[Eosprein]

We are facing issues while drilling 16mm SS 304 balls in a CNC Machine.
We initially used HSS drills but we were facing some issues with that. Then we moved to Carbide drills, but still, we face issues like tool breakage and tool wear. We are only machining 50-60 balls and then we need to change the drill. What are we doing here?

How do we solve this issue?

[deadlykitten]

What are we doing here?

exactly ... you couldn't have ever said it better

How do we solve this issue?

cut a face before drilling, so to make sure that the drill is starting on a surface that is perpendicular on it's axis, and also to minimize the start cutting load, since material crust, in most cases, is harder then the core

through coolant

rigid fixture & tool clamping

aligned tool & machine

use load monitor ( and/or listen carefully ), to detect load peeks; they should occur as depth increases, and, if so, manage them by pecking/full retraction

a 3D drill should be enough, as most tool sizes are allready standard : flute length ~24, active length ~17

in order to improve hole cylindricity near the end (+ extend tool life), it may be required to reduce feed right before the tool is piercing out

kindly yet again, what are we doing here ?

[Sterob]

You can't do this in a manual lathe?

[Eosprein]

We did use carbide center drills before the drilling operation and we used through coolant as well. Still, we were facing some issues.

[Dale123]

We did use carbide center drills before the drilling operation and we used through coolant as well. Still, we were facing some issues.

This from Deadly Kitten "cut a face before drilling, so to make sure that the drill is starting on a surface that is perpendicular on it's axis, and also to minimize the start cutting load, since material crust, in most cases, is harder then the core"

Do not use centre drills with Carbide Drills . A Flat face is preferable . A 90° Centre to a 136° Carbide Drill just causes notching on the cutting edge leading to breakages .