Drilling Holes

[Skewer]

So I've been working on a couple of pepper mills. Boring the holes down endgrain can take a while for me, so I was digging around trying to figure out how to speed it up. I'm usually drilling a bit at a time on the lathe with a smaller forstner bit, then a larger one...and waiting for the bit to cool off when it gets hot. I'd say a large portion of the time it takes is cooling the bit off. When i get to the end, the bit exits and is wobbling around, as it doesn't come out in center - i imagine a good deal of heat (shaft is hot in addition to the cutting head) comes out of that rocking motion. In digging around, i found this article and thought it was worth sharing:

https://books.google.com/books?id=FtcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA138&lpg=PA138&dq=boring+end+grain&source=bl&ots=4HIaJSCqZV&sig=XcngZG5pyYeSs-Yov0PK5xBP-QE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8vOfVbqpJMf8yQTgzpvADg&ved=0CFcQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=boring%20end%20grain&f=false

The part about the spurred bits being more useful in cross grain is interesting. I'd also be interested if anyone has any insight regarding the flat cut head type auger bit versus the forstner for this kind of application.

 

[CREID]

I don't have the time to read the whole thing right now, but very interesting. I'm saving it for later to read more.
Curt

 

[monophoto]

Bendan Stemp is a professional turner in Australia who makes both pepper mills and flutes, so he's pretty expert in drilling long holes. He also has a number of YouTube videos.

In this video on drilling deep holes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrETz4RTyM, he mentions that he prefers drilling with an auger-style bit.

He also mentions using BLO as a lubricant when drilling deep holes.

 

[mecompco]

Haven't read the article yet, but I understand that spritzing the bit with water will help cool it down. I've noticed that even regular drill bits get hot by the time they get near the end of a pen blank.

 

[Hubert H]

I use a spritzing can with R. alcohol. It doesn't affect the wood and it cools the bit faster than water. I read this a few years ago on this site but don't know who put it on or I would give credit to them. Works great with Tru-stone when turning also.

 

[KenV]

The 1943 PM article is interesting -- but I have had good success with spur edged forstner style bits -- but have to keep them sharp. Dull bits wander

Really long holes are best done with "gun drill" bits.

Have been a few improvement in the last 70+ years.