Know-how

TiN, TiAlN... five coatings that increase service life of RUKO tools

At RUKO twist drills, countersinks, tube and sheet drills, core drills are refined with up to six different coatings.

In the next few weeks, we would like to introduce you to these six coatings. Answering the following questions; Why are tools coated at all? When do I use which coating? Which coating is best suitable for which materials? Which coating is best for which precision tool?

Basics about coating

Why are drills coated at all? The coating of tools provides in principle product refinement and the visual increase in value. In the case of drills, the coating is basically used to extend the lifetime (increase of the service life). This means, with a coated drill, you can drill more holes than with an uncoated drill.

  • A coating is applied to the "normal" tool.
  • It increases the lifetime (in some cases visual increase in value).
  • A coating is a chemical compound between at least two elements.
  • Coatings are usually applied very thin (micrometer-thin) to the tool - the layer thickness is not more than 0.7 μm (micrometer) since thicker layers are prone to crack formation.

Good to know

  1. Which steel is used in precision tool manufacturing? Precision tools are available at RUKO in tool steels HSS, HSSE-Co 5, HSSE-Co 8 and hard metal. The higher the cobalt (Co) content the harder the drill and the application fields are different.
  2. What kind of cutting is used? Drilling, milling, threading...? Depending on which precision tool a coating is applied, the application fields change.

Coatings at RUKO

There are six coatings at RUKO available and will be introduce to you in the next couple of weeks:

  1. TiN
  2. TiAlN
  3. AlTiN
  4. TiCN
  5. RUnaTEC