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Long drill bits

yorkshireman

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I'm going to have a stab at making a wooden irish whistle. This will involve drilling a 12mm hole about 300mm deep on the lathe. Any tips on this and where is the best place to get the drill bits from.

keith
 

turnaround360

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Never done anything like this, but if I was going to I would drill the hole on a thick piece of stock so that if the drill wonders you can still turn down to a tube between centers just my first thoughts Frankie.
 

Woody

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It would probably be better done with a long hole boring kit but it would be expensive probably to expensive for a one off
 

yorkshireman

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I'm thinking that the best way to do it would be to turn a piece of cherry - I've got loads of it - down to about 50mm then hold one end in the O'Donnell jaws and use a long drill bit to drill the 12mm hole. Then remount between centres and turn down to about 18mm.
 

yorkshireman

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Thanks for that Neil I'll give them a close look.
Is one type of drill bit better then others for keeping on line?

keith
 

Woody

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Whatever method you use Keith you will need to withdraw the drill every inch or so to clear the shavings or the drill will go all over the place and you will end up with a whopping great hole after a few inches and maybe even a bent drill bit
 

Neil

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I used the drill bit from wealden to drill a bore down the centre of a lamp stand that was about 350mm tall and it did it fine. As Woody says, very slowly does it, withdraw frequently and it'll be worth drilling a piolt hole with an 8mm or thereabouts to start it off and get as deep with that as you can before resorting to the hand held drill. Turn a handle for the long drill and use the tool rest as a steady as you insert the drill. Speed, about 600 for starters and increase as you see fit and are able to hang on!
 

Jim

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Let us know how it goes Keith ... :winking:

I have bout 4 of these around the house, all in different keys but i can't play a note on either ... :sob:
 
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