Some aspects of micro-drill technology

Providing research equipment for the many and varied projects at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory leads to interesting machining requirements. One of these is the need to drill very small holes, and in a variety of materials. Holes down to 0.001 in. in dia, approximately 12 dia deep, in brass, steel, stainless steel, copper, gold, plastics, uranium, etc., are not uncommon. This paper discusses methods of sharpening microdrills down to .001 in. in dia and some results obtained with their use. (TFD)