Metal Drilling Machines

How to choose a metal drilling machine

A drilling machine drills, enlarges, countersinks and reams holes, and many models also tap threads. The LUNA catalog carries German MAXION and Weiler machines and a radial drill under our own LUNA brand: from the high-speed MAXION SPEEDMAX bench drill for holes up to Ø4 mm at 24,000 rpm to the Weiler VO100 and VO104 radial drills for Ø100 mm with reach up to 4000 mm.

Seven types in the catalog

What to compare

• Drilling diameter. The specs give the maximum diameter, not an everyday load. Choose a machine with a margin over your largest hole, especially in alloy steels.
• Throat depth. The distance from the spindle axis to the column decides how far from the edge of the part you can drill: 177–250 mm on bench models, 225–325 mm on column models, up to 4000 mm on the Weiler VO104.
• Spindle stroke. This is the hole depth in one stroke without moving the table: from 55 mm on the BT 6 FREQUENZ to 200 mm on the BS 50 AVST and 315 mm on the LUNA Octans 50×12/1 radial drill.
• Spindle taper. Morse MT2–MT6: the larger the hole, the larger the taper and the drill shank. The high-speed bench models use an ER 11 collet or a chuck on a B 12 taper.
• Feed. On large holes a power feed keeps the load on the drill even: 30–400 mm/min on the UNIMAX 3 AV, 15–400 mm/min on the BT 36 and BS 36, 16 feeds of 0.04–3.2 mm/rev on the LUNA Octans.
• Threads. Many MAXION column drills tap threads — the specs give the size, up to M45. If you tap hundreds of threads per shift, you need a tapping machine.

Common mistakes

• Buying a bench drill for holes over 20 mm: they need the rigidity and power of a column machine.
• Buying a column drill for a large plate: the throat depth is too small for holes far from the edge — you need a radial drill.
• Tapping a batch of threads by hand-feeding the tap on a machine without pitch-matched feed: taps break and threads come out uneven.

If you also need to mill slots and shoulders, look at drilling-milling machines with a cross table. When milling is the main job, you need a milling machine.

Send a drawing or your largest hole diameter, the material and part thickness, thread sizes and quantity per shift — we will select the type and model and quote delivery and commissioning. If you are replacing a Soviet-era machine, try the AI analog finder with its model name.