CNC Brand Profile

TechniDrill: The Model Number Is the Hole

On a TechniDrill gundrill, the model number is the hole: drilling diameter first, then travel. Here is where the Ohio gundrill line came from, why it now carries a Missouri address, and how to read a TechniDrill name before you buy one used.

Deep hole drilling is a specialty. These machines are bought for holes that are too long, too straight or too precise for a machining center, which makes the hole the first spec to read, and TechniDrill names its machines accordingly.

TechniDrill at a Glance

Before It Was TechniDrill

TechniDrill's own history starts with the Ward Riddle Co. in Ravenna, Ohio, a specialist in aircraft fuel and braking system components. The company credits its owner, Hugh Riddle, with developing its first gundrill system, built for the Warner & Swasey Company, the Cleveland builder covered in our Warner & Swasey brand profile.

Under new ownership the company became Phillips Precision Drilling and turned toward aerospace work. TechniDrill says customers including General Electric, Westinghouse and General Motors began using its gundrill systems, which carried the business into defense, household and automotive products.

The Ejector Drilling Claim

The company's most notable claim from that era involves Sandvik Coromant. TechniDrill says it designed and built the first dedicated ejector drilling system for Sandvik, and that the system increased drilling penetration seven times over conventional gundrilling. It also says it has built more ejector drilling machines than any other U.S. manufacturer.

Those are company statements, and we present them that way. If accurate, they show that the shop behind TechniDrill was building specialized deep hole machines for one of the major cutting tool makers, not just general purpose gundrills.

Jim Kent and the TechniDrill Name

Jim Kent became company president and renamed the business TechniDrill Systems, Inc. Kays describes TechniDrill machines as made in the USA since 1984, and in 2020 the company described itself as having a 36 year history of building gundrilling machines.

Under Kent the company expanded into oil field service and automotive work and added BTA, trepanning tooling and multiple spindle gundrilling. It moved to Kent, Ohio, and expanded that facility to 26,000 square feet, later adding systems for medical equipment and skiving.

Resell CNC Take

Buy a deep hole machine for the holes you actually drill. A TechniDrill rated well past your largest diameter or deepest bore is floor space and coolant you pay to run every day. Read the model number, match it to your parts, and then spend your inspection time on the coolant system, because on a deep hole machine the coolant is what clears the chips from the bottom of the hole.

2020: Kays Engineering and Marshall, Missouri

In June 2020 Kays Engineering announced it had purchased TechniDrill Systems. Kays has its own history of buying gundrill brands. Ed Kays started it on December 1, 1980, in Marshall, Missouri, as a small welding and repair shop. It bought DeHoff of Cranston, Rhode Island, in 1994 and moved it to a new 50,000 square foot building in Marshall in 1996, then bought Eldorado of Milford, Connecticut, in 2002.

With TechniDrill, Kays owns three gundrilling brands, which it said represented a combined 172 years of gundrilling experience. All three are now built in Marshall. TechniDrill president Patricia Kent said at the time that she was proud the TechniDrill legacy would continue and that the machines would continue to be made in America. Kays now lists more than 60 employees and customers in 30 countries.

Gundrill, BTA and Ejector, in Shop Language

TechniDrill builds for more than one deep hole process, and a used listing will not always say which one a machine runs.

Gundrilling. A single flute tool with coolant pumped through the tool to the cutting edge, and chips flushed back out along the groove on the outside of the drill. It is the process for smaller, very deep holes, and our gun drill Machining Monday covers how it works and where it came from.

BTA, or STS. For larger holes, coolant is fed around the outside of the tool and the chips return with the coolant through the hollow center of the drill tube. TechniDrill's BTA/STS machines drill from 1 to 10 inches, according to Kays.

Ejector drilling. A two tube system in which coolant flows between an inner and outer tube and returns with the chips through the inner one. This is the process behind TechniDrill's Sandvik claim.

How to Read a TechniDrill Model Number

TechniDrill's model numbers describe the hole. The catch is that gundrills and BTA machines count in different units.

Read a 200-96 as inches across and you would expect a 200 inch machine. Read a BTA-60 as hundredths and you would expect a 0.6 inch hole. The pattern holds across the current models listed here, but names on older machines can vary, so confirm the diameter and travel on the build sheet for that serial number.

The Current Lineup

Multi-axis gundrilling. Three CNC models for complex hole patterns in heat exchangers, manifolds and molds. The 75-48 and 125-48 use a knee fixture table for X and Y. The 200-96 uses a traveling column for X and Y, with a rotary fixture table and an auxiliary CAT 40 spindle for milling and tapping. Z travel runs from 48 inches to 96 inches.

BTA/STS drilling. Larger capacity machines for aerospace and petrochemical work, with slide travel up to 240 inches. Kays lists spindle power from 15 hp on the three spindle BTA-10 to 150 hp on the BTA-100. In July 2022 it introduced the TBTA-3A-6, a 3-axis BTA machine for 6 inch holes 48 inches deep with up to 75 hp.

Gundrills. The 2.00-30-48 pairs a 30 hp AC spindle motor and two speed gearbox with pneumatic 3 jaw chucks and counter-rotation, which turns the part against the tool to help hole accuracy.

Controls and Construction

Current TechniDrill machines use an embedded PC based control on a solid state drive with EtherCAT communication, remote diagnostics over industrial Ethernet, a manual pulse generator and remote coolant pressure control. The multi-axis machines add CNC G-code programming, and Kays describes the BTA controls as Windows based with a touchscreen.

Kays lists heavy duty machine bases with linear guideway construction and says it builds all sub-assemblies in house. Fixturing options include a 10 inch 6 jaw chuck with a 3 inch thru hole, an 8 inch 3 jaw tailstock, and hydraulic or manual 3 roller steady rests.

The Coolant Question

On a deep hole machine the coolant system does the chip evacuation, and its rating matters as much as the spindle. Kays' own pages give different figures for TechniDrill:

Whatever the reason for the spread, the practical answer is the same: read the pump nameplate and the build sheet on the machine you are buying rather than relying on a brochure figure.

In Our Inventory

We buy and sell TechniDrill gundrilling and BTA machines. Inventory changes, so check the TechniDrill brand page for what is available today. For a deep drilling machine that also mills in one setup, see our Meet the Machine on the Auerbach IXIOM TLF-1004, and for another deep hole drilling builder, see our UNISIG brand profile.

What to Check When Buying a Used TechniDrill

The model number against your parts. Decode the diameter and depth, then confirm the actual travel and capacity on the build sheet.

The process. Gundrill, BTA/STS or ejector. Tooling, coolant feed and fixturing differ, so make sure the machine matches the process your parts call for.

The coolant system. Pump rating and condition, filtration, tank, heat exchanger and any chiller. Ask for the pump nameplate given the spread in published figures.

Spindle and workholding. Spindle run-out and noise, chuck condition, counter-rotation if fitted, steady rests and drill bushings.

The control. Generation, condition and whether part programs and parameters come with the machine.

A test hole. Drill one at your typical depth and check it for size and straightness. On a deep hole machine, that is the test that answers the question.

Frequently Asked Questions