boring a long hole

[Stan Calow]

I am looking for guidance on how to most efficiently and accurately drill a hole through a 10 inch long blank. I am making about a dozen rolling pins for Christmas gifts. The plan I have calls for drilling a hole all the way through the body for a 5/16" steel rod to which handles are epoxied on each end. I am thinking I need to drill this on the lathe, before roughing the blanks using either a extra long bit in a jacob's chuck in the tailstock, or drilling shorter holes from each end, hoping they meet in the middle. My blanks are pretty close to the finished size of 2" diameter, so I don't have much room for error if the hole is off center. Any thoughts on how to set this up to improve accuracy, or a better way to do it? Your thoughts welcome.

Thanks
Stan

[Tom Wilson66]

Another way to have done it would be to drill the hole, then turn the blanks concentric to the hole. Since the blanks are already round and close to size, I think I would drill in from each end, and hope for the best. At least the handles will be centered that way. Would be really difficult to get a centered hole over 10". Good luck with it.

[Greg A Jones]

Idea out of left field. What about the pencil method? Rip your unfinished blank in half and rout the hole out on each piece and glue it back together. Finish turning to blend the cut. Just a thought.

[Dale Gillaspy]

If you have a hollow tailstock, I would bore though the tailstock and about 1/2 way into the blank, then turn the blank around and repeat, meeting in the middle. That way, if the bit wanders a little bit, it won't matter. I like Tom's idea of turning from the holes, but you mentioned that you didn't have a lot to play with. If the bit wanders over 10", you may have to take more off than you want to.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Ship's auger bits are plenty long for that, but I would also drill from both ends, just to make sure the handles are centered. It shouldn't matter if they don't really meet in the middle, no one will see it. Thinking about it, you could drill about 9 inches from one end and the final inch from the other. If the hole is off, keep drilling from the other end, and eventually the bit should match the holes enough to get the rod through. I've drilled long holes, but I turn after to center them, something that you obviously cannot do.

[Eric Gourieux]

Stan,
i don't have any NEW suggestions and agree with the options already mentioned. I have had good luck boring from one end to the depth you need, although I recognize that there is a risk that you may get off center. Here is what I use:

[Dan Masshardt]

You could also consider other options for the rolling pin. I've made them with solid attached (non rotating) handles and plan to make some of the French style ones as well that taper down at the ends. To my taste these styles set a custom crafted rolling pin apart from the ones sold in the stores that have the rod.

[John Keeton]

Stan, what about just drilling from either end and using a clevis pin to attach the handles separately with epoxy? That way, each handle could rotate on the pin and the holes in the clevis pin would help retention with the glue. I understand that the end of the pin would show, but it could be recessed into the end of the handle. Sure seems a lot easier than using a rod.

[Billy Tallant]

Stan, what about just drilling from either end and using a clevis pin to attach the handles separately with epoxy? That way, each handle could rotate on the pin and the holes in the clevis pin would help retention with the glue. I understand that the end of the pin would show, but it could be recessed into the end of the handle. Sure seems a lot easier than using a rod.

I like John's idea myself. Just recess the pin deep enough & then you could turn a plug/button to cover the ends out of same wood or use a contrasting wood to set it off.

[James Combs]

... for a 5/16" steel rod to which handles are epoxied on each end...

Just curious, but I assume this is a stainless steel rod.

[Stan Calow]

Thanks everyone. Good ideas. Yes, all hardware would be stainless. I actually bought some old garage sale rolling pins and took apart to see how they are made. The main options seemed to be having the body rotate on a rod to which the handles are glued, or having the handles rotate on the pins that are glued into the body, as suggested. I leaned towards the first option because I think it will be more durable and repairable, but I may try both to see. One thing I am learning is how limitations and efficiency often dictates design. I considered doing the solid versions, french and plain one-piece. May do some of those as well for the fun of it.

[John Teichert]

Stan, Brendan Stemp has a video on drilling deep holes into end grain, it might be worthwhile to take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrETz4RTyM

JT

[Harry Robinette]

I've seen allot of electricians use a screw point auger bit to drill holes through some very large beams but nothing that small.There always drilling 1" to 2" holes, don't know if it will work for small holes.

[Marvin Hasenak]

If your lathe can handle it, you can buy drill bits up to 18" long at Enco. The bits come n 10, 12, 15vand 18" lengths. I would chuck up the blank, drill with a regular jobbers bit as deep as it would go, then use a longer bit until I went though the blank. I would then make a pin mandrel the same size as the hole and chuck it all up using a collet chuck. This would keep the center home centered.

[Steve Campbell]

Stan if this were me I think I would drill half way from each end. However I would use at least a 5/8" or even a 3/4" bit. You could then glue a short plug into each end and drill your hole for the 5/16" rod. That would give you plenty of room if you don't meet perfectly. Also if the wood moves any after you turn it you still have clearance in the middle. Steve