HoratioHornblower
Member
Hello all, just a small trick that might help someone. Just my way of doing things, so you may have something better that you do. If so please share, I want to know!
This is what I do to resize the holes on my blanks after the tubes have been painted. I feed some steel wool onto a drill bit that I don't care about which is rotating at 500-1750 rpm. I use #1 grade for the first step, and usually I have the drill press go at a slower speed for this grade. I then run the blank up and down the steel wool that is on the bit until I am close to the size that I want. Then, I take another bit that I don't care about and feed some 0000 grade steel wool onto it. I then take out the scratches from the #1 grade and make sure the blank is to the size I want. There you go!
Some notes on what NOT to do! Don't have so much steel wool on the bit that when you slide the blank onto it that you have to force the blank much. This could drastically change the size of the end that is pointed up. Also, if you have the bit at higher speeds this effect will be more pronounced. The wool should be fairly tight in the blank, but not too tight! Practice for this one more than anything. Another thing to consider is if you cut your tubes to the exact length and then use this method you have a much higher chance of ruining your blank than if you have some extra. For the finer grade steel wool I would use a higher speed, but again make sure that there is not too much wool on the bit! I hope this helps someone.
Sincerely,
David
This is what I do to resize the holes on my blanks after the tubes have been painted. I feed some steel wool onto a drill bit that I don't care about which is rotating at 500-1750 rpm. I use #1 grade for the first step, and usually I have the drill press go at a slower speed for this grade. I then run the blank up and down the steel wool that is on the bit until I am close to the size that I want. Then, I take another bit that I don't care about and feed some 0000 grade steel wool onto it. I then take out the scratches from the #1 grade and make sure the blank is to the size I want. There you go!
Some notes on what NOT to do! Don't have so much steel wool on the bit that when you slide the blank onto it that you have to force the blank much. This could drastically change the size of the end that is pointed up. Also, if you have the bit at higher speeds this effect will be more pronounced. The wool should be fairly tight in the blank, but not too tight! Practice for this one more than anything. Another thing to consider is if you cut your tubes to the exact length and then use this method you have a much higher chance of ruining your blank than if you have some extra. For the finer grade steel wool I would use a higher speed, but again make sure that there is not too much wool on the bit! I hope this helps someone.
Sincerely,
David