Drill Rods?

[Dunnie61]

Hey, I'm getting ready to drill out my ramrod hole and need to find a 48" water hardening drill rod to make a gun drill. I'd like to have it .4065 diameter for a 3/8" ramrod. Everywhere I looked they only had 3' lengths of the rod. I don't want to pay $$$. for a ready made drill when I can mill and grind it myself for a lot less. Tom

 

[CZMark]

I used a 13/32" drill bit and welded it to a piece of 3/8" steel rod. I beveled the ends to insure penetration, laid the bit into a piece of angle iron, put in a couple 1/64" shims, laid in the rod (this insures proper alignment) and tacked the together, then I removed from the angle and welded.

 

[Denny/Oh]

Yuo could use a twist drill or single lip drill {.406=13/32"}.

I usually us a a drill turned on the end to fit a cold rolled rod with a similar hole in it. Then silver solder or even soft solder them together. The drill can be replaced if neccesary.

 

[LRB]

Add a 1' extension to the main rod. It would need to be aligned close, but not necessarily perfect that far up, and could be just hard silver soldered with a lap joint, and two 1/16" pins for extra strength. I don't know about others, but I had good luck with just turning the bit end to a point, then fileing a few inches of the rod halfway down, becoming the cutter. In my experience this does not try to wander as a common spiral fluted drill bit will. You drill a little, then remove and clear chips and dust, but it made a very clean hole for me. I just used common cold roll, but only made it for a one time use. I guess one could Kasenite it, and it could be used more than once.

 

[dloud]

I finished drilling my ramrod hole today,I made the drill bit from a 48" rod from Lowes, I guess that it is cold rolled. I filed a couple inches of spiral flutes with a round file and shaped the tip like a hi-speed drill. It cuts slow and needs the chips removed every 3/8" or so but it doesn't wander off. I bored a couple of test holes in a scrap board set up with guides to make sure it tracked properly. I thought about using Kasenite to harden it but tried the scrap test first and it has bored 3 holes 12" deep without needing more than touching up the point. It might be hard to find the size you want, but a 3/8 hole and a slightly tapered ramrod might work.

Dave

 

[rich pierce]

you qualify as a gunshop stud, doing it like that. make do with what you can get cheap. i like it. :bow:

 

[Bubba45]

I just took a brad point bit , turned the shank down to 3/16" for 1/2", and then drilled a hole in the cold rolled extention rod and silver soldered together. The brad point seems to help pilot and works good. I clear chips every inch and lube with beeswax.

 

[Dunnie61]

I thought this would not be much of a problem. I've made plenty of gun drills to drill out long pipe stems (I make tobacco pipes from time to time). Enco had the drill rod cheap but their website won't let me create a new account because I still have one there but have long forgotten the password. It took several hours of non barrel inletting time to attempt to work it out so I'm giving up and spending the few extra bucks for a ready made drill from Track of the Wolf. What a pain. This should be fun. Tom

 

[billd]

I use the brad point too. I soft solder it to to the drill rod and then pinned it. I don't have a hot enough torch to silver solder. I used a 3/8 drill and sanded the ramrod to fit. Go slow and clear the chips frequently, every 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Be careful with wax or any lube in case it gets on the stock. Your stain won't penetrate.

Bill

 

[renovato]

Before you give up, check Brownells. I know they sell drill rod, but I don't know if it's long enough for you.