Thread: Long hole boring

One method if you only want the odd one and don't want to buy the equipment is as follows.

1:Rip the raw stock down the center.
2:With a router cut a hole lengthwise.
3.Glue back together.
4.Turn as usual.

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Some days I turns thisaway, somedays I turns thataway and other days I don't turn at all.

Gooday.

As Tim has hinted at you should do the hole first.

There are a few reasons for this
1: you use the hole to hold the centres and the hole is in the centre. Nothing looks worse than an off centre hole (no rude comments either, you lot)

2: if you muck up the hole I.E. the auger pokes out the side you hven't wasted your time turning it.

It is very hard to drill a hole after the fact.

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Ian () Robertson
"We do good turns every day"

I've heard mention in the past about Off Center Turning.

But never heard of an Off Center Long Hole.

More information please, maybe a photo?

It just goes to show the broad (and deep) wealth of knowlege that some of our contributors have.

I still learn somthing every time I log on.

See you at SATURN.

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Some days I turns thisaway, somedays I turns thataway and other days I don't turn at all.

Hi Ern and guys,

You might want to take a look at this site maybe to make yourseld a D-Bit Drill...
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5701/...ipes/tools.htm

HTH!
Jean

Thanks Jean-Michel. A really useful source.

Does anyone know what silver steel is referred to down under?

Ern

This type of drill bit is referred to in the
metalworking trade as a 'trepanning tool',mostly used for drilling long holes in soft metals eg brass,etc, don't know if it would work on timber because of the flex aspect.I don't know if you can buy the type of steel needed in non commercial quantities or lengths,you would need at least 8mm thickness for light flex to go through the lamp. Any metal experts out there ?

Ern,
I aint no metal expert but this may do the trick.
I am not sure how it is called in English but there is some tempered steel that we call "Piano String" in French, what it is really is spring steel. You generally can buy that by the meter in hobby shops that sell supplies for model aircrafts, it generally comes in diameters from 0.5mm to 8mm.
Of course being tempered you cant work it with a file, you will need to do the shape with a grinder as this stuff is strong like hell.

I have made drills like that in the past and the problem you may have is that when you are like 10cm in the hole in the timber your drill may get stuck in, to avoid that you can flatten the head slightly with a hammer on an anvil before you shape it so its diameter is slightly larger than the rest of the rod. Unfortunately once you have altered its diameter you cant use the D profile anymore, I use a profile like (-) (top view)
but that is not as precises as the D profile described by Mike Nelson.
Perhaps the best would be to start with the D profile and if it gets stuck use the other method.

Good luck.

Jack

Originally posted by rsser:
Hi folks,

I've turned a table lamp stand out of a nice piece of cedar wattle, and now need to figure out a way of boring a hole for the flex.

One issue is cost: I can't afford a $70 auger, so has anyone any experience with a workaround?

The other issue is the tailstock: do you need a hollow cup centre, or is there a workaround here too.

thanks in advance,

Ern

Originally posted by rsser:
Hi folks,

I've turned a table lamp stand out of a nice piece of cedar wattle, and now need to figure out a way of boring a hole for the flex.

One issue is cost: I can't afford a $70 auger, so has anyone any experience with a workaround?

The other issue is the tailstock: do you need a hollow cup centre, or is there a workaround here too.

thanks in advance,

Ern

YOU COULD TRY WELDING A STEEL ROD TO A DRILL BIT I HAVE DONE THIS MANY TIMES TO RUN CABLES DOWN WALLS HOPE THIS IS OF SOME HELP NEIL

By the time you muck around with all of these other ideas and get all the bits and peices and get it welded it would be a lot easier to give me a call spend your $70 and get on with the job

Does anyone know what silver steel is referred to down under?

Ern[/B][/QUOTE]

G'Day RSSER,
This might help

Silver Steel: 99% Fe, 1% C#.

Silver steel is a very hard material and therefore has good wear resisting properties. It is difficult to machine and hard to file, but is used almost exclusively for axles and other rotating parts. When heated to red heat and then quenched quickly in oil or water, it becomes so hard that it cannot be machined or filed. Thus, in its hardened state, it can be used for form tools or other hand-made cutting tools.

Catchya
Count

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CountTFit

In Australia.... I have purchased silver steel from Blackwoods. Comes in various sizes. Would be easier to spend $70 bucks though )