Dymondwood

[TB Roye]

I was trying to drill Dymondwood pen blanks and could not keep the drill from wandering. After ruining 2, I went to Woodcraft and picked up the a new Pen blank vice (the general that Dick posted about) brought it home, set it up and no change way off center on exit and blew the side near the end of one blank. The drill priss was set on a slow speen 600 rpm. and I took my time. Went back and mate sure table was level and plumb to the drill bit and then tried diffent wood, Purple heart and Red heart and oak. No problem, so I assume the Dymondwood was the problem. Is there a trick to drilling this stuff? What speed should I have the drill press at for pen blanks in general. I was using a 7mm bradpoint bit that is fairly new.

Tom

[DonHo]

Sorry, I can't help much. I've only drilled dymondwood blanks a couple of times and had no trouble either time. All I can think is maybe your vice wasn't secured to the drill press good and might have slipped during drilling but that doesn't make much sense. It would seem if everything is locked down tight that the drill bit couldn't wander. The only help I can offer is unless you have a top of the line drill press and/or don't want to upgrade, you can use this as an excuse to buy and bigger/better drill press

DonHo

[CrashResq]

Tom, I've drilled at least a dozen or more of different colors and have never had a problem.... do you have a chuck for your lathe (and a jacobs chuck)... You could try chucking it up and drill it that way (I've run into quite a few pen turners that use that method)

[Whaler]

Are you trying to drill the hole in one pass?
I drill mine with several short passes bringing the bit all the way out and letting it spin a minute to cool down between the passes. I have mine set at about 600 rpm also.

[TB Roye]

I have tried some other blanks with no problem. The new vice is great. I had it clamped down but it might have moved. I am thinking I was not going slow enough and clearing it out ofter enough. I was also thinkg maybe the drill bit is not right. I have drilled the Dymondwood before with out problems. Will pick up some more next time I go out to Woodcraft to pick up my Pen assembly press. The new vice is great. So lets chalk it up to operator error. I have to start 2 new projects this month an Island for LOML and a 8ft. cabinet for the new HD Big Screen we are getting before the Super Bowl and Daytona. Pens are done on days when my 3 1/2 yr old grandaughter is here. She like to "work" out in the shop while I am out there and turning pens is the safest thing I can do and stay busy while she is "working" In the picture all ths boxes behind her and the vice, bolt and tools on the bench are her work. The boxes contain sawdust from the Lathe, cutoff pen blanks, other small peices of wood and gravel from out side on the path.

Tom

[DonHo]

Just a thought. When your granddaughter boxes up some lathe shavings and saw dust, maybe we could take up a collection and have them shipped to Rod. He seems to have a sawdust shortage

DonHo

[TB Roye]

Thats a great Idea. Only thing is they are not MDF. Having her out there makes for some interesting conversations and boy can she sing, loud and off key.

Tom

[kwgeorge]

From the way you describe your problem I would say that you are not clearing the flutes of the drill bit often enough. I find that depending on a lot of different variables I may have to do this quite often on some wood while not on others. Things such as internal stress or high figure in the wood are major causes of your issue. If you are drilling too deep without backing the bit out of the wood and allowing the bits flutes to clear the wood shavings can jam in the flute which will then cause the waste to build up in the flutes and push the bit to one side. Easy to replicate the issue using Pink Ivory if one is willing to waste it. I have gotten to where I will only drill about ¼” at a time without clearing the waste from the flutes when I am drilling blanks now.

Ken

[LCHIEN]

I'm not familiar with dymondwood, and also don't do pens. But drilling I do.

If the material is hard (dymondwood sounds hard for some reason) and the bit is walking on the flat end, then you need to do some drilling tricks.

One is to use a center punch to dimple the end so the bit has a place to start and won't be walking. Once it walks is at an angle (the bit bends so it will be off center and not vertical and will blow out of a narrow object). If you have good eyesight and head-eye coordination, then the automatic center punches sold in hardware stores will do the job. Or just a small pointed punch and a ball pein hammer will do. Lee Valley sells an optical punch you sight in using optical magnifying cross hairs then place the punch where the optics was and punch, if you need mroe accuracy.

If the bit is larger diameter then you might also start a small diameter bit in the dimple, just enough to make a larger hole the next bit size will start in. Work your way up to the final fit size, with a DP and progressively larger bits the hole will stay centered.

Slow speed is not necessarily good. faster speeds will drill a cleaner, straighter hole.

[Uncle Cracker]

I think you might get a straighter bore in a weightless environment... Time to book passage on the shuttle...

[leehljp]

Loren,

Dymondwood is a hard plywood, usually with alternating colors of ply and cut into blanks with the grain run on the diagonal.

In my opinion, faster speed on the DP, slower feed rate, the bit well chucked to prevent as much flexing as possible will help.

[TB Roye]

I think my problem was not clearing the bit enough and possibly taking to big a bite. I also suspect the bit my not have be manufactured correctly. I looks like it has a little wobble, or it could be an optical illusion. The PSI bit I got when I first started seems to do a better job. It is a longer bit than the bit I go from Woodcraft although the are both Brad Point Bits the PSI bit seem to have a different end than the Woodcraft. The cutting end of the PSI bit is a little more rounded/pointed and the Woodcraft is flat on the end, The are both 7mm Brad Points. I will have to do a little reasearch on this by drilling some Brazilian Cherry scrap I have as it is dense and hard and see what happens. I will also try using a smaller bit to start and then use the larger bit to expand the hole. I have done it with metal for 49 years never though to do it with wood. Thanks for all the suggestions and help. Have a great new years. I am using a HF 13" drill press but have not notice any wobble in the chuck.

Tom