Diamond drill rods, or wireline drill rods, are crucial for the success of any diamond drilling process. The rods need to be in perfect condition, not just for the drilling, but also for the core extraction exercise as well. When buying diamond drill rods, one of the most important aspects to mind is the joints. If your joints wear too soon, you will have to halt your operation mid-way. In addition to that, you will have to spend extra money purchasing a new stack of drill rods. Read on to see how you can make sure your rod joints are of good quality.

Concentricity

Concentricity refers to how well your drill rods will lock in a straight line. This is important because if your diamond drill rods are not in a flush arrangement, some of the rods will be applying excessive friction to the joint walls. This will cause wear on the ends of both rods. It will also cause thread wear on the outer rod. One way to ensure concentricity is to make sure the rods are straight. This can be verified through laser alignment. The other remedy is to ensure your rods are well tapered. Tapered rods reduce movement in between joints. They also ensure the rods stay flush so that there's no acute friction.

Heat treatment

Another way to ensure the joints on your wireline rods last is to seek heat treatment. Heat treatment binds the metal components together making the rods stronger. The stronger your rod ends/joints are, the better chance they'll have at resisting tractional forces. In simpler terms, they won't get damaged when aligned in a string under the ground. This is important as each rod will be pushing against the other, stressing the joints due to traction force.

Threading

The other sign you can look for to ensure your rods have proper joints is the threading. Proper threading is crucial to ensure your rods are well locked in place when in use. Quality threading should feature substantial grooves so that the interlocking rods can get proper grip. The threads should also have sharp edges to prevent slipping when in use. Poor threading can cause a string disconnect when drilling. This would interrupt the entire process and stall your operation.

As long as your rod joints have enough cohesion, you can be sure they'll hold no matter what rocky ground you're sinking them in. You'll also be able to reach the desired depth of your drill without problems. For more information, contact a business such as Afkos Industries.

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