Have you ever tried to drill a ½" hole through a steel plate with a dull drill bit? It feels like you are trying to bench press 500 lbs. Then after you have tried to hand-sharpen the bit on a grinding wheel, it drills even worse because you cannot duplicate the precision angles of a factory new bit. Do you want to put your drill rig through the same ordeal with a poor drilling tool?  
 
Look at any large machinists catalogue and you will find pages of drill bits offered. There are two common themes that tie all these bits together. Each bit is configured through the cutting face angle and shape, the flute pitch, and the material the bit is made of for a specific purpose. Each bit is also manufactured to precise tolerances. Even drill bits for wood, a soft material, are made this way. Your drilling tools need to be manufactured in the same way. The efficiency of your drilling tools is determined by the type of tooth, tooth angle, tooth offset, flight pitch, number of flights, tool length, and type of steel. We recognize that there are wide variations in the earth that must be drilled through, and drilling tools must be manufactured for the conditions in which they operate. Don't waste your time trying to push an inefficient auger into the ground only to pull it up half empty. If you could get your drill rig to drill faster instead of harder, how much would that increase your profit?  
 
We are happy to use any type tooth that our customers prefer, but for non-rock drilling we believe the best type of tooth is the Hensley type. Most of the teeth used on drilling tools today have female pocket, which has been welded to the tool. The tooth with a male shank is then hammered into the pocket. Hensley type teeth attach with a female pocket in the tooth sliding over a male stud that has been welded to the tool. The Hensley type teeth are quicker and easier to remove and replace than other types. They are also safer. Most other teeth have to be knocked out with a hammer creating a hazard with flying steel chips. The most important reason is the way the tooth wears. Because the tooth protects the stud, there is less chance of damage to the point of attachment and longer periods between repairs. This is particularly true on the outside teeth and when the tool is subjected to highly abrasive conditions. We also believe that this configuration is inherently stronger.  
 
Tooth angle and tooth offset need to be set properly for the drilling conditions at hand. Dirt, rock, and slurry tools all need their teeth set at the proper angles and offsets for their applications. This allows the tool to cut efficiently without over sizing the hole. The customer can specify the number of flights, pitch, and tool length or we would be happy to make a recommendation. Presently almost all tools are built with standard A-36 steel. This is not always the best choice. Using high torque drilling rigs can sometimes mangle tools. As an option, we will build your tools with high strength plate in critical areas. For example under-reamer doors can be made of high strength plate. A more common problem is tool wear due to highly abrasive environments. We offer two options to increase tool life. Extra hard-surfacing can be applied. We use a high quality hard surfacing with a Rockwell hardness of 60. Tools can also be banded with ½" abrasion resistant wear plate. The wear plate has 9 times the abrasion resistance of A-36 steel. The wear plate is very durable alone, but it also extends the life of any hard surfacing applied because softer steel does not dilute the hard surface material during the application. Dirt augers, rock augers, and especially slurry buckets are good candidates for abrasion resistant wear plate.

What tools we can offer

Rodrill manufactures dirt augers, rock augers, core-barrels, under reamers, slurry buckets, and custom tools. We specialize in extra heavy duty tools for dirt, rock and highly abrasive conditions, and also tools for underwater and under-slurry drilling. We are happy to build any tool to your specifications to fit your needs.