Case Study · Aerospace · Composites
Carbon Fiber in Aircraft: Clean Holes, Shredded Competition
A PCD-tipped Single Shot drill cut 4,000+ clean holes in CFRP wing spars where competitors managed 160 — saving $548,290 a year.
$548,290
saved per year
25×
longer tool life
4,000+
clean holes per drill
Drilling CFRP wing spars, an aircraft manufacturer was spending 25 carbide drills per ship set and scrapping expensive parts to delamination and fiber pull-out. RobbJack's solid PCD-tipped 135°/20° 8-facet 'Single Shot' drill drills and reams in one operation — and changed the math entirely.
The problem
Prized for rigidity and strength-to-weight, CFRP is unforgiving to drill without delamination, uncut fibers, and fiber pull-out. The manufacturer burned 25 carbide drills to make a single ship set of wing spars — costly, unstable, and scrap-prone.
The solution
- A polycrystalline-diamond tip that out-lasts diamond coating in high-plastic-content materials, with superior sharpness and edge retention.
- A sharp outer edge that shears cleanly — no delamination, uncut fibers, or pull-out.
- A tip that drills and reams in one operation.
- Re-sharpenable for even longer service life.
The result
The PCD drill cut over 4,000 clean, in-tolerance holes where other tools struggled to reach 160. One PCD-tipped drill replaced 25 lesser drills per ship set, eliminated secondary operations, and stabilized a previously wasteful process.
At 25× the life and a half-million dollars a year, the PCD Single Shot drill turned the worst operation on the line into the most predictable.
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