Creating the mold for a fixed-cutter drill bit is no simple matter – it is an artistic process, sculpted by hand and crafted to a fine edge. It starts as a heavy chunk of graphite. The graphite is machined to spec to form the main body of the mold. A team of designers then fixes a precise array of sand cylinders, or “displacements,” onto the inside of the mold using clay, smoothing out the edges manually.

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