FEED DRILLS DRIVE MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITY WITH AUTOMATED PRECISION, CONSISTENCY AND VERSATILITY Today’s fast paced and increasingly competitive manufacturing environments demand versatile and affordable tools that deliver repeatable precision. Manufacturers with production hole drilling and tapping operations need tools that are reliable, easy-to-use and simple to maintain. When production needs change, these tools need to be flexible to accommodate modified setups. Automated feed drills bring these qualities, and more, to diverse manufacturing operations. Saving time and labor costs is important to all manufacturers, particularly small and general industry shops, where feed drills are a great fit. These shops need tools that offer a small footprint and are reliable and durable. Programmable feed drills offer the ability to customize machining processes with the specific speed and torque needed for a company’s particular applications and materials, while providing quality control without variables. The last thing a manufacturing shop needs is lost productivity. Feed drills are known for their reliability. They automate manufacturing processes that would otherwise be manual, streamlining assemblies and providing greater precision, accuracy and consistency. Pneumatic feed drills and tappers, such as those manufactured by Ingersoll Rand®, a global leader in reliable and innovative power tools, are effective and economical for a myriad of manufacturing challenges, such as plastic molding, metal die casting and woodworking. The applications range from: drilling rivet holes and wing frame mounting holes for aerospace, to drilling panel and frame holes for appliances, drilling dowel holes for furniture and drilling wood and metal parts for doors and windows.

or by using the material as the actuator. The timing and other parameters are programmed with software. An actuator can be programmed to drive a feed drill to perform a sequence of multiple operations, such as coarse drilling, fine drilling and tapping. Setting up an auto feed drill The setup for an auto feed drill is usually a straight forward operation. The procedure begins by measuring the distance between the drill point and the work piece. The next step is adjusting a mounting bracket on the hydraulic check to where the distance between the hydraulic check plunger and the trip bracket is...