Dymondwood help

[cwasil]

I just built several dymondwood pens and had some problems with the prep work. The turning and finishing of these pens was a breeze but the drilling and barrel trimming was very difficult. I now have several very nice, colorful pieces of firewood. I was trying slimline pens and drilling this wood with a 7mm bradpoint drill was a real treat. I'd dwell right at the beginning for about 5-10 seconds basically using it as a center drill and, even though my cuts were only 1/32"-1/16" deep, it would still walk on me. I'd start off on one side dead center and by the time the drill came out the other side there couldn't have been more the 3/16" wall thickness.

My other problem was barrel trimming. I seems that almost any kind of force would cause the laminates to pull about, causing this operation to take quite some time. I was thinking about sanding the ends down to about 1/8" from the tubes and then using the tedious process of barrel trimming. Any suggestions on both these items and problems.

 

[Rudy Vey]

This are the two biggest problems with Dymondwood. I drill with a pilot drill bit, and I drill with high speed, over 1300 rpm. Clear often the chips out. Due to the nagled laminations the bit tends to wander off the direction. Do not use a barrel trimmer, I use a disc sander to square the ends. When starting turning, I also round over the ends first to avoid break-outs.
Rudy[]

 

[Doghouse]

The higher speed the better. I have not had the drilling problem. Sometimes putting the barrel trimmer in the drill press and lightly touching it to the blank will help. CA to close the end grain makes a difference.

 

[wdcav1952]

Wet drilling and wet sanding help with Diamondwood. Use a dispenser bottle to drop a few drops of water into the drill hole. You should be getting a "muddy" slurry out of the hole. This helps prevent over-heating which leads to cracking and off-center drilling.

William

 

[baldysm]

I have not had a problem with wandering drills in dymondwood. I have had a problem with the dymondwood splitting.

 

[Bev Polmanteer]

I use the drilling center jig and have not had a problem with the bit wandering at all, since the jig won't let it move.

 

[tipusnr]

Turned my first piece of dymondwood this week and made two pens and a toothpick holder from it. Didn't notice any real difference to it though I was aware that is a laminate material so took light cuts in turning it. Only strange thing was that while all three items were cut from the same piece of wood and finished in the same manner the slimline pen never really took a shine like the other two did. Real head scratcher there.

 

[cwasil]

Thank you all for the input. After this and reading some other articles I'm going to try a few new things. First, I have no idea how you guys "didn't" get the walking like I did. As soon as my drill hit the wood you could see a slight bow in the drill. Anyway, I'm going to try a HSS jobber bit that is a little shorter in length. I see no reason to have a 4" flute length like POC sent me so I'm going to use something a bit smaller. If it still walks on me I'll try Bev's idea of a drill bushing. I'm far to lazy to design tooling away from work but if it helps with blowouts I'll give it a try. I'm also going to use water in the drilling method to keep the drill cool.

I don't have a disc sander so I'm going to try the method of sanding the ends of the blank, with a belt grinder or something similar, down to around 1/8" away from the inside barrel. I'll then, slowly, cut the rest of the way to the barrel with a barrel trimmer. I'll let you know what happens so this can be of use to a newbie in the future. Thanks again

 

[Guest]

I suggest the CA on the end to stop tear out,and if you have a bandsaw,look at the article section and make the bandsaw sled.
I have found if you have a lot to "trim" off it is less aggressive to cut up to the tube and then "mill" it.
As far as the bit wandering goes.Even with a jig, the bit will want to follow the grain.
I realize Dymaond wood is dyed Plywood so you don't have a actual grain but I have had the same problems when I drill into Brazilian walnut I have cut on the bias./
After you drill the initial hole it might help to reverse the blank and run the bit through it again.
If you are not using some kind of clamping jig (free hand) you will have better luck if you use a jig.

 

[wayneis]

To get a brad point bit to walk as you describe, you probably have a dull point and or the end of the blank that you are drilling into is not square. Did you perhaps drop the bit or do something to dull the point? It doesn't make sense.

 

[cwasil]

Nope, never dropped it. The drill was brand new out of the box. That doesn't necessarily mean it was sharp to begin with but it should have been since most people don't have the tools or the knowledge on sharpening these special points.

The ends of the blanks we at least pretty square. I doubt I cut them 10 degrees off.

 

[wayneis]

Well how sharp is the point? It should be extremely sharp and if not then you probably have a defective bit. My brad points will draw blood if I poke myself. It really sound to me that you have a rounded point.

Wayne

 

[William Young]

I have never tried Dymondwood yet but I oedered ten blanks just yesteday just to try it out and see how it goes. All the info in this thread should get me off to a good start.
I was told by another pen maker that the Dyamondwood pens are selling ten to one over the other wood ones. Does this sound like a localized area situation or does it happen in lots of areas. I would be interested in knowing the proportion ratio in other areas from some of you that have made quite a few of them. Of course I wont know for my particular location until I get some out there.

W.Y.

 

[DCBluesman]

Check this post out, Bill...in case you and your customer like the stuff. (I think it was sent while you were on holiday.

 

[cwasil]

I just thought I'd follow up with my findings for people that may have the same problems I did. I did my next batch with a HHS drill jobber type. This eliminated the "walking" around that the brad point cobalt drill (sent by POC) was doing. I had no real way of solving the barrel trimming problem I had since I don't have a grinder at my disposal but I seemed to have cut down the problem significantly by cutting the blanks close to the length of the tube going in them. My words of wisdom, when working with dymondwood, is to use a HSS or carbide jobber drill and drill slowly using water as a cooling agent.

 

[knottyharry]

I use a carbide drill bit. I do have a centering jig and that helps also. I don't drill very much at a time, and I clear it often.
But I have never had one blow out from drilling. I don't use water or anything I just make sure the flutes are cleaned out often.
Good luck
Harry

 

[txbob]

One more suggestion: to prevent the end of the blank blowing out as you drill through the bottom end, don't drill through the bottom end. Instead cut the blank long, drill a hole deep enough for the brass tube plus an extra 1/4 inch or so. Then stop drilling. Cut the blank to length, exposing the drilled hole.
Bob S.

 

[dougle40]

I don't know how I missed this thread before , but I've done about 100 pens with dymondwood and never experienced these problems . As you can see from the attached picture , I buy all my dymondwood as straight grain wood and then cut and glue them up for a diagonal pattern and I've never blown one out or gone off center by any more than , maybe 1/16" , I do use a V-block to hold the material while drilling and I use a speed of 1100 rpm , treating it the same as steel with plenty of backouts to remove the accumulated dust . The bit is a HSS bit . I always start the bit by using a 1/8" brad point bit , in a hand held drill , drilled to a depth of about 1/16" for a lead , to stop the bit from wandering at the start . I do use a barrel trimer in a hand held drill to square up the ends but it MUST be sharp . I always have to watch myself in using it right after sharpening because it cuts like crazy .

<br />

<br />I don't use water or any kind of coolant to cool the bit nor do I wet sand , although I do use wet-dry paper ,and my results have been great as you can see from the pic of the pen & pencil set .
I hope that this is of some help to those who are experiencing any problem with Dymondwood .