To Drill Before Or After

[Mike Messer]

...In the pattern of the Danes, I am trying something new. I am shaping a stumel BEFORE I drill it. The benefits of doing this are nice. You can take the shape out of the block at an odd angle in order to take advantage of the best grain, and if a pit arises, you can adjust the shape with much more freedom since you are not bound by the holes....

The quote is from the the topic (mentioned ) "Shaping THEN Drilling" .
..I've heard this strategy before, and it does make some sense, but when you think about it a little more, if you hit a pit early in the shaping, it usually isn't a problem, it will be gone before you get to your predrilled or not predrilled, designed shape. If you hit a pit late in the shaping, and you remove it, you probably won't have enough briar left for a pipe anyway, so my thinking is, it doesn't really matter whether you drill first, drill last, (you could actually drill between) and I don't think it has anything to do with skill.

Edit: Thinking about this a little more, and understand, I have never drilled after with a spoon bit in a 3-jaw and the pipe bowl in my hands. I think it would require considerable skill to keep it lined-up on two axes, but more than skill, I think, courage.

[hawky454]

Oh, how my words come back to haunt me.

[RadDavis]

I hate to say it but this kind of BS is exactly why I stay away from posting on forums.
Cheers.....

You're a little late to the party, aren't you?

Rad

[Alden]

Threadomancy? I though it was technically Necrothreadancing?
Maybe I'm thinking of something else.

[Mike Messer]

I hate to say it but this kind of BS is exactly why I stay away from posting on forums.
Cheers.....

You're a little late to the party, aren't you?

Rad

Did they have door prizes?

[Mike Messer]

A Conical Chamber, Drill-First and Bore Procedure:
This is a metal lathe, drill-first, conical chamber drilling procedure which I use a lot.
1. I drill the center of the chamber with a 1/2" dia. bit most of the way down, and then finish the round bottom on down till it meets the smoke hole (already drilled) with a 1/2" dia. round ball bur. (You could also use a 1/2" dia bit with a round point for this)
2. Then I set the compound slide to the calculated angle, refined by checking the slope per inch with the slide's micrometer scale. Then using a small dia. boring bar like the ones in this set, http://www.littlemachineshop.com/produc ... 1134493617
I bore the angled side wall of the chamber starting at the top, and with many passes work my way down to meet up with the 1/2 spherical bottom. I mark the bar with masking tape to the calculated depth so that I will know when I am near the bottom, and at that point, I blow out the dust and look inside with light after each pass until I see a tiny approx. 1/128" ledge at one side of the sidewall-1/2 sphere intersection. Done boring.
3. Shave off the ledge with a 1/4" tree bur with radius point, in a plastic handle, by hand. Then sand a little with a little strip of 120 grit on a small wooden "finger" small enough and long enough to reach the bottom.
It gives you infinite flexibility, in chamber sizes, depth, top diameters, with about $50 worth of tools, compared to about 100 different sized Spoon bits worth about $10,000 to do the same thing.

Note: Some objections...It does take longer, maybe, an hour to drill the chamber, and it has to be done before final shaping of the bowl.

[Leus]

An hour for drilling is just way too much, in my opinion.

[baweaverpipes]

Note: Some objections...It does take longer, maybe, an hour to drill the chamber, and it has to be done before final shaping of the bowl.

If drilling in a two jaw chuck, about 1 to 2 minutes.
If drilling free hand, about 3 to 5 minutes.
If drilling took me an hour, I would be losing quite a lot of money on lost production time.

[hawky454]

Mr. Bruce Weaver! Just read your article. Nice pipes! Let's see......I've already had Rad Davis respond to this post (he put me in my place) now all I need is Todd Johnson to add something and I'll feel complete! (I'm kidding!) I really did enjoy the article though.

[Mike Messer]

Note: Some objections...It does take longer, maybe, an hour to drill the chamber, and it has to be done before final shaping of the bowl.

If drilling in a two jaw chuck, about 1 to 2 minutes.
If drilling free hand, about 3 to 5 minutes.
If drilling took me an hour, I would be losing quite a lot of money on lost production time.

Well there you go, Bruce, you're a business man worried about time and money, and I'm an artist, and all I'm worried about is getting laid next Saturday night.

[Mike Messer]

...If drilling in a two jaw chuck, about 1 to 2 minutes....

I've never used a spoon bit, and I'm wondering if you can use a spoon bit like this....
1. I'm assuming this is this drilling before shaping, right?
2. With the block in a 2-jaw, right?
3. Big question...Do you use a spoon bit in the tailpiece drill chuck, and what kind of RPM's, and do you ever get heavy vibration, or other wierdness?

[e Markle]

I've never used a spoon bit, and I'm wondering if you can use a spoon bit like this....
1. I'm assuming this is this drilling before shaping, right?
2. With the block in a 2-jaw, right?
3. Big question...Do you use a spoon bit in the tailpiece drill chuck, and what kind of RPM's, and do you ever get heavy vibration, or other wierdness?

Spoon bits are used for drilling after shaping.
You chuck the bit up in a three or four jaw, not the tailstock.
Fairly low RPM's (150?), and you can get all kinds of vibration, movement and general weirdness. I think once you do it a few times, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

I'm still terrified by it, but most of the guys still have all their fingers, so...

[Mike Messer]

I've never used a spoon bit, and I'm wondering if you can use a spoon bit like this....
1. I'm assuming this is this drilling before shaping, right?
2. With the block in a 2-jaw, right?
3. Big question...Do you use a spoon bit in the tailpiece drill chuck, and what kind of RPM's, and do you ever get heavy vibration, or other wierdness?

Spoon bits are used for drilling after shaping.
You chuck the bit up in a three or four jaw, not the tailstock.
Fairly low RPM's (150?), and you can get all kinds of vibration, movement and general weirdness. I think once you do it a few times, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

I'm still terrified by it, but most of the guys still have all their fingers, so...

Thanks Ernie, and that's some things I did not know, also, but I was referring to Bruce's comment, below which implies drilling before, and I was wondering if he has tried drilling with a block in the 2-jaw and a spoon bit in the tailpiece drill chuck, and how that goes?

...If drilling in a two jaw chuck, about 1 to 2 minutes....