Bits ‘n Pieces – The Driller’s Blog

When drillers need to take a break, many of us like to go out into nature. What better way to relax and enjoy the great outdoors than to do some fishing... salmon fishing in particular. Salmon fishing is the best way to get really fresh salmon that you can eat at home right away or smoke and use later. Salmon thrive in both fresh water and saltwater and can be found on the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They are one of the most popular game fish and very popular for eating. So let’s learn more about salmon fishing with tips for both novice and veteran fishermen.

It's the beginning of August and an excellent time to announce a contest for Canadian drillers that runs for this entire month. It’s not often we get a contest that challenges our drilling ability but Fordia is launching one in honour of their 40th anniversary. We’re calling it the “Beat the Heat” contest.

I’ve got a new product to announce for our friends in geotechnical drilling: the GT8 rig from Versadrill. We recently got to try out this new hydraulic, geotechnical drill rig on our premises and shot a video so we could give you all a first-hand view of what it looks like, how it operates and what it can do.

Core recovery, and how to improve it, is a topic that comes up often in a discussion with field technicians. This is not surprising, since it is the purpose of diamond drilling and every driller and drilling company wants to be efficient and cost effective when drilling. There are several tips that can help you improve your core recovery.

In the northern hemisphere, summer has arrived and that means a lot of people will be heading to the great outdoors, and most drillers I know love the great outdoors. Over the last few months we have published blogs with top skills diamond drillers should have mastered - skills that were not drilling related but covered a lot of ground, including some outdoor skills. We are now following up with a list of skills that focus more on wilderness and survival skills (and some that are just plain handy) in the hope that when you’re spending time in nature, you’ll be confident and safe.

When I speak to customers, I often talk about the importance of quality control when manufacturing drilling equipment. When you are paying good money for core bits and drill rods you want to make sure they last long, and provide the performance you are expecting.

Over this year we have done a few blogs on matrix troubleshooting where we have examined the different wear patterns on a bit crown. The wear profile provides clues as to why your core bit may be underperforming. By changing drilling parameters or making other simple changes, you may be able to improve drilling performance. Not long ago, one of our blog subscribers mentioned having problems with gauge loss on the outer diameter. Let’s look at some of the causes and some of the solutions.

All work and no play is no fun for anyone, including diamond drillers. With warm weather arriving (at least in the norther hemisphere), I thought we’d look at activities that drillers who like the outdoors might enjoy and geocaching is gaining popularity.

In this blog, our last installment on handling core bits, we look at problems that can happen at the bottom of the bore hole when you’re adding or changing a new core bit. I always say that choosing the right core bit and bit configuration is one of the most important decisions you have to make to ensure you get the best drilling performance. You also need to make sure you handle them properly so that they get to the drill the ground they were chosen for.

Last week we looked at how experienced diamond drillers can get the best performance and longest life from their drilling equipment by avoiding common pitfalls in handling core bits. Often, core bits get damaged before they’re even used. You take the time to choose the right bit and the best configuration, so you want to get the longest bit life possible. Last week we looked at some problems that can happen above ground – this week we’ll examine common problems that happen all the way down, when you’re adding or changing a new core bit.