How deep a hole...

[Wichman]

For all you lathe junkies out there; how deep a hole can I drill with a horizontal drilling rig? I'm thinking of a project requiring a hollow dowel, so I'd like to get a realistic idea of how long a hollow dowel would be practical.

[Dan]

As long as the drill bit will allow.

[Scrappile]

Long bit or short bit?   Twice as long as the bit will allow.  When you hit the drill bit chuck, turn your dowel around and drill from the other end.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

2 things come into play. How long is the lathe body that the tailstock rides on?  Then what distance between the dowel and the drill bit that is mounted in the drill chuck? Finally what length is the drill bit?  yes you can drill from both ends of the dowel. 

 

Set your bit in the drill chuck and mount the drill chuck in the tailstock. Now slide the tailstock back along the ways as far as it can go and still lock. Now install the chuck you are going to use for the dowel in the headstock. Measure from tip of bit to chuck on headstock and that is the length of the dowel that you could drill. Now if the bit you are using will not be able to drill the entire length of the dowel, you can reverse the dowel and drill from other end. If the bit still can not drill all the way through, you can take the dowel off the lathe and get a longer bit the same size and drill the rest of the way by hand with the dowel supported in a vise or chuck the bit in a drill press that has the clearance for the dowel.  

Edited February 24 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[Wichman]

Here's what I want to do:

Take a 3/8" diameter dowel, 10" long and drill a 1/8" hole down the center of the dowel. My experiences show that the drill bit will deflect inside the dowel and "blowout" the side before full depth is reached. 

My question is: in your personal experience how deep can I drill before I get a blowout..

My idea is to make wands with a "core"; peacock feather, pheasant feather, etc. Just a cool addition to a wand.

All I have now is a drill press, but keeping the table aligned while raising it can be problematic. A lathe would solve the alignment issue, but supporting the dowel enough could be an issue.

 

[Dan]

I saw a guy cut a square dowel in half long ways, route a half-circle groove in the center of both halves, glued the back together, and turn the outside on a lathe. That dowel was about 18 inches long.

I have a 12" x 1/8" drill bit that I used to make baseball bat pens (about 8" long) and didn't have troubles with drilling. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

17 hours ago, Wichman said:

Here's what I want to do:

Take a 3/8" diameter dowel, 10" long and drill a 1/8" hole down the center of the dowel. My experiences show that the drill bit will deflect inside the dowel and "blowout" the side before full depth is reached. 

My question is: in your personal experience how deep can I drill before I get a blowout..

My idea is to make wands with a "core"; peacock feather, pheasant feather, etc. Just a cool addition to a wand.

All I have now is a drill press, but keeping the table aligned while raising it can be problematic. A lathe would solve the alignment issue, but supporting the dowel enough could be an issue.

 

Wow Lets break this down. You are willing to buy a lathe to be able to drill 10" dowels?? First after you buy a lathe and even if you buy a midi lathe. It would be very close to max with out extension rails. But there is a 3/8 hole in the spindle so if your dowels are exactly 3/8" or less  you can do it.  I would use a 6" bit and drill from both ends. With a collet chuck as I shown you will have the dowel dead center every time. If you try to use a 12" bit it can wander on you as you mention. I like the Jet 1221 wood lathe as a midi lathe. Been around a long time and proven. You want VS. Never buy a lathe without it just like a scrollsaw. 

 

 Now with that all said. It can be done on a drill press as well if your chuck runs true. It takes some thinking outside the box. Need to make a jig. I would use some hard woods that are not heavy grained or use poplar. Not pine. Make a base and a stantion about 8" tall. Make sure the stantion is 90 degrees to the base and glue it. With a forstner 3/8" bit drill a hole as deep as it will go into the stantion. Would be nice if the stantion was as thick as 1" or better. Easier to hold. Any drilling on the drill press make sure you clamp the jig down so it does not move at all. Now you have a place to put the 10" dowel. Hopefully those are true 3/8" dowels. If not wrap some tape around it to make up difference and have it slip snuggly in the jig.  Any time I drill into end grain I always use a centering bit no matter on a drill press or the lathe. Here is a centering bit set. Use the smallest one. This gives you a starter hole for the 1/8" bit. Then use a 6" drill bit and no longer. Set the jig up so the bit is dead center of dowel and start drilling . Always drill wood at slow speeds. Clean the hole every so often. If you have to move the table up you can do one of 2 things, slide a flat board under the jig or move table. But keep the 1/8" bit in the hole that you drilled so that the jig stays in proper position. Run the bit up and down a few times to see if it is bending. It should be smoothe and free and continue to drill till it is maxed out.  The flip dowel over and do the exact same steps from other end.  Again 2 ways to get this done. If I were you being you have a drill press already this is the way I would go or if you want another toy buy a lathe and chucks. Looking at close to $800. Good luck. Maybe some of this can help.

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Well no response. Maybe I am blocked. 

Edited March 3 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[Roberta Moreton]

I have a drill bit that is around 12 inches long.  I made a lamp.  You have to be careful because the bit will bend a little.  You take little bites so to keep the bit cool.  My bit was 1/4”. Whatever happened to that lamp?……

[Sparkey]

I would think if you drill slow enough you can keep it straight. I drill 12” a lot on my lathe with no problems but have never use a 1/8” bit that deep. In my experience most of my problems with a bit wandering is with brad point bits.