About ERLO Industrial Drilling Machines

ERLO manufactures a comprehensive range of pillar drills, bench drills, geared drilling machines, tapping machines and production drilling machines. The range extends from compact workshop machines through to heavy-duty industrial drilling machines with capacities up to 70 mm.

ERLO machines are available with a variety of configurations including manual and automatic spindle feeds, geared and belt-driven transmissions, mechanical and electromagnetic clutches, automatic tapping cycles and variable-speed drives. This allows the machine specification to be matched to the application rather than simply selecting a drill based on maximum drilling capacity.

The ERLO range is particularly suited to professional workshops, maintenance departments, fabrication companies and repetitive industrial production where machine rigidity, drilling capacity and appropriate feed and speed control are important.

How to Choose the Correct Pillar Drill

Selecting the correct pillar drill requires more than choosing a machine with sufficient drilling capacity. The material being drilled, hole diameter, production volume, tapping requirements and required level of operator involvement should all be considered.

1. Drilling Capacity

Start with the largest hole diameter and material that the machine will regularly drill. A machine should not normally be selected purely because its stated maximum drilling capacity equals the largest required hole. Allowing additional capacity provides greater operating margin, particularly when drilling harder materials or carrying out repetitive production work.

2. Manual or Automatic Drilling Feed

Manual feed gives the operator direct control of spindle movement and is well suited to general workshop, maintenance and varied drilling work.

Automatic feed advances the spindle at a preset feed rate. It is particularly useful for repetitive and production drilling because it provides more consistent feed and reduces operator involvement.

3. Belt Drive or Geared Drive

V-belt machines are suitable for lighter and general-purpose drilling applications.

Geared drilling machines provide a more appropriate drive arrangement where higher torque and larger drilling capacities are required.

ERLO also offers machines combining belt transmission with electronic variable-speed control, allowing spindle speed to be adjusted to suit different tools, materials and operations.

4. Tapping Requirements

If tapping will form part of the normal workload, consider the required tapping capacity and how frequently tapping will be performed. ERLO configurations range from manually controlled tapping through to automatic feed and spindle reversal for repetitive production applications.

5. Mechanical or Electromagnetic Clutch

On machines equipped with automatic feed, the clutch arrangement should also be considered. Mechanical clutches provide a robust and straightforward feed engagement system, while electromagnetic clutches provide smoother engagement and are particularly suited to repetitive production drilling.

6. Machine Size and Workpiece Capacity

Consider the complete workpiece rather than the hole diameter alone. Throat depth, spindle stroke, spindle-to-table distance, table dimensions and table adjustment determine whether the component can be positioned correctly beneath the spindle.

7. Workshop or Production Use

For occasional maintenance and general workshop drilling, a manually operated machine may provide everything required. As drilling volumes increase, features such as automatic spindle feed, automatic tapping, geared transmission and electromagnetic feed engagement become increasingly valuable.

The comparison table below provides the principal specifications across the ERLO range, allowing machines to be compared by drilling capacity, tapping capacity, feed system, drive, clutch, table arrangement, motor power, spindle taper, stroke and working dimensions.