Rouge Senior cigar holder

[Bill Dempsey]

Hi Guys, I'm new to this thread.

I got these kits from Arizona Sil. Also got Norsman 7/8 twist drill bit. I've seen Tim Yoder video on making the tube, and read Barry Gross' magazine article on same. The drilling seems daunting on drill press, so I tried Barry's method of using the lathe with the 1 1/4 Burmese Blackwood blank held in scroll chuck. The entry is a bit rough until the twist bit is fully engaged. I made up a couple of blanks of 2x construction material to practice. I just drilled two of them.

As I pull the blank off the lathe, the entry hole is 0.880 to 0.900. The tubes mic at 0.845. The bit is 0.875. Way to sloppy for my taste. For those who know:
- can epoxy make up 0.055?
- is the construction pine throwing me off? I haven't tried hardwood yet.
-any suggestions for improvement?
demps

[Dave Fritz]

Perhaps this will help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrETz4RTyM

[Brice Rogers]

Some thoughts:
1. Rough entry - with construction material (pine), I suppose that you might get a little chip out. Also, with pine, the grain will tend to pull the drill into the softer summer wood.
2. Drilling oversize - if you don't start exactly in the center of your blank, it will drill oversize. If your drill bit was sharpened (from the factory even) with one side of the face wider than the other, and you don't use a pilot hole(s), it will drill oversize. I've bought new drills that were mis-sharpened and drilled 0.015 oversize. If you have a high power magnifying glass/hood, take a look with a finely graduated scale or something.
3. If I was doing this, I would carefully mark the blank with an X. Then I would use a spring or regular punch and put a nice sized dimple where I wanted the drill to do its job. Then I would chuck up the blank and line up the live center in the tailstock and make sure that the nib perfectly aligns with the dimple. If it doesn't you may get rough entry and an oversize hole at the entry. Then I might take a smaller drill like a 1/4" and drill a short pilot hole. Watch as you start to make sure that it starts exactly in the center. Another approach would be to start with 1/4" drill, then 1/2" drill, etc. doing this will help if your 7/8" drill was mis-sharpened and the drill bit center if off.
4. If you are concerned about using a 7/8 inch drill with a 0.845 tube, consider buying a different drill bit. You'll want some clearance (min 0.010-0.015" ?) . They sell 21.5 mm drill bits as well as 55/64" drill bits.
5. Making up 0.055? That would be about 0.027" (or a little less than 1/32) all the way around. Yes, epoxy could probably make this up.


Hi Guys, I'm new to this thread.

... The entry is a bit rough until the twist bit is fully engaged. I made up a couple of blanks of 2x construction material to practice. I just drilled two of them.

As I pull the blank off the lathe, the entry hole is 0.880 to 0.900. The tubes mic at 0.845. The bit is 0.875. Way to sloppy for my taste. For those who know:
- can epoxy make up 0.055?
- is the construction pine throwing me off? I haven't tried hardwood yet.
-any suggestions for improvement?
demps

[Brice Rogers]

BTW, I think that you meant "rogue" rather than "rouge".;) That's the way that Barry Gross spells it. Rouge is what my wife puts on her face sometimes. Jewelers rouge is what I sometimes use for polishing.

[Bill Dempsey]

To update
I got contact with Barry Gross, he says the .875 is needed with the tubes so as to not starve the epoxy joint.
I took the good advise here and made up an ash block 1 1/4 square, drilled on the lathe with 1/4 forstner, followed by
1/2 twist drill, then the 7/8 twist at very slow speed.
Worked perfectly, I drilled 4 1/2 in deep. entry end at 0.879, back end at 0.878.
Thanks all.