Used Deep-Hole Drilling Machines & Hones for Sale
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About Used Deep-Hole Drilling Machines & Hones
Deep hole drilling makes a hole that is many diameters deep, and honing finishes a hole that already exists. They share a bay in a mold shop or a hydraulic shop and they are not the same spindle. A gun drill is a single-flute tool with coolant down the center and chips coming out along the flute. It is the method for a mold cooling line and for other small, deep holes. BTA drilling, sometimes called STS, sends chips back through the center of a larger tube and puts coolant outside. It is for bigger bores and a higher metal-removal rate. A hone uses stones to correct size, roundness and finish after a hole is there. Sunnen built a great many of those hones. Mollart built gun drills. Do not buy one and describe it as the other.
Diameter, depth and coolant are the gun-drill numbers. Stroke has to clear the depth plus the tool. A bushing starts the drill so it does not walk. Pressure, often around 1,000 psi on a small gun drill, and a filter that is not packed with chips, are what keep the flute clear. A pump that fades will pack the hole and send it off line. Whip supports have to match the tool length. A second spindle helps when two holes or two parts run together. It does not help a single cooling line.
BTA needs a pressure head that seals on the face of the part, a larger coolant volume and tooling that is not a gun-drill shank. Putting a BTA head on a light gun-drill base is a different machine, not an accessory. Honing needs a bore that is already drilled or bored, a stone grade for the material, and a way to measure the size as the stones cut. A hone will not start a hole in solid steel.
Used deep hole drilling equipment should be run on a bar of the diameter you care about, with the coolant at pressure. Watch the chip. A powder instead of a chip is a dull tool or a dead filter. On a hone, stroke it and read a bore gauge. Measure the stroke against the deepest hole on the print. A machine that drilled short cooling lines will not automatically drill a long shaft unless the stroke and the supports are there.
How to Choose Used Deep-Hole Drilling Machines & Hones
Gun Drill vs BTA vs Honing
A gun drill is the single-flute tool for smaller deep holes, with coolant through the tool. BTA sends chips back through the tube and is the usual choice as diameters get larger. Honing does not drill. It finishes size and surface with stones after a hole exists.
Pick the method from diameter, depth and whether you are making the hole or correcting one. A hone will not replace a gun, and a gun will not leave a honed finish. Coolant and the guide bushing decide whether the method you picked actually runs straight.
How to Size Deep Hole Drilling
Size diameter and depth first, then coolant pressure and filtration to that tool. Stroke has to clear the depth plus the drill. The bushing has to match the tool diameter or the hole wanders at the start.
A hone is sized by the bore it must finish, the stroke and the grit, not by drilling depth. If you only need to correct a bore you already have, do not buy a drilling machine. If you need to create the bore, the hone is the second step, not the first. Count filtration as part of the size.
Deep-Hole Drilling Machines & Hones Specs to Compare
| Spec | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Method | Gun and BTA create a deep bore in different diameter ranges. A hone finishes a bore. They are not substitutes. |
| Diameter and depth | Small deep holes favor a gun. Larger deep holes often move to BTA. Depth sets the stroke. |
| Coolant | Chips have to leave the hole. Low pressure or a dirty filter is how a deep bore walks or seizes. |
| Guide bushing | The bushing starts the tool straight. A worn or wrong bushing is a wander you cannot program out. |
| Stroke | The machine has to reach the bottom and still clear the drill or the hone stones. |
| Hone grit and size | Stones correct size and finish. The wrong grit or a short stroke will not hit the print. |
Method
Gun and BTA create a deep bore in different diameter ranges. A hone finishes a bore. They are not substitutes.
Diameter and depth
Small deep holes favor a gun. Larger deep holes often move to BTA. Depth sets the stroke.
Coolant
Chips have to leave the hole. Low pressure or a dirty filter is how a deep bore walks or seizes.
Guide bushing
The bushing starts the tool straight. A worn or wrong bushing is a wander you cannot program out.
Stroke
The machine has to reach the bottom and still clear the drill or the hone stones.
Hone grit and size
Stones correct size and finish. The wrong grit or a short stroke will not hit the print.
What to Inspect on Used Deep-Hole Drilling Machines & Hones
Name drill or hone
Confirm you are looking at a gun, a BTA setup or a hone. The rest of the checks follow that.
Run a test bore
Drill a bar or stroke the hone. A pump that runs with no tool in the cut has not made a hole.
Check coolant pressure
The pump should reach the pressure the tool needs, and the filter should not be a brick of chips.
Inspect the bushing
A worn guide bushing lets the tool wander at the start. Match it to the diameter you will run.
Measure the stroke
Depth plus tool length has to fit. A machine that stops short of your bore is the wrong length.
Look at the tooling
Gun flutes, BTA heads or hone stones should match the bore. A bare spindle is not a process.
Read alignment
The tool, the bushing and the part have to be on one axis. A crooked setup drills a curve.
Related Equipment
- Machining Centers
Start a bore the deep-hole machine finishes
- Lathes & Turning Centers
Shafts that still need a long bore
- Engine Lathes
Manual turning is a different machine
Deep-Hole Drilling Machines & Hones Brands We've Sold
Common Applications
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose deep hole drilling versus honing?
Choose deep hole drilling when the bore does not exist yet and the length is too much for an ordinary drill. A gun drill covers smaller diameters. BTA covers larger ones, with chips returning through the tube. Choose honing when a bore already exists and you need size, roundness and finish. A hone will not start a solid bar. A drill will not leave a honed surface. Many parts want both, in that order. Coolant and a guide bushing decide whether the drilled hole is straight enough to hone.
What should I inspect on used deep hole drilling equipment?
Run a bar or stroke the hone. Coolant pressure and a clean filter matter as much as the iron, because chips have to leave the hole. Look at the guide bushing for wear and for the diameter you will run. Measure stroke against depth plus tool. Confirm whether the machine is a gun, a BTA setup or a hone before you compare it with the wrong process. Alignment of the tool to the part should be checked, not assumed.
Gun drill or BTA: which deep hole drilling method fits the diameter?
A gun drill, single flute, coolant through the tool, chips along the outside, is the usual choice for smaller deep holes. BTA puts the chips back through the tube and is the usual choice as the diameter grows and the chip volume would pack a flute. Both need pressure, filtration and a bushing that matches the tool. Neither is a hone. If your print is a small cooling line, start with the gun. If it is a larger bore, ask whether the machine is set up for BTA.
How is deep hole drilling different from a drill press?
A drill press feeds an ordinary drill a short distance. Deep hole drilling supports a special tool, pushes coolant at real pressure and controls a bore whose length is many times its diameter. A floor drill will wander, pack chips and burn the tool on that work. Use the drill press for a toolroom hole that fits its quill. Use this group when the bore is long and has to stay straight. Honing is the finish step after, not a reason to stay on the drill press.
What coolant pressure does deep hole drilling need?
Enough to flush chips out of the hole for the tool you are running, at a filtration level that does not recirculate those chips into the pump. The number depends on the tool and the diameter, so a universal pressure is a myth. What you need on a used machine is a pump that reaches a real pressure, a filter you can service, and lines that are not crushed. A hone also wants clean fluid, for a different reason.
When does honing follow deep hole drilling?
When the print cares about size, roundness or finish beyond what the drill leaves. The drill, gun or BTA, creates a straight bore. The hone corrects it with stones. If the drill wandered, honing has a limit to what it can save. If the part only needs an oil hole and not a bearing surface, you may stop at the drill. Do not buy a hone instead of a drill, and do not skip the hone when the cylinder or the bore has a finish callout. They are a sequence.
