Thread: Drilling deep holes

You can get by without so deep a hole for junior kids, Steve.

I do a simple whistle with a 90mm by 3/8" deep hole - try a whistle with holes 120mm, 90mm, 75mm deep and see how that one goes.

To drill the deep holes, I use a spade bit and extender. Linesmen's bits also work well.

Cheers,

eddie

Also to extend the travel of the Drill Press, Drill to max depth, stop, ride the work back to the top, slide a block under the work. Drill a little deeper, etc till the depth is met. Remember that the bit will get hot because you are full of chips, You have to stop and empty the cavity between applications, also remember that because you are starting inside a hole, the bit may grab so for safety sake have the piece safely secured when you turn on the drill. It can be done but be careful.

You can also start the holes using the Drill Press to insure that they are straight and plumb/square, etc. Then deepen the holes with the spade bits & extension using a hand drill, moving it in and out to relieve the chips from the hole and drill to the desired depth while the Drill Press drilled holes will start them straight.

Sounds like a job for an old fashioned hand brace. You can easily accomplish this using a a hand brace and for a very small outlay.

Thanks for the replies and I will try your depth suggestions Eddie.

Steve

I bought 8mm and a 10mm diam x 400mm long drills from Bunnings a few years ago. Can't remember the price. Also you can get 300mm extension shafts for spade bits and gang them up to any length - the only problem is that they will only work with bits greater than about 12mm diam.
You do need a drill press with enough clearance between the chuck and the base plate to allow the drill to fit in the chuch but one way is to first drill a starter hole on the press and then use a long bit in a pistol drill to finish.

wot about holdin the whistle in a chuck on a laithe and putin a drill bit in other end turn laithe on and wind it in. i know it works with record laithes but not sure about other ones

Brian,
I would like to use the lathe but not sure how that would work. If I could hold the whistle in the tail stock some how, line it up for each hole and chuck up a bit in the head stock. I did read some where on the net that a guy used his lathe but I haven't figured it out yet.

Thanks for the reply,
Steve

i think forstner bits fit straight into the tail stock and if u had soft jaws in the chuck it could work theoreticly

Drill chuck in the tailstock works only for holes concentric with the lathe axis. To drill four holes, varying depth or not, you'll need an eccentric mount at the head stock, and for a longish piece probably a steady rest with another apparatus to maintain the eccentricity. And even then, balance could be a problem.

For significant production, I'd recommend Hickory's method. For onesy-twosy or perhaps a few more, Mark's suggestion of using a brace might be faster.

Another wrinkle about the drill press, though. If you don't have enough headroom to accommodate the blank and the auger, consult the assembly instructions for your drill press. Many of them have the upperworks secured to the column with grub screws. You can loosen them, and swing the business end around to use your bench, or even the floor, as the base. To secure the workpiece, swing the table next to the workpiece, introduce a cross member of wood or such and clamp everything together.

Joe

Originally Posted by markharrison

Sounds like a job for an old fashioned hand brace. You can easily accomplish this using a a hand brace and for a very small outlay.

My handbrace in the 50's cost me nearly a weeks wages

Originally Posted by Roll Tide

I would like to use the lathe but not sure how that would work. Steve

Mark the end of a square blank with the position of the holes.

Make a jig as shown in the attached picture. The back fence must be parallel with the lathe bed.
The centre of the lower left hole is at lathe centre.
Mount the drill bit in the headstock chuck.
With the lathe running, advance the blank into the drill bit until the required depth is reached.
Keep the hole free of chips. Withdraw the blank from the drill bit.
Rotate the blank 1/4 of a turn and repeat drilling the hole to the required depth.
Repeat for the other two holes.

Originally Posted by Sprog

Make a jig as shown in the attached picture.

Saved me some typing effort!

I've made something similar, except the table height is adjustable, as is the fence, to allow for more versatile hole positioning.

Also, mine has a stop block at the end of the fence so I can set the table and/or fence non-parallel to the lathe axis, clamp the piece in position and then slide the table along the ways to produce skewed or slanted holes, instead of just sliding the piece along the table.

Same general idea, though.

Good idea Sprog! Thanks! And I like the Sketchup drawing.

Excellent idea, Sprog! You probably intended it anyway, but I'd add a runner to the bottom, to ride in the slot on the lathe bed. Could be angled like Skew says, or maybe that's what he meant. Extend the bottom of the box fore and aft for convenient screwdriver access, with length of the runner to match.

Joe