# How to drill a really long hole in deep wood.



## mmh (Mar 17, 2008)

Got your attention? Great! I have a very unconventional task and would appreciate your expertise.

*Q: How can I insert a 1/4" metal rod inside a 36" cane shaft? *

The project is a cane shaft made from crotchwood Claro Black Walnut. Yes, crosswood of 36" long, grains going all directions but lengthwise. The shaft is 7/8" at the bottom diameter, increasing to 1 1/4"- 1 1/2" oblong diameter.

I have a 12" drill bit, and one thought is to cut the shaft at 22" length, drill into the bottom piece - bottom end upwards, middle section downwards and the top piece - middle section upwards as far as possible, (and re-attach pieces) but the diverse direction of grain can make the bit travel off center, not to mention the roundness of the shaft is hard to clamp down.

Another thought is to rout out a 1/4" strip along one side of the shaft to insert the rod, then fill gap with wood. This will cause an unsightly strip of different grain, but the task would be complete. Again, the shaft is shaped so there are no straight (non-rounded) edges to clamp down.

Saturating the shaft with thin CA glue has come to mind but is not as secure as a metal rod to take the weight of a 200+ lb. person. The 1/4" metal rod w/ epoxy seems to be the most adequate method I can think of (short of not using crotchwood to begin with).

Laminating two pieces of crotchwood with longrain hardwood will be another experiment, but meanwhile I'd like to figure out this task.

I could use a lathe with a lathe chuck and a center rest to hold the shaft in place in order to drill sideways. The lathe is only 34" long, but I could cut the shaft to 22"L as stated earlier if this option would work.

So, now you have the problem. Got any legitimate answers?


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

You could seperate it right up the middle with a fine tooth blade such as a bandsaw metal blade .Taking extreme care to keep it central.Then route the both sections with a ball nose bit large enough to take your metal rod then glue it back around the rod.Not perfect but this is a dificult job to get perfect by any means the only other option which is the recognized option is to mount it in a lathe and long hole bore it like you do for a standard lamp but with a piece this thing you need to be careful you dont drill out through the side it can be done with patience though actually this is the correct way to do it.Alistair


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## Russel (Aug 13, 2007)

A most insteresing problem. I might try to slice the whole thing in half and route a cove in each then glue it back together.


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## pommy (Apr 17, 2008)

MMH i take it have not made the cane yet so if it was me i.d router the slot for the metal bar in to two blocks and epoxy two peices together the grai difference would be so small you would hardly know

just my two pence worth

Andy


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

set the cane on a lathe and drill at least half way through. Then turn it around and drill the other half. Your holes will come out much in line with each other and more centered. You will need a lathe that has a hole in the headstock. Make sure you buy a drill bit long enough to take in account the headstock, chuck and final depth of material. You can use a 1/4" drill bit that is used in the alarm or cable installation business.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Meilie,

How big is your lathe? They make some really long drill bits for the electrical industry. Maybe you could get a hollow tail stock center and use a long bit to go thru the center of the stock. I am just not sure how you could keep it from tracking off center as you get further into the wood.

Lew

edit: just saw the lathe length, sorry


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

if you go down the drilling on the lathe then remove the drill and clean it every few seconds or it will build up swarf and wander .This will work ok I have done it many times the sell a long bore drill just for this for making holes in wood for lamps and standard lamps.Good luck practice on apiece of scrap if you wish first take courage and go for it working slowly it is doable very much so.Alistair


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Johns got it handled


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## JohnGray (Oct 6, 2007)

*a1Jim* said it!


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

I like John's idea of drilling through the head stock into the blank and then turning the blank around and go at it again.


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

I don't get that if you come from the tailstock towards the headstock and reach the headstock there is surely no need to turn it round as your there already. you need to drill through the tailstock which must be hollow and work halfway and then turn it around not throught the headstock surely??? Alistair


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I have deep drilled for a Kentucky rifle ramrod a couple of times. I soft soldered a drill rod on to a drill bit. With the open part of the ramrod channel inletted (about 24") to use as a guide, the drill went straight through the 16-18" of solid curly maple right in front of the trigger guard. It's easier than it sounds. If you use the lathe method above, it should be easier yet.


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## hObOmOnk (Feb 6, 2007)

Here's an extra long drill bit that I use to drill out holes for rustic lamps:
Lee Valley

I would cut my cane stock in to three equal pieces, drill each piece, then assemble the pieces on the rod.
I'd use spacer washers made from a contrasting wood.

Glue it all together, then shape the shaft in you favorite way.


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

The reason to drill a bit past the middle and then turn the stock around is to insure better accuracy and less possibility of the bit to wander off center. It is very easy for a bit to wander with varying degrees of hardness, grain angle, etc. Wood is wood and one must respect and deal the nature of the material.


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## Broda (Oct 7, 2008)

what if you could do it the same way they make digeridoos?
drill in as far as you can then push a very hot rod through the middle?


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## Kindlingmaker (Sep 29, 2008)

HF has really long drill bits, 24" to 36". ...but… I would take a steel rod and sharpen the end into a drilling point then slowly bore through the entire cane and once through cut off the rod ends and leave it in place. (I always do things the hard way.)


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## Quixote (Jun 9, 2008)

My approach would be this;

Thin blade, cut a "V" shaped notch in your square stock

Lift out the "V" save to reinsert.

Router the middle section for your steel reinforcement at center, test fit,

Shave point from your "V" lift out. test fit paying attention to figure alignment and tight fit.

Fit and character alignment achieved, two part clear epoxy assembly for strength, fit.

Cure time for epoxy.

Turn stock on lathe, seam should be nearly invisible.

Q

Edit, I reread your dimensions etc. this would be harder to do if your stock is already turned.


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## mmh (Mar 17, 2008)

Hey guys! These are some wonderful suggestions and I may just use them for future projects.

Here's what we ended up doing:

I cut the hand shaped cane shaft into 3 pieces, trying to drill with a 12" bit on the 5ft. standing drill. (I have a special clamp that holds my cane blanks to drill the dowel hole.) This clamp held the rounded shaft pretty well. Slowly the 12" bit was lowered into the shaft through each end. With a 10.25" actual drill length, the center shaft piece was cut to 20.5". The drill drifted a bit, but the hole was adequate for the 1/4" rod to go through. The top part of the shaft was drilled only 4-5" long, as it's sturdier than the lower shaft. The bottom 3rd piece was drilled but the grain pushed the drill through the side, so I decided to cut a new piece to replace this from the same piece of wood, but using straight grain, not the crotch area. This piece was drilled only a couple inches to insert a double pointed screw since now it's straight grain and more stable, it didn't need the 1/4" rod through it's entire length. The hole was made slightly "loose" to give some wiggle room to allow the rod to go through all the pieces and still align, otherwise if tight, the probability of each drilled hole being off a bit is too high and I'd have a crooked cane. I made ebony spacers to connect the pieces together and epoxied the rod and screw in place. I will have to shape the spacers and the bottom part of the shaft and I have a 39" cane, with a whole 1" to spare for a final 38" cane.

Note: The handle was already attached and the cane was almost finished when I realized that the less figured cross-sectioned wood was too unstable. Thus, the fun of fixing this problem. Also, my shafts are not turned, they are hand shaped so that I can have a more organic shape, so they are not perfectly round or symmetrical, making this a bit trickier to work with.

All this because I insisted on designing a cane using highly figured crotch wood from Claro Black Walnut. My stubborness makes me push the envelope, sometimes more than necessary, but it's all for a journey of creativity and education!

Thanks again for all of your input. I will archive the suggestions for future referral!


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## mmh (Mar 17, 2008)

drgoodwood: That's the same type of drill bit I used, but it may be of better quality. The set I have was a real cheap set and the smaller diameter may be a little less than straight. For the most part it did an "OK" job, but I may need to invest in a higher quality bit if I want to try this again.

"Again!?", Yes, when you see the end result of this cane using this wood, you'll see why.


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## Ottis (Apr 17, 2009)

mmh…for a future job….you could build a extension bed for you lathe. I had to turn some extra long pieces for a project and my lathe was not long enough…so I built a two foot extension for my lathe out of good hard wood and made some angle iron brackets to sure it up…worked like a charm. If you would like…I could post some pics to show you.


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## Chiefk (Jan 28, 2008)

Many of the woodturning supply venders sell a lamp drilling bit. The lamp bit is fairly long and you just chuck into your hand help drill. Normally, you drill from the center on one end to just past center. Then drill from the other end until the two meet in the center. One word of caution, this bit or any other drill bit when drilled into end grain has a tendency to follow the grain. (This may not be as big a problem with cane) As has been pointed out above, you need to frequently pull the bit from the opening the clear away wood from the opening. Hope this helps. pkennedy


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## carpentersbench (Feb 1, 2011)

Use 1 3/16 dia. steel rod mounted on vee blocks or 2 wood blocks with 3/16 holes drilled though them. grind or file one end like you would a chisel edge. align the cane with the rod and clamp down . use your map torch to heat the very end of the rod until red hot. be wearing leather gloves and slide the rod in and out of the cane a little at a time. patience. When the burn is comletely through or to the depth you want, then open the hole to size with a 1/4 inch drill. You will be sliding the rod in and out turning occasionally to brush the carbon to the insidewalls of the bore.


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