Dymondwood

[loneeagle]

Need your suggestions. Have tried unsuccessfully to drill 8mm hole in Dymondwood blanks twice. Drill press low rpm. Clamped in PSI vice. Took it slow. Make matters worse I have to buy six blanks to get one requested by customer.

Mack

 

[dougle40]

Mack ,
Try speeding up the drill press and treat it like a metal rather than wood , backing the bit out quite frequently . I turn a lot of Dymondwood and this is how I do it .

 

[pen-turners]

Mack,
Ditto here. The enemy of Dymondwood is heat!! I drill at a fast speed and back my bit out every 1/8 inch or so. It takes along time to drill this way but have not had one blow out on me in over a year. Also, make sure you are using a sharp bit to hold down the heat on the blank. Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[Rudy Vey]

I also do a lot of Dymondwood: drill fast and use a drill bit that clears the chips pretty good, like a parabolic flute bit. Also, using this type of bit I back up a couple of times jus to be on the safe side.
Rudy

 

[cigarman]

Mack
Backing out and clearing the bit is the key but you also need to cut the blank about an eight of a inch longer to prevent blow outs.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Count on me to be different. I use slow speed, find fast builds too much heat too quickly to control. Can even overheat and ruin your drill bit. I used brad point bits. Back out frequently to clear chips and let bit cool. I clamp in a manner that holds the layers tightly, they can blow out. Much of the dymondwood I do is larger than pens and I bore 1/2" and 3/4" holes giving great opportunity for overheating and blowouts. I really don't like working with the stuff. But it can give interesting effects. As long as I have plenty of attractive real woods on hand, I stay away from plastic/plasticized stuff.

 

[KKingery]

I've not done any dymondwood, so I can't help you Mack - but I do appreciate everyones comments on this in case I do decide to do some!

 

[wayneis]

I do turn a lot of it and fast speed clearing and also squirting water in the hole helps to keep the heat down. I always use water with all of the dymond woods and acrylics and havn't had problems sense I started. With acrylics I drop the speed down though to the lowest that it will go and use water, filling the hole every time that I clear the bit.

Also at the suggestion of a pen turner that has much more experence than I, I bought a 29 piece set of Dewalt pilot point bits and can't believe the difference, they are great. Our Home Depot has them now for about fifty five dollars for a twenty nine bit set. I happened to get mine on ebay for less but had some trouble, had to return the first set but they have been worth all of the messing around and then some.

Wayne

 

[loneeagle]

Thank all of you for your input! Going home and try your suggestions with the ten remaining pieces. Will let you know.

Mack

 

[Gregory Huey]

Mack
I agree with cutting your blanks a little longer. I use a teflon type spray that I get from Woodcraft. (kind you spray on saw blades) and also use a parabolic bit and clear chips often.

 

[William Young]

I do like Wayne does. I use water . I have a glass dropper out of a dropper bottle. I put water in every time I pull the bit out and instead of chips coming out it is a slurry. If I see the slightest amount of steam I know it's time to withdraw and squirt in more water.
I broke the very first Dymondwood blank I tried by drilling it dry and since then I have used water and never had a problem.
W.Y.

 

[jwoodwright]

Speak of different, [:I] This is one of the reasons I kept the ShopSmith... Use it in Horzonital Drill Mode, adjust speed, use my favorite B&D Bullet Tip Bit, Clear Bit Often, Very light touch on Quill, looking for fine dust, rather than large chips...[]

In this pix, showing Corian, set-up to be drilled...[8D]

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