82-1004

82-1004

KIMBALL MIDWEST PRODUCT INFORMATION SHEET

TITANIUM NITRIDE COATED

SUPER PRIMALLOY DRILLS

Titanium Nitride, sometimes called TiN, is one of the hardest and toughest materials
ever developed. When this material is coated onto a cutting tool the performance
results can be almost amazing - in hard-to drill materials a drill bit can last up to 5
times longer, while cutting faster and easier.
Many of a drill bits performance characteristic are due to the various cutting edges
and special geometries that can be ground into the drill. Some of these include self
centering split points that prevent walking and wandering while eliminating the need
for center punching, reinforced webs that make the drill stronger to resist breakage,
modified web at the point to reduce forward thrust and increase penetration speed.
These all make the drill perform faster and easier.
Other characteristics of a drill bits performance are due to the material construction
itself. Superior M series high speed alloys provide increased flexibility, and the
ability to absorb stress without breaking. They hold an edge better and resist wear
and abrasion.
Some characteristics of the drill bit are due to the surface treatment applied to the
outer perimeters of the bit. For example, our ferro-gold treatment provides surface
lubricity to reduce friction and heat on the outer drill surfaces when in the hole. Black
oxide helps prevent chips from sticking on flutes to draw the hot metal away from
the point to keep the drill running cooler.
Still other characteristics of the performance are obtained by heat treatments and
secondary hardening operations like nitro-carburization - these processes provide
the high tensile strength and hardness necessary to penetrate tough alloys while
resisting abrasion and wear. The harder the cutting edges are, the longer they will
resist wear and keep a sharp cutting edge. However, if the drill is too hard it will break
quite readily. Typically the maximum hardness possible for high speed drills is in the
64.5-66.5 Rockwell C range (for comparison a Grade 8 cap screw is 33-39).

135
Self-Centering
Split Point

eliminates center punching, will not wander

Gold Titanium
Nitride Coating

provides up to
500% longer tool life

Heavy Duty
Web
resists stress
breakage

Premium "M-1" Series Alloy

extra resilient,
absorbs stress

Uncoated Shank

Titanium Nitride is too

hard for a chuck to
properly grip without
slipping

Jobbers Length
provides full length

Titanium Nitride provides some amazing characteristics when applied to a cutting tool. First, the coating provides
a surface Rockwell C hardness of 82-84. This is vastly harder than is possible with a high speed alloy. This hardness dramatically reduces wear to the drill, while enhancing its ability to cut hard alloys. Since the Titanium Nitride
is applied as a very thin surface coating, less than one thousandth of an inch thick, the core of the drill is allowed to
remain resilient - this helps prevents breakage. Titanium Nitride is also a very slick material. This surface lubricity
makes drilling faster and easier with less friction and heat.
WHAT ARE THE BOTTOM LINE BENEFITS TO TITANIUM NITRIDE COATED DRILL BITS?
1. Up to 500% longer life in high wear or abrasive drilling applications.
2. Up to twice the life in mild steel and other non-aggressive drilling applications.
3. Faster penetration in tough to drill materials.
4. No increased embrittlement or increased breakage concerns.
WHAT ARE THE DRAWBACKS TO TITANIUM NITRIDE COATED DRILL BITS?
1. Up to 60% higher cost than our Maintenance Length Super Primalloy drill bits.
2. If you tend to break a bit before you wear it out, it offers little benefit.
WHERE ARE TITANIUM NITRIDE COATED DRILL BITS IDEAL?
1. For tough drilling applications where tool consumption is excessive.
2. To make tough drilling applications faster and easier.
3. In production applications where frequent tool changeover times result in expensive equipment downtime.
4. In general drilling where faster performance and increased tool life is desired.
COPYRIGHT 7/98 KIMBALL MIDWEST

82-1004-1

KIMBALL MIDWEST PRODUCT INFORMATION SHEET

TITANIUM NITRIDE COATED

SUPER PRIMALLOY DRILLS

82-1004-1

HOW DO THESE TITANIUM NITRIDE COATED DRILL BITS COMPARE

TO COBALT DRILL BITS?
Cobalt, added in 5% (economy grade) and 8% (M-42 alloy, the grade we carry)
offers performance benefits when drilling hard to drill materials where heat due to
friction is the major cause of drill failure. When a drill is heated close to its tempering
(its second heat treat) temperature it looses the heat treated hardness. This results
in alloy softening and rapid dulling. M-42 Cobalt resists high temperature to keep
the drill cutting at temperatures where other drill bits would fail. Titanium Nitride
coated drill bits can be used anywhere Cobalt drill bits are used, except where red
heat hardness is required - although the Titanium Nitride coating itself will resist
the strain, the base M series high speed alloy it is applied to can still overheat and
loose supporting hardness.
LIKE ALL THINGS THAT OFFER SUBSTANTIAL NEW BENEFITS, ARENT
THERE CHEAP KNOCK-OFF VERSIONS AVAILABLE?
Yes and no. Titanium Nitriding is an expensive process. It is applied in a vacuum chamber and vapor deposited in
an ion sputtering process. The cost of this vapor deposition process is high, however there are some obvious cost
cutting ways to make a Titanium Nitride coated drill bit:
1. Start with a low grade drill bit.
2. Apply a thinner Titanium Nitride coating, particularly at the point, where
primary cutting activity occurs.
LOW GRADE DRILL BITS
If you compare a Super Primalloy Maintenance Length Drill Bit to a standard 118 bright finished drill bit there are
many things to compare - none of them flattering to the 118 standard point bright drill bit. A Super Primalloy Maintenance length drill bit is self-centering, will not walk, and requires no center punching. A Super Primalloy Maintenance
length drill bit penetrates faster than a non-split point drill, and does it with less effort to the user. A Super Primalloy
Maintenance length drill bit has a reinforced web to make it stronger and more breakage resistant. A Super Primalloy Maintenance length drill bit starts with a superior M series alloy for increased resiliency, edge holding and long
fatigue resistant life. All of these things go into producing a high performance maintenance drill bit that makes the
toughest jobs easier. The standard 118 drill bit has none of these features or benefits.
Now apply Titanium Nitride to a low grade 118 drill bit - what do you get. A drill bit that wont self-center and requires
center-punching, a drill bit that requires more forward thrust and effort to make it penetrate (particularly in tough alloys),
a thin web that has less resistance to breakage, and possibly a low grade alloy that will be susceptible to fatigue.
Whats the benefit to applying Titanium Nitride to this type of drill?
In a production application where 118 drills are used it will last much longer.
In maintenance drilling applications, applying Titanium Nitride to this type of drill means you will have a drill that
makes your job much tougher and time consuming to complete than if you use a Super Primalloy drill bit, and it will
keep on doing this for a long time. The surprising thing about Titanium Nitride coated drill bits is how many lower
grade versions there are available. Titanium Nitride by itself does not make a superior quality maintenance drill, it
simply makes a drill bit last longer. If a drill bit has inferior characteristics to begin with, applying Titanium Nitride to
it only assures that you get an poor performing drill bit that lasts longer than other poor performing drill bits.
THIN TITANIUM NITRIDE COATINGS
The obvious drawback to this is that the drill bit will not hold up as long as it otherwise would. The coating, even as
hard and abrasion resistant as it is, will eventually wear down - and a thinner coating wears down faster. Our Super
Primalloy Titanium Nitride coated drill bits offer the maximum coating thickness feasible, with up to twice the coating
thickness at the point where the most cutting wear occurs.
COPYRIGHT 7/98 KIMBALL MIDWEST