Where to find longer drills

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
D

dennisg

Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
314
Location
Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
I would like to buy a couple longer drill bits for one piece pens.Somewhere I've seen a thread on this topic. Please tell me what they are called or where to get them. I would like a 7 mm and a 10 mm. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
dennisg said:
I would like to buy a couple longer drill bits for one piece pens.Somewhere I've seen a thread on this topic. Please tell me what they are called or where to get them. I would like a 7 mm and a 10 mm. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...

Check out MSC. They have both 6" and 12" long aircraft drill bits in any size you could want!

http://www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/nnsrhm
 
Colt 5 Star

Dennis,
The Colt 5 Star are longer than the other bits currently provided and they drill so much smoother and with a lot less tear-out. I am almost positive they will drill completely through a standard lenght blank. They are a bit more pricey but worth every penny. And you guessed it you can get them local.:biggrin: Just my 2 cents.
Mike H.
 
I'm looking to go the other way .. shorter drill bits for metals.
Any recommendation for drilling steel? The long ones flex too much in
the tailstock.. Should I be looking for a certain material for these
bits?
 
NewLondon88 said:
I'm looking to go the other way .. shorter drill bits for metals.
Any recommendation for drilling steel? The long ones flex too much in
the tailstock.. Should I be looking for a certain material for these
bits?
Click to expand...

Jack; There are stubby bits or screw length bits. There are also spotting and countersink bits. When drilling in steel, you always want to start with a spotting bit. It is a bad idea to drill the hole in one go into steel. Good technique is to drill in steps up to the final size.

Bits made for steel and hard materials as opposed to "general purpose" bits have a different "grind" on the cutting flutes. Often there is a 90º part on the end of the to keep the bit from "digging in".

If you are getting flex while drilling, it may be that the tail stock and headstock aren't in alignment. The harder material you are drilling, the more misalignment will cause problems. Been there, done that, replaced the chuck with a genuine Jacobs chuck.
 
Rifleman1776 said:
Break them off then resharpen. Wear eye protection when doing the breaking. Most twist bits are designed for steel.
Click to expand...

Frank; I have done that. Cut off at approximate angle with an angle grinder and thin cutting blade. Rough shape on a wheel grinder, and finish with a Drill Doctor.

Oh; One last thing. Drill bits have a larger cross section closer to the shank.
 
I was thinking of shortening them, but wasn't sure if I should. I've got
two sets of Enco lettered bits (ordered one, found another set two weeks
later at a yard sale for $1 ) Have the drill doctor.. also have the RotoZipFromHell..

I just wasn't sure the material was suited to steel. They're fine on brass.

I've aligned the tailstock, seems fine. Chucked an awl point in a (genuine)
Jacobs chuck and moved that into a faced piece of aluminum to check the scratch
pattern to see if it was centered. (took some finagling to get the tailstock aligned)

I do use the centering bit and step up. But that first bit wants to grab and wobble.
Even worse on copper.
 
NewLondon88 said:
I do use the centering bit and step up. But that first bit wants to grab and wobble.
Even worse on copper.
Click to expand...


Try using a spot drill instead of a center drill. For copper or brass, stoning a flat on the normally sharp cutting edge will greatly reduce the tendency to grab.
 

Attachments

  • spot_drill.jpg
    spot_drill.jpg
    7.5 KB · Views: 160
Yeah.. I do split point on all the bits when I sharpen them. I was going to cut
down a few this afternoon, but I seem to have trashed everything I touched, so
I tried to stay away from any dangerous tools. It was just one of THOSE days..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom