When To Choose An Annular Cutter Over A Twist Drill

There are a wide variety of reasons that you may be in need of the right portable drilling tools, like an annular cutter or twist drill. While the goal of each of these options is to create holes, they are both designed to accomplish the task differently. This means that each tool can be used in specific situations. In order to decide which tool is right for the job, it is important to understand exactly what an annular cutter was designed to do.

An annular cutter utilizes multiple teeth to cut only the material around the edges of the hole, which leaves a metal slug at the end of the process. In general, the wall thickness of an annular cutter will be no more than a quarter of an inch. That means that regardless of what size of hole you need to create, annular cutting will only remove a small amount of material. This is the exact opposite of a twist drill, which will burrow through the entire area of the hole. An added benefit of this is that because the cutter uses multiple teeth, they will remain sharper for up to 10 times longer than a regular twist drill bit.

When deciding between an annular cutter and a twist drill, there are three variables that need to be taken into consideration. The first is the hole size. In general, twist drilling should only be considered when the hole is equal to or less than one half inch thick. Anything task larger than that should be done with an annular cutter. The type of hole is another important variable to consider. Twist drills are great for blind holes when the drill bit does not need to go completely through the metal. They are also useful for creating starter holes when tapping. However, if you need to create overlapping holes, then annular cutting will prove to be more effective because less drift and chatter is experienced.

The final variable to consider is the hole location. An annular cutter will often allow you to cut holes that would be very difficult, if not impossible for a twist drill. This is because there is no pre-drilling or step drilling required. Additionally, if you need to create a burr-free hole, twist drills are probably not going to be the best candidate. This is most applicable when you are drilling either pipe or tubing and manual scraping.

As you can see, there are practical uses for both an annular cutter and twist drilling, however because of their design, they are each ideal for different situations. A twist drill would be best for any hole up to one half inch in diameter. It is also perfect for creating starter holes for tapping or creating a hole that does not pierce all of the way through the piece of metal. On the other hand, an annular cutter would be ideal for any hole larger than one half of an inch. It is also preferable when you need to create a more symmetrical, precise hole, such as when you will be overlapping multiple holes. Additionally, annular cutting offers added flexibility in terms of where you can create the hole because it does not require any pre-drilling or step drilling.

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