Drilling Dymondwood

[Stephen]

I drilled some acrylic blanks today and used water that helped to keep the drill bit cool and was able to drill fast and smooth. I wish to try on Dymonwood but not sure if it will ruin the blank. Has anyone tried with water and was it succeful?
Grateful for information please.
Stephen

 

[brez]

Stephen,

Hopefuly someone will have some experience to report. If not please report back if you give it a try. I have had problems drilling Dymondwood and am interested in what you find out.

Mike

 

[Rifleman1776]

The first rule in using Dymondwood is: don't. My experience is that this is not a durable product and is subject to delaminating at the most inconvenient times. (read that: expensive times) I have had it delaminate months after the fact while the finished item was in storage and not even being handled or subject to high/low temps. Recommend finding something else to spend your time/money on.

 

[Termite1964]

I have not had the same trouble as Frank. I have Dymondwood pens I made 3 years ago with no problems with delamination. One, a Cigar pen has been on display at a Woodcraft store for sever years and has been handled regularly. When I drill Dymondwood, I cut the blanks in half leaving extra room at each end. I drill a stop hole on each blank from the center out. I then take it to the bandsaw and cut cut the blank to size cutting into the hole cavity that was previously drilled leaving extra room on each end to mill to the correct size. I drill at approximately 500 RPM. I also use this method on acrylics and woods prone to busting when drilling. This method works great for me maybe I have just been lucky.

Bill

 

[kent4Him]

I have used water and it works fine. You end up with a gloppy mess, but at least you don't have the dust everywhere. I let them sit for a while to let them dry out before proceeding.

 

[Marc Phillips]

I use air... I have one of those air nozzles that have a magnetic mount, and it has a small valve on it... I fire up the compressor, and adjust the nozzle so it points into the hole being drilled and open the valve a little and this really keeps the drillings out and the bit cool...

I don't have any real problems at all with Dymondwood.... Desert Ironwood is a different story.

 

[Stephen]

Thanks for the responses.
I have been lucky with 30 Dymondwood blanks on kits that have a thicker barrels. No cracking or blowouts. However, I had one fly off
the lathe and I think I was too aggressiv with a not so sharp skew. I use the same method as Bill for drilling all my blanks. I also draw out the bit after every 1/4 inch or so of drilling, and use an air blower to cool the bit and blank but the process is long. After trying water on acrylic and reading Chri's post, I am going to go with water when I receive my next batch of Dymondwood to be delivered soon. 60x2 blanks!!!![?]

 

[Monty]

I've used water to cool mine in the past with no problems. As Chris said, let dry after.

 

[1JaredSchmidt]

I've never had a problem with it. I just drill it like I usually drill wood. Just a little lighter touch.