If you’re a brass component manufacturer—whether you’re producing precision electrical connectors, decorative hardware, or plumbing fittings—you’ve probably wondered at some point: Can a vertical drilling machine be used for drilling brass? As someone who’s spent 12 years working in vertical drilling machine sales, troubleshooting, and hands-on training with hundreds of small to mid-sized manufacturers across North America, I’m here to tell you: Yes, it absolutely can. But like any material, brass requires a specific set of adjustments, considerations, and machine settings to get clean, burr-free holes that meet your specs. Today, I’m breaking down exactly how and why vertical drilling machines are ideal for brass drilling, plus the common mistakes I see that lead to scrap parts—and how to avoid them. Vertical Drilling Machine
First, let’s start with the basics to ground this in real, practical manufacturing, not just textbook theory. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, and depending on the grade (think free-machining 360 brass for general parts, or harder C26000 brass for structural components), it’s soft, ductile, and has excellent thermal conductivity. That thermal conductivity is a big deal when it comes to drilling: the heat generated by the drill bit doesn’t stay trapped at the cutting edge, which is why brass typically drills much cleaner than, say, stainless steel or aluminum. But here’s the catch for vertical drilling machines specifically: vertical drills are designed for precision drilling at a fixed Z-axis, with the workpiece clamped to a stationary table. That setup sounds simple, but it’s perfect for brass—if you leverage its strengths.
I’ll never forget the first time I had a panic call from a client a few years back. They were a small shop making brass valve stems for a local plumbing supplier, and their horizontal drill had just broken down 48 hours before a 10,000-piece deadline. They’d heard I sold vertical drilling machines, and they begged me to come test one of our mid-range VDM-1000 units on their brass stock. When I showed up, their shop floor was a disaster: 200+ scrapped valve stems piled on a workbench, all with oversized, jagged holes and burrs so thick they had to grind each one by hand. “We tried switching to a sharper drill bit,” the shop foreman told me, “but we still get half these defects.”
We swapped in a standard high-speed steel (HSS) twist drill bit, adjusted the machine’s speed, and clamped the stock properly, and by the end of the day, we’d drilled 1,200 perfect holes—no burrs, no misalignment, no scrap. The difference wasn’t the machine itself; it was how we were using the vertical drill for brass, versus how they’d been using their horizontal machine (which is designed for higher-volume, faster feeds for harder metals).
Let’s break down why vertical drilling machines are actually better than many people realize for brass. First, vertical drills offer unparalleled positional accuracy for small to medium brass parts. Because the workpiece is fixed to a rigid table, and the drill spindle moves straight down along a single, consistent axis, you don’t get the slight side-to-side drift that’s common with manual or even some semi-automatic horizontal drills when you’re drilling small diameters (think 1mm to 6mm, which is the most common range for brass components). For example, electrical connector manufacturers rely on 1.2mm precision holes to fit terminal pins; a vertical drilling machine can hold that tolerance to ±0.02mm, which is non-negotiable for their products.
Second, vertical drills are easy to adjust for brass’s unique material properties, which makes them flexible for shops that run multiple brass part jobs. Unlike horizontal drills, which often have fixed speed ranges, most modern vertical drilling machines (the kind we sell) come with variable speed control, from as low as 10 RPM up to 3,000 RPM, plus adjustable feed rates ranging from 0.05mm per revolution to 0.5mm per revolution. That adjustability is key for brass: because it’s soft, drilling too fast or with too high a feed rate will cause the drill to “grab” the material, leading to oversized holes, burrs, or even workpieces spinning out of the clamp. Drilling too slow, on the other hand, will cause the brass to work-harden, which creates a tough, rubbery layer that’s hard to cut and leads to dull drill bits.
Wait, but what about chip control? Brass chips are short and curly, right? That’s another advantage for vertical drilling machines, because the stationary table lets chips fall away from the cutting edge without getting dragged back into the hole. If you’re using a horizontal drill, the chip flow is often horizontal, so chips can get caught between the workpiece and the drill or even get re-drilled into the material, creating inclusions that ruin parts. On vertical drills, gravity does most of the work here—just make sure you have a small chip tray under the table to catch the brass shavings, and you’re set.
Now, I’d be lying if I said there aren’t caveats. The biggest mistake I see shops make when using vertical drilling machines for brass is choosing the wrong drill bit and speed/feed combo. Let’s get specific here, because this is where 90% of the scrap comes from. For brass, you want to use either a high-speed steel (HSS) drill bit with a 118-degree point angle, or a solid carbide drill bit for longer runs (over 5,000 pieces). A 118-degree point angle is ideal because it’s sharp enough to cut through soft brass without the drill wandering, and it clears chips quickly. Skip drill bits with a smaller point angle (like 90 degrees) or a larger one (like 135 degrees)—the latter tends to push into the soft brass instead of cutting, leading to rough edges.
As for speed and feed rates, here’s the rule of thumb I give all my clients, and it’s worked for every shop I’ve trained on vertical drilling machines for brass: For HSS drill bits, use a surface speed of 18 to 24 meters per minute (that translates to roughly 1,000 to 2,000 RPM for a 6mm drill bit, or 500 to 1,200 RPM for a 10mm drill bit). Feed rate should be 0.1 to 0.2mm per revolution. For solid carbide bits, you can bump the speed up to 30 to 36 meters per minute, and feed rate up to 0.15 to 0.25mm per revolution. If you’re drilling through-holes in brass (the most common type), you can use a back support on the vertical drill’s table—many of our machines come with adjustable back stops—to prevent the brass from tearing on the exit side of the hole. That’s a small add-on, but it eliminates 80% of exit burrs right there.
Another common question I get: Do I need cutting fluid when drilling brass on a vertical drilling machine? The short answer is, not always, but it depends on the hole size and quality you need. If you’re drilling small holes (under 3mm) or holes that need a super smooth finish (for things like decorative brass hardware or medical components), a light cutting oil (like soluble oil or straight mineral oil) will reduce heat, extend drill bit life, and give you a cleaner hole. For larger holes (over 10mm) or rough, structural parts, you can often get away with dry drilling—brass’s high thermal conductivity means it doesn’t build up as much heat as steel, so dry drilling is faster and cuts down on cleanup. I always tell clients to test with dry first for their specific brass grade and drill size, and only add fluid if they see burrs or dulling bits within a few hundred holes.
Let’s talk about real-world applications to put this all in context. Last year, I worked with a decorative hardware shop that produces brass doorknobs, which require dozens of small, precise holes for hinges, screws, and mounting plates. They’d been using a old manual drill press for years, and their hole placement was off by an average of 0.5mm—enough to make the doorknobs look unprofessional, so they had to hand-file every part, adding 15 minutes per unit to their production time. They invested in two of our standard VDM-700 vertical drilling machines, which have a digital position indicator for the Z-axis and a movable X-Y table. Within three months, their scrap rate dropped from 12% to less than 1%, and their production time per batch of 500 doorknobs fell by 40 hours. The owner told me it was the best equipment investment they’d made in a decade.
Another client was a custom manufacturer of brass electrical terminals for solar panels, which require holes with zero burrs to ensure proper electrical connection. They were using a horizontal drilling machine that kept creating burrs that had to be deburred with a tumbler, which added two days per batch to their lead time. After switching to our VDM-1200 vertical drilling machine (which has automatic feed control and a chip evacuation system), they eliminated their deburring step entirely, cutting their lead time from 10 days to 5 days and taking on three new big clients because they could deliver faster.
Now, let’s address a counterpoint I hear sometimes: “Vertical drilling machines are only for small parts, right? I need to drill a 50mm hole in a 50kg brass block for a pump part.” Yep, you can do that too. The VDM line we sell has models with drill capacities up to 50mm, and you can adjust the speed and feed rate to suit that larger size. For a 50mm brass block, you’d drop the speed down to around 100 RPM (surface speed of ~15 meters per minute) and use a slower feed rate to avoid grabbing the material, and the vertical machine’s rigid frame will prevent the drill from wandering, which is critical for large holes that need to align with other components.
The key takeaway here is that a vertical drilling machine is not just for steel or aluminum—it’s a versatile, reliable option for brass drilling, as long as you match the machine settings, drill bit type, and clamping method to brass’s unique properties. The biggest mistake shops make is treating brass like another soft material, which leads to avoidable scrap and wasted time.
If you’re currently facing issues with your current drilling setup for brass—whether that’s burrs, misaligned holes, high scrap rates, or slow production—it’s worth taking a look at how a vertical drilling machine could work for your operation. We’ve helped hundreds of shops from small, family-run workshops to mid-sized manufacturing firms optimize their brass drilling processes with our vertical machines, and we’d be happy to walk you through the specific adjustments and settings that would work for your part sizes, brass grades, and production volumes. Whether you need a single compact machine for prototype work or a high-capacity model for full-scale production, we can tailor a solution that fits your needs. Don’t let outdated equipment or wrong settings hold back your brass component quality—reach out to us to discuss how a vertical drilling machine can streamline your process and reduce your costs.
Bed Milling Machine References
- Metals Handbook, Volume 16: Machining, American Society for Metals, 1989, pp. 215-222.
- Machining Data Handbook, 7th Edition, Machining Data Center, 2007, pp. 412-418.
- Practical Guide to Drilling Operations, Industrial Press, 2015, pp. 89-97.
- Brass Alloys: Properties and Machining Characteristics, Copper Development Association, 2020.
Shandong TaoFong CNC Machine Tool Co., Ltd.
Shandong TaoFong CNC Machine Tool Co., Ltd. is one of the most professional vertical drilling machine manufacturers and suppliers in China, featured by quality products and good price. Please rest assured to buy durable vertical drilling machine for sale here from our factory. Customized orders are welcome.
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