Drilling started over two thousand years ago in ancient China with a pulley system that had a rate of penetration of approximately 2 feet per day. Creating a wellbore could take as long as 3 years. They used oxen to rotate bamboos underground to make their own version of coil tubing.
Currently, drills can have a penetration rate of up to 50 feet an hour. What we can do in 1 hour with a drilling rig took our ancestor’s nearly a full month. The technological advancements in drilling really have come a long way. We’re now able to get large quantities of oil to power vehicles and many machines needed for the daily industrial and civilian life.
Basically, drilling is not getting a giant sharp drill like object and powering it through the ground. When seen at basic level, yes, drilling is more or less a simple concept to understand. But to actually drill? Not really. Effective and safe drilling requires an extraordinary amount of knowledge and data. The corrosion rate of pipes & other possible inevitable defects must be prepared and calculated for. How much will a pipe buckle at what point and how it will buckle are just two of the many issues that must be appropriately dealt with through a great deal of calculation.
With all these issues to look at, it can be assumed that there’s is no room for error. However, there’s room for error, but only to a certain point. Once the pipes break or if the drilling rig malfunctions, it costs a lot to replace the parts and materials & resume the operation. It may seem simple, but drilling requires a lot more than it seems so think twice before you pass off drilling as mundane.
So the materials been worked with, cut, machined, and it’s been through so many other various processes. You have nice shiny fabricated product. Too bad it’s not going to last long. That is, unless you use the proper coating. Though it’s uncommon, overlooking coating on metal products still occurs. What people outside the industry needs to know is that yes, the product has been created, but no, you can’t run off with it just yet. Every product needs to be last a good long time, otherwise it’ll be worth significantly less. This is achieved through a coating process. Typically, a well applied layer of industrial paint will prevent the usual corrosion. However, for longer lasting effects, industrial galvanizing and powder coating can be used. Galvanizing and powder coating lasts much longer and works much better as well. The reason for this is because the galvanizing and powder coating process essentially fuses the protective coating with the material on the surface. Keep in mind that some materials such as aluminum don’t necessarily require coating to be corrosion resistant because they already naturally are. In fact, the rust and corrosion that occurs is what’s turned into the protective coating that prevents further corrosion on materials such as aluminum. Be careful how you coat your products because it may or may not be the best way to do it.
When you hear about sawing, not much comes to mind except, well, a saw. It’s a fairly basic process that’s used often enough to where everyone knows of it, but not enough to where everyone really knows much about it. One would think that sawing’s just sawing. That’s what it is and that’s just how it’s gonna be. Contrary to popular belief, sawing’s not just a handle attached to a sharped jagged blade. Yes it’s quite true, sawing can be sophisticated and be used for more than cutting wood and killing off people in horror movies. All jokes aside, sawing really has evolved over the years since its inception. Nowadays, there are mechanical saws such as the radial arm and electric miter saw that can do much more than just cut wood. Cutting through pure rock and steel is entirely possible now. Of course if you’re in the industry, this isn’t news, but for many people outside of the industry, it may come as a shock when you tell them that giant mechanical piece of a machine is a saw. Yes that is a saw and it is cutting through many inches of steel.
