Thread: boring long holes

Most long hole boring tools will only go about 400mm so need to be drill from both ends and hopefully you meet somewhere in the middle. and suitable for lamp wire only 3/8"
Another option is to have a junction box at the base somewhere and run the 2 wires to the lamp

For the size you require you will need to use a forstner bit or spade bit with a lot of moving in and out to clear the swarf.

the other option is to have a split turning and rout a groove in the middle and then glue together then turn the peice.

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

run the 2 wires to the lamp
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Problem is that it is a 3 rocker switch, two on 2-way switching, so there are 5 wires, so 28mm is probably the smallest that will fit them.

I had thought of getting some 30mm steel bar and as I also have a metal lathe, machine it down to say 27mm and with a MT3 taper on one end, bore a hole in the other end of it and fit in a forstner bit, and make it all long enough to do the distance. By leaving the forstner bit protruding 100mm beyond the bar, that space will catch the swarf, and as you say, remove often to empty it. By making the bar almost the same diameter, there hopefully will be little opportunity to wander off at a tangent. Just an idea, perhaps good in theory

If you are laminating the post glue it together with a void in the center section by cutting the center lamination into two pieces. then space the center with a channel from end to end. or if you feel you must drill kerf the center lamination before assembly and then the drill will follow the path of least resistance.

28mm is a pretty big hole. How thick are the wires? If 5 wires really fill a 28mm diameter hole, it sounds like the wire size might be overkill.
If the current is to be no more than 10A, 5 wires the same thickness as those in a heavy-duty insulated extension lead would be fine, and certainly fit in a much smaller diameter than 28mm.

Just the same, as mentioned, laminating the blank together with the hole already through the centre is definitely the way to go for larger holes, either by routing the halves or by using two narrow strips at the centre with a gap in between, sandwiched between wider boards.
Much easier than trying to bore a large-diameter long-hole.

Originally Posted by Hermit

5 wires the same thickness as those in a heavy-duty insulated extension lead would be fine, and certainly fit in a much smaller diameter than 28mm.
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There are 3 x 1mm twin and earth, and 2 x 1mm twins. I could probably get them into a 25mm hole, I was just tying to make it easier to pull through. Laminating two pieces with a routed groove may ultimately be what I have to do, but I just happen to have a 100 x 100 piece of oregon laying around

Ah, 5 x 2/3-core cables. That's a lot of wire. 13 wires really.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/showth...ghlight=boring

Originally Posted by Blarney

https://www.woodworkforums.com/showth...ghlight=boring

does it again.

Thanks for the link, Blarney, that was a good read.

jabell
The homemade extension you are talking about building would be limited by the travel of your tailstock quill.
Ted

I have long hole drills I use for lamps and a re-grinded spade bit to about 45 degrees, works really well on end grain. Mr Hatfield our tafe Teacher showed us how.
So you could pre bore in the lathe then open it up with a special spade bit and extension bars. But like the others said about laminating with hole.
Going to be an expensive post when it's finished!

Originally Posted by turnerted

jabell
The homemade extension you are talking about building would be limited by the travel of your tailstock quill.
Ted

Yes it will be. Would have to stop every 50mm to reverse out and empty the shavings.

Originally Posted by chuck1

Going to be an expensive post when it's finished!

Yes, well. its one of those jobs I never finished, um, er, 20 years ago!

So its gotta be done, one way or the other. It was a good idea at the time, running 3 lots of 2 way switching up a newel post so that it would be easy to turn on the lights when I got to the top. Except not hugely easy to actually make

65 mm dia with a 28 mm dia hole = a tube with a 19 mm wall thickness. For a newel post that is probably getting a bit thin given the leverage a newel post suffers.

I would be inclined to rip the newel post blank down the middle, use a router with a core box router bit to cut the two halves of the hole, laminate the two blank halves back together again and machine back to a square blank. Absolutely no worries about long hole boring not meeting in the center etc.

Bah. I thought this discussion was about the Gunsan Country Club golf course in Korea which has a 1007m, par 7.

Geddit?...boring, long holes...

*sigh* Shuttup Redders Hehehe