Has anyone made a long drill bit

[Gustavo Hoefs]

Has any made a long drill bit or are there any previous discussions on making a long bit to bore ram rod holes into rifle and pistol stocks ? I have an idea that I can make a long bit by useing a lathe to bore 1/4" hole into one end of a 3/8" steel rod and lock a 3/8" bit with a 1/4" shank into the end. I realize i will need to be careful as the chips won't exit and it may take some time to drill deep holes this way

 

[Crewdawg445]

Here's what I do when a bit is needed, easy and it works... drill rod and bit, whatever size you want and tack weld the bit to the rod. Easy, no need to overthink it.

I also square everything up with my machinist squares. Quick and effective! :thumbsup:

Let me add you'll want to grind the welds down a bit obviously. I've got one set up for 3/8" and 5/16 rods. Both work great, actually just drilled a ramrod hole last week. I drill slow and steady, never experienced runout or any negative mishaps.

I do like your idea... any time I can bring the lathe to life I'm all for it!!! :thumbsup:

 

[eggwelder]

i ground a bevel around the base of my bit and the tip of my extension rod. i clamped them in a piece of angle iron, and welded, filling the beveled area with weld. rotate a couple of times, file or grind as needed to keep it square. too simple for those without lathes.

 

[Vaino]

That's exactly the way I made both my RR drills....but both the drill and drill rod have a small chamfers and are hi temp silver soldered together and filed smooth. Doing it this way yields perfect alignment. The other end has a straight length of an Allen wrench pressed into a drilled hole and hi temp silver soldered. Fits into the chuck of a brace.

The drill point I use is a flat bottom and it doesn't wander...cuts similar to an end mill....Fred

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Try a brad point bit. It won't wander in the hole as it is being drilled. :hmm:

 

[Vaino]

A brad point will work as well as a flat bottom but is much more difficult to sharpen...a flat bottom drill point is the easiest to grind.....Fred

 

[galamb]

I took a ship builders auger bit

And tack welded (just to make it permanent) an extension that you use with spade bits

I found that combination "wandered less" then other concoctions that I had come up with.

 

[Keb]

The reason we get our ramrod holes off is the drills are improperly sharpened.

 

[ZUG]

Here is what I use -- a long brad point drill bit screwed into a long piece of drill rod. I can change out the bit to any type of drill point bit I want to. I make them (deep hole drills) in any size diameters I want.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Nice setup! :thumbsup:

 

[kaintuck]

Your working to hard.....buy one bit from track of the wolf.....then buy some steel rods from any supply house in different diameters.....take a Dremel cutting wheel and copy the bought bits tip.....I've done a bunch....take it easy, and they work just fine..... :surrender:
Marc n tomtom

 

[MSW]

I bought a ling bit from Track and, frankly, it was the only (of many) purchases which I regret. Long story short: it didn't work as expected.

I mentioned my problem to the fellow who does body work here. He also does towing. If you ever need autobody in southeastern Vermont- Steve is the 'go to' guy - his work looks better than factory new. He looks at me like I'm the biggest dunce on the planet and asks, what size drill bit? and then he says, "OK, gimme a minute..."

Steve went over to his bin of scrap and pulled out a hunk of angle iron, into which he cut a notch. On one side of the notch, he clamped the drill bit, and on the other, a bit of rod, shimmed up so that the rod and the bit met square in the middle of the notch, and the center axis of the rod aligned with the center axis of the bit. A few tack weld later, he ran a file over the whole thing and said "ten bucks." I've used this a bunch of times and it's never failed me, although if I were to do it myself, I'd have used a brad point bit and not a standard jobber bit.

go slow.
rig up some sort of jig so the bit is held flat in the RR groove.
clear chips frequently.

 

[Scota4570]

http://www.harborfreight.com/516-in-38-in-716-in-25-in-long-wood-bit-set-3-pc-68823.html

I brazed an extension to one of these. Took all all the drill bit making ambition out of me.

 

[Vaino]

With the rod dia. much smaller than the auger dia., how do you clamp the RR drill in the RR groove? Or... do you only use it for half stocks?....Fred

 

[Scota4570]

My drills are the same size as the ramrod. I use the thimbles or wood/derlin blocks to hold it against the ramrod channel in a full stock.

I would think that fattest drill possible would help keep it from wandering. I've only done a few, I am not an expert. Maybe I am missing something.

 

[jerrywh]

I have made at least 6 of them. Just anneal the end of the drill bit and turn it down to 1/4" of 3/16" then drill the corresponding hole in a 3/8" cold rolled rod and solder the drill in the rod with low temp solder. No need for a set screw. Even loktite will work.

 

[ZUG]

The ends of drill bits are left soft - they are not hardened if they were you would need to use collets to prevent them from spinning in a chuck as in "holding an end mill in a milling machine". You can prove this by taking a file and filing on the end of a drill bit :wink: . I for one would either weld the bit on or thread it onto the extension . You might ask WHY :hmm: -- My answer is this -- IF the joint fails when the drill bit is in the hole HOW are you going to get it out without destroying the stock :idunno: ?? I like the threading method because I can remove the dull bit sharpen or replace it very easily . There are many ways to do the deep hole drilling choose which one is best for you :v .

 

[coloradoclyde]

Doesn't track of the wolf sell ramrod drills????
Yes I've made 3 foot drill bits using the angle iron method but not for gunsmithing...they were for electrical work.

 

[jerrywh]

Let us know what kind of luck you have threading a high speed drill shank with a high speed die.

 

[Gustavo Hoefs]

Hey guy's thanks for the response, I wanted something I could use for full length rifles and or pistol stocks. From what you are all saying lets me know my shade tree engineering abilities aren't too far off. I was working on a long barrel pistol stock and found that Ace Hardware has a 16" bit for $13.00. I found the point to be a really sharp angle and the hole did not track off in the wrong direction. I started the hole turning the bit by hand, made a makeshift clamp from pallet strapping and vise grips, shimmed appropriately and obtained a straight hole ! :grin: When I get to my lathe I plan to make the modifications to the bit and steel rod to make it longer. I have always had bad luck welding tool steel always seems to be brittle and snap off so maybe I am missing something about that process . I will solder or braze the two pieces instead. Thank you all again !!!!!