One way to avoid dimpling and deburring while making holes in tube and pipe is to use annular cutters. Because annular cutters are hollow on the inside, there is no dead-zone resistance to overcome.

Using a twist drill to make holes in pipe or tubing can prompt concerns about the hole roundness, location accuracy, hole finish, chip extraction, burrs, and drilling duration.

The focal point of these concerns is the twist drill's most noticeable feature; its point. This is not really a point at all, but the tangent line where two cutting angles intersect at the web of the drill, or the so-called 'dead zone.' This dead zone causes the surface speed of the cutting edges to drop to zero.

The lower surface speed reduces cutting efficiency and requires increased thrust, or feed pressure, for the cutting edges to push through the material.

Compared to traditional tooling (twist drills, etc.) annular cutters can multiply your cutting speed by up to 3 times while getting a longer tool life, a more accurate hole, a better finish, with no burrs. The cutting edges distribute the cutting load evenly, thus making it faster cutting.

Annular cutters convert a smaller area to chips, requiring less horsepower and thrust. This feature provides longer tool life and less chatter. The slug also offers a higher scrap value than loose chips and shavings.

Refer to the picture shown below, explaining why annular cutters are more efficient and faster than twist drill bits.

Definition - Annular
'Ring-shaped' or 'forming a ring'. From the latin word annulus

Features and Benefits

• Perfect stable start
• Conical surface inside
• Precise centre pilot fitting
• Ground clamp surface
• Faster, because every tooth cuts
• More accurate
• Greater drill depth
• Stronger, therefore less fragile
• Guaranteed slug ejection

At a glance

• Annular Cutters drill a burr-free finished hole by cutting only the material around the periphery of the hole. This forms a solid slug which will fall out.
• Less time and energy are consumed per hole
• Faster feed rates are achieved with more cutting teeth and less tool wear
• Lighter, less powerful drilling equipment can be used
• Able to drill holes which are difficult or impossible to do accurately with conventional twist drill tooling - with no pre-drilling or step drilling required.