, heat the head of the broken drill until it turns slightly red, then let it cool naturally. After that, use a fine drill to slowly remove the broken drill bit. This way, it is less likely to damage the already processed hole wall.