Drilling Vs. Boring Milling Machines: Differentiating Drilling From Boring

Within the heavy machinery industry, there are two major machines that are often confused by many. These are the drilling and boring milling machines. The reason for this is quite understandable because the two processes involved, drilling and boring, are very similar. However, they are used for different purposes and it is important that you know the difference between the two. In order to do so, let us differentiate one from the other.

What is drilling?

Drilling is a process that involves creating a hole through a workpiece using a drill bit. Drill bits come in a wide variety of sizes to create different sizes of holes on the workpiece. The bit shaves away the solid material from the workpiece to make a round hole with the size depending on the requirement. As drill bits are able to provide two cutting edges, they are very efficient and highly beneficial when it comes to increasing the length of a hole.

The specific size of the drill bit dictates the depth and diameter of the hole created by drilling. This process is very flexible and can be utilized when creating holes on various diameters and depths. The machinists can use different machines and tools when drilling. These include hand tools, drill presses, machining centers, and horizontal or vertical boring milling machines.

What is boring?

While drilling is the major process in creating holes, boring is another process used to either finish or enlarge a pre-existing hole. It is used to create a hole that suits the required tolerances as the initial hole made through drilling is based on the size of the drill bit used. Enlarging a hole to prepare it for secondary finishing is called roughing. It is suitable for workpieces that need bigger holes. On the other hand, finishing is used to finish the surface of the hole and achieve the accurate hole size and close tolerances.

Compared with drill bits, boring bars can be fed continuously into the workpiece. Hence, clogging and chip evacuation do not pose serious problems. Though some applications require specialized machines like boring milling machines and jig borers, the boring process can also be done using machining centers and regular mills.