Blind hole
A blind hole refers to a hole that is reamed, drilled, or milled to a specified depth without breaking through to the other side of the workpiece. The etymology is that it is not possible to see through a blind hole. Other types of holes also include through holes, and clearance holes. In this instance blind may also refer to any feature that is taken to a specific depth. More specifically referring to internally threaded hole (tapped holes).
There are three accepted methods of threading blind holes:
- Conventional tapping, especially with bottom taps
- Single-point threading, where the workpiece is rotated, and a pointed cutting tool is fed into the workpiece at the same rate as the pitch of the internal thread. Single-pointing inside a blind hole, like boring inside one, is inherently more challenging than doing so in a through hole. This was especially true in the era when manual machining was the only method of control. Today, CNC makes these tasks less stressful, but nevertheless still more challenging than with through holes.
- Helical interpolation, where the workpiece remains stationary and CNC control moves a milling cutter in the correct helical path for a given thread, milling the thread.
Machine tools used for threading blind holes
At least two U.S. tool manufacturers have manufactured tools for thread milling in blind holes: Ingersoll Cutting Tools of Rockford, Illinois, and Tooling Systems of Houston, Texas, who introduced the ThredMil in 1977, a device that milled large internal threads in the blind holes of oil well blowout preventers. Today many CNC milling machines can run such a thread milling cycle (see a video of such a cut in the "External links" section).
