Drill Bit Help

[Growley]

Hey guys, and gals. I'm in need of a long (8" or so) 5/32nd tapered drill bit. Where abouts would you recommend finding a good one at a good price. I found one on Amazon for $22 but shipping was another $12 which is just ridiculous.

Any suggestions?

Brian.

[KurtHuhn]

That's pretty much the price. The best you can do is hunt around for better shipping costs. I'm surprised the Amazon shipping was so much. Does it qualify for Super Saver shipping? If so, add a $4 item in your cart with it to get a break on shipping.

[Growley]

That's pretty much the price. The best you can do is hunt around for better shipping costs. I'm surprised the Amazon shipping was so much. Does it qualify for Super Saver shipping? If so, add a $4 item in your cart with it to get a break on shipping.

I'll have to check on that. There wasn't one that was prime, so it cost more than what I'm used to paying. I'll just quit whining and buy it. Maybe I'll make an awesome pipe with it that will sell.

[jogilli]

Brian

I ordered mine from McMaster-Carr.

3080A17 Drill Bit for Wood Screws, 5/32" Bit Size, 3-1/8" Overall Length 2 Each 4.91
30915A76 Drill Bit for Wood Screws, 5/32" Bit Size, 5-3/8" Overall Length 1 Each 13.29

along with some other items... delrin and stuff.. shipping was 14.22 I'm sure if I just order bits it would have been less

james

[Gershom]

I live in Columbia SC, and there is a place called MannTool (no pun intended) that I got two bits from. 11/64 and 9/64 for under 50 bucks. They had to special order them, and they are about 8 inches long each.

[Growley]

Brian

I ordered mine from McMaster-Carr.

3080A17 Drill Bit for Wood Screws, 5/32" Bit Size, 3-1/8" Overall Length 2 Each 4.91
30915A76 Drill Bit for Wood Screws, 5/32" Bit Size, 5-3/8" Overall Length 1 Each 13.29

along with some other items... delrin and stuff.. shipping was 14.22 I'm sure if I just order bits it would have been less

james

Just placed my order for the 5-3/8" for $13.29 total. Hopefully it will be long enough for most applications.

Thanks all for your help!

Brian.

[Tyler]

In other news, what the heck do you need an 8" taper for?

[Growley]

In other news, what the heck do you need an 8" taper for?

Churchwarden's? Going to try some long stemmed pipes.

[Tyler]

You gonna hand cut 'em?

I've only ever used pre-formed stems, but that was back in the day. I haven't made a churchwarden in ages.

[KurtHuhn]

The churchwarden preforms have really bad airways. Once you clean them up with a 9/64 or 5/32 taper bit they're perfect, but they really need to be reamed before they'll smoke decently.

The 8" overall taper-point bits used to be everywhere (I have a handful), and even the 12" overall bits were fairly easy to find. Ever since that fire though, Fuller has really cut back on production of anything but the jobber and long length versions. It kind of makes sense - the market for such a strange bit is minimal at best, and the tooling to manufacture them is ungodly expensive.

[Growley]

You gonna hand cut 'em?

I've only ever used pre-formed stems, but that was back in the day. I haven't made a churchwarden in ages.

I figured I'd give it a try. I've been thinking about a few different styles lately with longer stems, and I just don't like the idea of buying a pre-formed stem.

A really awesome pipe maker once told me...to be a high end pipe maker you've got to be able to make your own stems. So, I figure I'll give it a try. I've hopefully got some new rods coming from Larrysson any day now, so I'll have a bit more freedom to mess a few up.

[Tyler]

I agree with that really awesome pipe maker! Which is why I haven't made a church warden in a long time.

[Leus]

I agree with that really awesome pipe maker! Which is why I haven't made a church warden in a long time.

Heh. That explains why you don't see many Eltangs sporting churchwarden stems.

Personally, every time I made a churchwarden it just vanished from my site in matter of hours. People still asks me for them from time on time. For a low-to-mid grade pipemaker like me churchwardens are really a smart choice - premolded stem, fast turnaround.

If I were to make my own stems it would be highly expensive. Good 20 centimeters of ebonite rod is already too expensive without taking into consideration the time it would take to carve the darn thing.

[Growley]

I agree with that really awesome pipe maker! Which is why I haven't made a church warden in a long time.

Heh. That explains why you don't see many Eltangs sporting churchwarden stems.

Personally, every time I made a churchwarden it just vanished from my site in matter of hours. People still asks me for them from time on time. For a low-to-mid grade pipemaker like me churchwardens are really a smart choice - premolded stem, fast turnaround.

If I were to make my own stems it would be highly expensive. Good 20 centimeters of ebonite rod is already too expensive without taking into consideration the time it would take to carve the darn thing.

On the flip side...you spend more on longer ebonite, but could potentially save on the briar, as churchwardens typically take much smaller blocks and sometimes maybe even blocks that aren't good for much else.

I hear ya too on the carving. I've already pondered what a nightmare trying to drill acrylic that long might be. Even short acrylic stems take me quite a while.

Oh well, all in the name of "fun" I guess.

[Joe Hinkle Pipes]

I made this one out of cumberland stock recently. it sucked. not extremely proud of any part of it. I will say that the cumberland stem was much easier than the 4 white acrylic stems i messed up trying to fill this comission.