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Thread: Drilling clean holes

  1. #1

    Drilling clean holes

    Hello all -
    My daughter and I are making herb strippers. You stick a stem of some herb in the appropriate hole and pull it through and off come the leaves. Yeah, I never heard of one either. Our prototype works well but we are not happy with the raggedness of the holes mostly just for aesthetics. But, also, we wonder about all the open grain within the hole over time.

    These are made by gluing up 3 types of 6/4 lumber - Walnut, Red Oak, Poplar and then re-sawing to make 3 thin slabs. We cut these slabs into 4 inch squares and then glue them together with the grain crosswise. Final piece is about 5/16 thick.

    New drill bits? Faster drill speed?

    looking forward to your advise.

    ScottIMG_5996.jpgIMG_5998.jpgIMG_5997.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    NE OH
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    You should be able to do much better. Even a sharp regular twist bit should do better if you run it at the right speed and back up the piece with a piece of scrap. A sharp, good quality brad point will do even better. Make sure you clamp the workpiece to the backer board or it will lift up when the bit breaks through and you'll get a rough exit hole.
    --I had my patience tested. I'm negative--

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    on the other hand, the roughness of the holes may be helping to grab the leaves and pull them off. But yes, a sharp bit will do much better.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    So Cal
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    Look for a lipped drill bit.
    They will cut very clean holes on both sides. Drill press for best results
    They look like this
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Aj

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    Camas, Wa
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    3,855
    I would use a brad point drill bit with a backer board. I would suggest replacing the red oak with something like cherry maple or teak. They are not porous like red oak. I assume these will get wet. I'm not sure about popular. I assume it is not used on cutting boards because it is soft.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    Kansas City
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    What size is/are the hole(s) for this purpose? Yeah, I'd avoid red oak, because its too splintery. This sounds like a good niche product for farmer's markets and crafts shows.

  7. #7
    Two suggestions from the metalworking side, 4 flute center cutting end mills and triple flute drill bits for cleaner more accurate holes. And for those of us obsessed with accuracy they make a 30x periscope with a cross hair you can chuck in your drill press to position the workpiece in then center of a scribed line, yeah that accurate.
    Last edited by Charles Coolidge; 04-09-2021 at 2:26 PM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Coolidge View Post
    ... And for those of us obsessed with accuracy they make a 30x periscope with a cross hair you can chuck in your drill press to position the workpiece in then center of a scribed line, yeah that accurate.
    OK. You can't put that one out there without a link... It's just not right...
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Lightstone View Post
    OK. You can't put that one out there without a link... It's just not right...
    Second that.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm McLeod View Post
    Second that.
    Me too. I want one of those.
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
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    New Westminster BC
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    Drill an undersized thru hole then drill full size hole part way thru, flip the board over and drill the rest of the way from the other side. Best done in a drill press. The undersized drill bit can be any type, the full size bit should be a plain spiral bit which will easily self center, a Forstener or brad point will be harder to center unless the first bit is very small.

  12. Quote Originally Posted by Alan Lightstone View Post
    OK. You can't put that one out there without a link... It's just not right...
    Okay here's a link, turns out they are 45x scopes. This one has a 1 inch focal distance (recommended over the 5/8 inch).

    https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/06539332

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Sterling, Virginia
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    644
    Here is another option for close work. https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/93712990. You line up on your marks through the optic then replace the optic with the punch and strike to mark your hole.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    Upland CA
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    5,548
    I would stack half a dozen at a time. Use a backer board and clamp them down. Pretty easy to make a jig to do that. Shape it later.
    Rick Potter

    DIY journeyman,
    FWW wannabe.
    AKA Village Idiot.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    12,298
    I use a laser for precise alignment on the milling machine and sometimes the drill press: https://littlemachineshop.com/produc...ProductID=2604

    But such precision on an herb stripper makes no sense to me.

    Those with painfully sensitive sense of linear misalignment might consider a more organic layout. This one also has a flat edge they claim is useful for scraping the herbs off the work surface into the bowl.

    herb-stripper.jpg

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