drilling 1" (or so) holes

All I have is a $65 5/8 chuck drill I picked up at a yard sale and I've done it quite a few times using Silver & Deming bits. :-) I usually pilot drill

Be sure you by quality bits though!

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers (1879-1935).

First a little more info is needed. What's the horse power of the drill press? What's the lowest speed setting?

Anyway with those options I'd say rotabroach would be the best option. However with care it's possible to use Silver & Demming bits. A reaming approach must be used. Drill to 1/2" using what ever method you usually use. Then ream in 1/8" increments. Higher horsepower lower speed drill presses can sometimes manage bigger increments.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

Years ago I did exactly that with a Delta floor drill press and import S+D bits when that was all I had, through 3/4" mild steel bars. Use cutting oil.

Rotabroach all the way. I have some that screw onto a standard holesaw arbor.

Ive drilled 1.25 holes with a similar drill press using S&D type bits. Actually MT3 shanked bits that I OD ground to 5/8 shank

Took a while, and I had to sharpen to a 118' angle and then pecked carefully

Gunner

"There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism - by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide." - Ayn Rand, from "Foreign Policy Drains U.S. of Main Weapons"

No question here. The morse taper wins hands down in my book. I've used them extensively in the past. Of course currently I only have S&D bits in the 17/32" to 1" range but if I'm only going to have one or the other then it's got to be S&D. I can use them in hand drills or anything that'll chuck 1/2". Morse taper is limited to my drill presses, lathes, and two large air drills. One of these days I'm going to increase my collection of morse taper bits in this mid range.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

No contest , Morse . First thing I look for every time no matter what I am drilling . Lucked out and got about 50 lbs with my lathe . No idea what brands and they are old but every one a gem ;-) Ken Cutt

I think you can succeed with using the Silver & Deming drill bits. However I would recommend you sneak up on the final size in steps, firmly clamp your work piece to the table, and run at low speed using plenty of cutting oil. Good luck, JM

APT makes a system just for the purpose of drilling large holes with a low power, less than rigid machine. It starts with a 1/2 inch conventional drill. Then switches to a piloted holder with interchangeable spade bit type cutters. Works quite well. I may have a spare set or at least part of a set that I would be willing to part with. Email me at snipped-for-privacy@aol.com if you are interested -- but unfortunately it will be about two weeks before I can check and get back to you.

Mill

On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 04:20:34 GMT, knob vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I am not saure what Silver and Deming bits actually are, because when I searched, there were all sorts of mentions of "Silver and Deming Type bits" etc etc with sets of 8 at $20.00 US.

However, I regularly drill 1" and even 1.25" holes in mild steel, up to and including 1" thick, on a 12-speed(min 200 RPM) moderately cheap drill press. I do have to say it was "moderately cheap" 12 years ago, and I see them now for the same dollars I paid then. So it's propbably better than I realise!

Sharp bit, start with a pilot of maybe 1/4", just to clear the tip of the 1". Use cutting / lubricating material. I use Trefolex, which is grease-based. Messy stuff, but effective.

It's ....well....boring! A bit slow, but it works OK. I get nice long shavings off the bit.

An aside, and I probably shouldn't. To prevent "breaking the handles" I have been known, toward the end of a long afternoon, to hold one handle and rest my forearm on the next closer one for that bit extra.

Crikey! I've done it using a hand drill! Now _that's_ horrible, dangerous and hard on bits!

On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 04:20:34 GMT, knob vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I suppose the question is, "What's 'some' mean and how much time do you have?"

They are sets of bits ranging above 1/2" up to 1" (I don't believe that the sets go any larger than that), all with reduced shanks to fit a 1/2" chuck. If you are lucky, you can even find a set with three equally spaced flats milled on the shanks, to reduce the chance of slipping in the chuck.

The name may be local to the USA -- I'm not sure. It presumably originates from the first large-scale vendor of such modified bits.

Enjoy, Don.

Which means you are successful at bit sharpening

Especially the "big one" when you are drilling the perimeter channel of the platform ten feet above ground and the bit grabs as you break through!

Gerry :-)} London, Canada