Just Plain Drilling

For discussion of the drilling and shaping of the stummel.
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bscofield
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Post by bscofield »

Pooka, I read a post on here (??) recently that made it sound like that is THE way to go, draught hole first that is... I, like you, had started out the other way because I simply thought of doing the tobacco hole first.

I have moved to other way and I'll tell why it has turned out easier: When the draught hole is in you can drill, stop and check, and move the tobacco chamber slowly into the draught hole. So there's this large room for mistakes. The other way around and you can end up too high in the chamber or go under the chamer and not know it until it's too late. There's no real margin for error.

When doing the draught hole first, you can even go the distance of the tobacco chamber too far and not even be able to tell with a good tobacco chamber drilling.

my $0.01 (I don't think I can offer $0.02 yet) :D
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KurtHuhn
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Post by KurtHuhn »

Ben's got it right. Drill the draught hole first, then drill the tobacco hole. Way less potential for serious error, in my opinion.
Kurt Huhn
AKA: Oversized Ostrogoth
artisan@k-huhn.com
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whitebar
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Post by whitebar »

I drill the draught hole first as well. One thing I have found that helps when drilling the tobacco hole is to stop and shine a pen light down the draught hole. Continue drilling in small steps and then stopping and checking things out with the pen light. Of course this is easier to do with my lathe because I can remove the tail stock and look into the chamber. With a drill press, the drill will be in the way. Maybe you could get a little dental mirror and look in that way. Anyway, good luck with the new briar!
Stephen

Carving Pipes in the Oldest Town in Texas.
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Nick
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Post by Nick »

Definatly draught hole first. I', still working on centering the hole, but I've hit the bottom of the chamber consistently.
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ArtGuy
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Post by ArtGuy »

Well, I have really not been doing this much longer than many of you. And I have ruined more blocks than I care to admit. However, here is my process and thoughts.

1. I face the surface with a 1 1/8" forester bit first.

2. Then the mortise (just because I use a brad point bit for that and those bits cannot have a pilot hole, I figured this out 3 ruined blocks later arrrrghh)

3. Air Hole second

4. Tobacco chamber last rechecking as I go and waiting for the airhole to appear at the bottom.


Misc. Thoughts

If I were not using a brad point bit, for the mortise, I would drill the Airhole first to act as a pilot hole for the mortise.

You holes will be center if you draw your line accuratly on the side of the block and the block is square.

A self centering chuck or drill press vice is very very helpfull.

Make sure your block is square!!! Very Important

It is easier to see an off center drill on a chamber that tapers to a point rather than a chamber with a rounded bottom.

Shaped twist drills are much nicer to use than spade bits.
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marks
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Post by marks »

I drill the mortise and the draft hole first. Then, I get all the sawdust out of the draft hole. All of it.

Then, I reposition the block in the drill press to drill the tobacco hole, and drill a pilot hole, stopping before I get to the draft hole. When I put in the bit to drill the tobacco chamber, I stick a little wooden shrimp skewer into the draft hole and hold it with my free hand. When the tobacco chamber bit hits the skewer, you feel it.

From there, I clean out the tobacco chamber with a shop vac, look in with a mirror and pen light, then determine if I need to go a little deeper. If so, I will bottom the bit into the chamber (drill press off), then adjust the depth gauge a quarter to half turn, then drill. Recheck, and redrill as necessary.

Since employing this method, I can set the tobacco chamber depth at exactly the point I desire.

The only problem I have had was with one block set up to make a bent pipe, and I went too far with the draft hole, and ended up with a very small divot on the bottom of the chamber. I gave this pipe to a friend, but he has had no problems with the pipe.

The other thing to watch out for with bent pipes is to drill the draft hole far enough, or you never get an intersection with the chamber bit. Somewhat of a fine line on drilling bent pipes between too far and not far enough with the draft hole.
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Jeffery
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Post by Jeffery »

I agree with most of what has been said...

Though, I'm going to have to print out Randoms post and study that one... (I'll have to get my slide rule out too) :lol:

Seriously though, I do the exact process as Marks...

The absolute most important thing I want to stress though, is make sure your block is PERFECTLY square... This is (IMO) 90% the reason your holes won't line up... The other 10% is to make sure your SQUARE it in the vise... If your lines are not perfectly squared up when you start drilling, you may as well throw the block out... So, use that square rule... it's one of the most important tools we use! (if you use a drill press of course). Good luck!
Pipercats
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Post by Pipercats »

Here is a tip that may prove usefull when drilling ...

I drill the airhole first, followed by the mortise then the tobacco chamber. When the airhole and mortise have been completed and I have the block aligned for the tobacco chamber, I have a finishing nail that I have rounded the point off. The nail is smaller in diameter than the airhole so that there is some wiggle room when it is pressed into the hole. I will then drill the tobacco chamber while holding the nail in with light pressure. As the chamber bit gets close to the airhole, the nail will begin to vibrate and you can feel it with your finger. Remove the nail and very slowly drill a little more out of the chamber .. check it often with the nail .. you will see the airhole begin to appear at the bottom of the chamber. When I am at this point .. I have a fine fairly stiff wire that I use to check the depth of the chamber. When you run it in the hole, you will feel a lip between the chamber and the airhole. Continue to carefully drill a little further and check again with the wire until you can just feel the faintest remnant of the lip. When this is done, you can hand sand or use a dremel to smooth that last little bit of a lip ..

This will leave you with the airway right on the bottom of the bowl ...

If anyone has any questions about it .. let me know ..
Bill
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