Stabilized Modular Hole Openers
Long blade profile and long gage pad, for improved tool stability
Cross Gaurd™ Stabilizer Ring
In our experience, this happens a lot...
We'd like to act like the reason for this damage is a secret and we are the only ones who have the answer, but its really no secret. When a tool is not stabilized in the hole it tends to rotate eccentrically (especially with the small diameter pipe and heavy tools used in HDD). This causes some areas of the tool to do a whole lot of work, and other areas to not do any work at all (this also decreases your rate of penetration). This problem gets worse the bigger the diameter of the tool because the weight of the tool works against you as the tool rotates. When you get just a few cutters doing all the work, combined with the weight of the tool, you end up with damage like the pictures above. This is why you see a lot of rusty used up PDC hole openers laying around repair shops.
Once you ruin the pockets that PDC cutters sit in, it is impossible to get them exactly right again. So while you may be able to "fix" this type of damage, the repaired area will have PDC cutters that sit either too proud or not proud enough and that messes up the work load or cutter balancing of the entire tool. It is not really the same ever again even if you repair it.....wash, rinse, repeat--- same damage, same area of the tool.
Evolution Drilling tools are stabilized with our proprietary Cross Gaurd™ stabilizer ring. This keeps the tool centralized in the hole, drilling efficiently, and avoiding costly damage. When our hole openers are used in conjunction with our Pre-Ream™ near bit stabilizer in front of the hole opener, the result is a very stable assembly, that drills faster, and avoids the deep dark sadness the results when you pull your hole opener out of the hole with career ending damage.
6 3/8" Pre-Ream™ near bit stabilizer runs in your pilot hole directly in front of Evolution Drilling Tools hole opener with Cross Gaurd™ stabilizer ring. This provides tool stabilization in front and behind the hole opener. A stabilized tool will drill much faster, and undergo less damage than a tool without stabilization
What if things don't go as planned?
Even with stabilization, damage is sometimes inevitable. Evolution Battle Axe™ hole openers are a modular design, and blades can be removed and replaced with new blades if necessary. This generally saves money compared to purchasing a brand new tool.
In addition, Evolution Drilling Tools has a proprietary repair method for our tools, where even if the pockets the cutters sit in are totally worn away, we can get new cutters installed back where they should be. Don't ask us how we do it,.....it's proprietary.
