Precision measurement for normal section of drill helical flute

The normal section shape (flute curve) of the drill flute has a big influence on the shape of the main blade, the exhaust of the chip, and the supply of the coolant etc. To measure the flute curve of drill is essential to its design and the evaluation of cutting performance of drill. In this paper the measurement system of drill geometry by laser displacement sensor is developed and the measuring method of flute curve is described. As the measuring method, the curve of flute was divided into several parts and was measured one by one. Then the measured data are analyzed with digital filtering, smoothing etc., thus the flute curve data is gained. The measured data agree well with the known values. The proposed measuring method may be applied not only to the measurement of flute curve of the drill but also to the measurement of the other helical flute curves.