Drilling Spectraply or Colorgrain Blanks

[mmayo]

Anyone else have any issues drilling these materials? I drilled 15 acrylic acetate, four leopard wood and four inlace blanks without issue rotating five Colt 7mm bits. Each time I tried a laminated wood I got an off center exit hole. Not bad, but not centered. All other materials had centered exit holes as expected and desired. The laminated pens turned out well, but I could have had a negative impact with a larger pen kit.

If you have a method, I'm all ears, or eyes or I want to know. Thanks

 

[TonyL]

My only experience is with the Spectraply. I have not had that experience, but I use very sharp and well-lubricated bits. I drill those on a press and I do take my time. You may do the exact same thing.

Maybe, if the SP's sides are not square or the drill base is not flat that the blank is resting on can cause a problem?

Because the wood seems to be soft, I don't drill them all of the way through sometimes and let the tube bottom-out within the inside of the blank.

I can't think of anything else...just grasping at straws.

I hope you find a solution.

 

[jttheclockman]

Have not had any problems drilling but always drill for tubes in the Sierra range and higher. The woods are glued with some sort of adhesive that I am not familiar with because it is put under pressure. I had ordered some sheets of this stuff and I am working on a project. Had to run through my drum sander and the glue clogged the paper quickly.

I mention the size of the drill because the thinner the bit the more it may want to wander being all the different layers of ply. Each layer the grain may be slightly different than the one above and below it .

I just got my order for bottlestopper blanks today but not had a chance to try those out yet. These blanks are cut pretty darn square from what I am seeing.

 

[Houtkop]

I have had this problem on a lot of my home made laminates. It mostly occured when the wood is laminated at an angle. The greater the difference in the density of the woods the greater the offset. Certain glues like Gorilla glue can also be 'hard'. A slight play on your spindle or chuck can also exaggerate the skewing. My solution has been to drill on the lathe.

 

[KenV]

Mark

It takes very sharp points and edges on the colt bits. Colt bits are not easy to sharpen without the gear that the tool and die folks use. I can use diamond hones to help, but never get back to new.

You may want to fall back to a conventional bit or use a new colt bit for difficult materials or segmented blanks.

Clean and wax the flutes to assure chips have the best chance of not accumilating near the cutting edges.

 

[rudya7]

You have 2 options for problem blanks. 1, cut the blank longer than needed and don't drill all the way through, just close. After you drill the hole close to the end of the blank, then trim to final length. This is a good option for acrylics that have the tendency to chip or blow out. 2. If you have your drilling setup aligned really close vertically and can hit dead center on the blank, drill halfway through, flip the blank over and finish drilling through the other end. This method is good if you have a really long blank, short drill bit, or a short throw drill press. If you don't have your drilling setup aligned well, it will result in a ridge in the middle of the blank where the drilling stopped from each end. This ridge will make it difficult to insert the tube if the offset is significant.

 

[qquake]

I've only drilled a couple of SpectraPly blanks, but haven't had any problems. They drilled like any other blanks. One of these is 8mm, and the other is 10mm.

 

[mmayo]

Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming.

I always drill pens, razors and seam ripper blanks on the lathe. Until I can afford a real drill press and replace my aging HF benchtop model, I will continue to use my lathe. I will try a non colt just to be sure, but the angled segments and harder glue reasoning seems to be spot on. With each layer of glue the bit probably wanders down slope and then starts though another layer of wood. The result is a bit off and am seeing. The damn blanks make pretty pen and they are cheap, nice combination if people with money buy them.

Thanks again do your time and intellect.

 

[leehljp]

There is a method for guaranteeing the exit point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAEEaF8z2jM

Another method is to make sure the blank is square on the head stock end and lock it into a chuck. Place the drill bit on the tail stock end.

 

[mmayo]

Hank

Thanks for that link. He does get what he wants every time with that method. If it seems safe and doesn't damage the softer color grain I'll try it.

 

[qquake]

There is a method for guaranteeing the exit point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAEEaF8z2jM

I've used this method for antler and corn cobs. It worked well for me, with those particular blanks, anyway.

 

[Skie_M]

Have not had any problems drilling but always drill for tubes in the Sierra range and higher. The woods are glued with some sort of adhesive that I am not familiar with because it is put under pressure. I had ordered some sheets of this stuff and I am working on a project. Had to run through my drum sander and the glue clogged the paper quickly.

I mention the size of the drill because the thinner the bit the more it may want to wander being all the different layers of ply. Each layer the grain may be slightly different than the one above and below it .

I just got my order for bottlestopper blanks today but not had a chance to try those out yet. These blanks are cut pretty darn square from what I am seeing.

The glue that is used on those is a pressure and heat setting glue, I think. It holds fairly well, but if the heat from your sander is melting the glue, it'll stick to the sander drum and attract sanding dust, resulting in your very fast clogging issue.

Another issue would be if the drill bit is either dull or warped or just being run too fast through the blanks .... if it heats up and gets the glue melted onto it, the glue could drag the bit on a skewed trail through the wood of the blank.


The video of drilling the antler blank seems to be an interesting way to fix much of the issues of drills going off center, if it works properly with slightly substandard equipment (like a mildly dull drill bit). I'm going to have to try that, next time I'm working on an antler blank.