pipemakersforum.com

Has anyone ever used a ball nose end mill bit for drilling the tobacco chamber? I found one through enco that seems like it would work well but I hate to spend the money on it if I'm wrong.

Here is a link to the one I was looking at:
http://www.use-enco.com/1/1/46790-caa60 ... mills.html

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I personally have not done it but it should work in theory.
First, I will make the assumption that you have a way to hold a 3/4 shank.
Preference would be two flute rather than four.
They are not going to cut well at the tip so a pilot hole is in order. They are designed to cut in a horizontal plane and not drill.
RPM: slow! Perhaps all the way down to back gear.
If you are using either a large chuck or a collet in a tail stock holder be very careful if you do not have a way to make sure the Morse taper cannot spin. This is true of course for any large bit. There is a lot of rotational force working here.
Good luck!
Chas.

Use them daily, work very well.

That's what I use. I do turn my lathe down as far as it goes, though. As long as you turn slow they cut like a hot knife through butter...get wild and crazy and you're gonna be doing some serious sanding!

Follow the above instructions, and you shouldn't have a problem- they really can cut CLEAN!

Thanks everyone! I'll give em a try then

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Yep, when I drill a pipe it's what I use. I use cheap ones and they work fine. I use 5/8", 3/4" and 7/8" The ones I use have a shank the same size as the ball end so I made holders for them that I could then chuck up in the jacobs chuck, which is 1/2".