Peck drilling feeds the drill a set depth, retracts it, and repeats, so chips are broken or cleared before they pack the flutes and snap the drill. On CNC the full-retract cycle is usually G83 and the short chip-breaking retract G73. Deep holes, small drills and gummy materials need pecking; shallow holes in free-machining steel do not.
That's a ten-diameter-deep hole, peck it every quarter inch or the flutes will pack and the drill will snap.
Shallow holes in free-machining steel rarely need pecking, and every unnecessary retract is cycle time thrown away.
Also heard as
- peck drill
Related terms
Work hardening
Hardening of a metal surface by plastic deformation, which makes the next cut much harder on the tool.
Chip load
The thickness of material each cutting edge takes per revolution, also called feed per tooth.
Air cutting
Shop term for a tool moving at feed rate through empty space, wasting cycle time.