Materials which are in contact with foodstuff must meet high chemical-physical quality requirements and guidelines. This is mainly valid for metallic components, which are used in the beverage industry. Acid-resistant stainless steels are tough to machine. In spite of this fact, excellent results have been achieved by using a MiquDrill for the drilling of a metallic mouthpiece, utilized for adding carbon dioxide to beverages, says Mikron, manufacturer and supplier of high quality cutting tools for micro machining.
 
 Source material was a step turned, hollow work piece with a diameter of 18mm and a length of 36mm and the challenge was to drill five holes, diameter 0.2mm, spaced 45° from each other on the hollow pin with an outside diameter of 6mm. Considering the marginal wall thickness, a MiquDrill 200 with a flute length of 0.5mm did the job perfectly well. This two flutes, carbide alloy, twist drill has a tip angle of 120° and a flute angle of 24°. It is available within every 1/100 mm diameter in a range from 0.1 to 1.5mm and is mainly used for short and pilot holes in a variety of different materials. Starting from diameter 0.3mm it is also available from stock in a coated version. With such results MiquDrill has proven its high performance among comparable cutting tools.
 
 The basis for this success was a customer-oriented support and a close co-operation with the client, Mikron says.