18
YOUR GLOBAL CRAFTSMAN STUDIO
1
1987 ~
1973
1987
1995
2002
2004
2006
2007
2008
2010
2011
2013
In the latter half of the 1980s, when
brazed and high-speed steel drills were
the mainstream product used across
various industries, Mitsubishi Materials
embarked on the development of the
solid carbide drill. Brazed carbide drills
already existed in the market, but due to
technical reasons theywereonlyavailable
in large diameters. Nevertheless,
Mitsubishi Materials anticipated that
there would surely be a time when small
diameter solid carbide drills would be
in demand and began development in
a small corner of a factory. However,
during the 1980s, computing technology
was in its infancy and all calculations
and design was done manually. Days
upon days were spent designing the ideal
flute and cutting edge geometry through
simple trial and error. It was a time
when products were developed based on
engineers’ experience and sense, rather
than on the basis of data and simulation
that have become the standard today.
After several years of development, the
ZET1 solid carbide drill finally came into
existence in 1987 as the first solid carbide
drill in the industry.
At the time, high-speed steel drills
had approximately a 70% share of the
market, so we were very confident of the
ZET1’s performance as a solid carbide
drill. It delivered five times greater
drilling efficiency, ten times longer tool
life, steady discharge of chips and an
overall higher drilling performance.
In other words, it represented a
dramatic evolution. However, contrary
to expectations, it did not sell well. The
first reason was its price. Compared to
high-speed steel drills, the carbide type
was around 30 times more expensive.
This meant that what customers used
to buy for 500 yen would become 15,000
yen. In the final analysis, one hole would
cost less and production efficiency
would increase, but it was difficult to
set a precedent in the market so that it
would open up to the overall advantages
of the solid carbide drill in terms of cost.
Another reason was that initially there
was little knowledge about how to handle
and operate solid carbide drills and we
needed to begin by teaching customers
how to use the drill correctly. Solid
carbide drills perform best when using
what is known as peck or step drilling
cycles, and at that time many customers
only used conventional machines and
methods that were not suited to the peck
or step drilling processes. Therefore,
we offered trainings in cooperation
with machine tool manufacturers, and
provided information to customers so
that they knew of the correct methods
to gain the most efficiency from the
new drills. Furthermore, since many
customers were not familiar with the
need for accurate resharpening of
solid carbide drills in order to maintain
the drills’ performance levels, we also
disseminated knowledge of how to
care for them. These efforts, made in
conjunction with marketing activities
required a large amount of time, but
owing to their steady influence the ZET1
drill eventually came to be accepted,
primarily by the automobile industry. In
hindsight, the sense of accomplishment
we experienced after overcoming the
hardships and receiving customers’
understanding of the advantages of
the product, plus their words of praise,
remain strong in our minds.
The ZET1 drill that rewrote the book
on drilling performance
TECHNOLOGY ARCHIVE
TECHNOLOGY ARCHIVE
Part
Evolution of the solid carbide drill
Gifu Plant is established.
Themanufacture of cutting tools begins.
The ZET1 drill is released.
The Super Burnishing - brazed drill is released
(receives an award from the Japan Cemented
Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association).
TheWSTAR drill is released.
The MiniSTAR drill is released.
TheWSTAR Super-long drill for deep-hole
machining is released.
The MNS drill for aluminiumalloy machining
is released.
The MGS solid gun drill is released.
The MHS drill for diemachining is released.
The MMS drill for stainless steel machining is
released.
The MQS drill for steel and cast ironmachining
is released.
The MCS drill for CFRPmachining is released.
The small-diameter MHS drill for diemachining
is released.
The MVE/MVS new-generation general-purpose drills
are released.
HISTORY
