Pipe making drills from the USA.

stew · Post by **stew** » Wed Sep 22, 2004 6:11 am

Certainly no arguing David, I like to get as much info from other makers
and the technique they use, it may also help anyone starting to make pipes or fancie's to trying and make a chanter. all the best,Stew

daveboling · Post by **daveboling** » Wed Sep 22, 2004 4:51 pm

A quick question before anyone starts in with their favorite bag color (I prefer bare leather...

)
David, are you using twist drills for your step drilling, or do you have a hoard of bushed (to guide from the larger bore) d-bits (or some other straight-flute drills)?

stew · Post by **stew** » Wed Sep 22, 2004 5:31 pm

I step drill with long twist drills to rich the desired length up the bore at each 1mm step size, don't know about David.

DMQuinn · Post by **DMQuinn** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 5:03 am

daveboling wrote:...
David, are you using twist drills for your step drilling, or do you have a hoard of bushed (to guide from the larger bore) d-bits (or some other straight-flute drills)?

I don't use twist bits for much. I use a range of pneumatic gun drills, and have worked up a set of tools that will go into a hole as left by a gun drill and start a pilot for the next smaller size. No bushings, as such. For those times when I need a bore size between the ones I can get with the gun drills, I use a set of very simple reamers, made from drill blanks, which leave the surface of the bore nearly as nice as what the gun drills leave. Complete details are in an article I wrote for the (Seattle) Pipers' Review on the topic of Low-Tech Boring Bits. Wally will be happy to provide back issues at reasonable rates.

reedman · Post by **reedman** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 12:12 pm

Forgive my ignorance here,

"but" if gun drills are so good why ain't every pipemaker useing these super duper gun drills, :roll: or is it a case of I use Hi tech tools, So He'a my pipes must be the best, is it the modern day case that we live in a world of glorified shight, like 90% of conversations on the hi tech "mobile phone is shight"

O how did the world ever survive without all this modern day technology, "Well it did" it was called "Life" Craftsman produced beautiful & wonderful things of all kinds with the simplest of tools at hand, in the modern day world we have beautiful hi tech tools and produce hi tech shight, if a craftsman of old could work with these basic tools Why can't the so called craftsman of today work with them and make great stuff, what ever happened to skill, craftsmanship, and quality,Coyne & Harrington did'nt need gun drills.

the worlds gone mad!.

glands · Post by **glands** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 10:32 pm

Forgive my ignorance here,
"but" if gun drills are so good why ain't every pipemaker useing these super duper gun drills, or is it a case of I use Hi tech tools, So He'a my pipes must be the best, is it the modern day case that we live in a world of glorified shight, like 90% of conversations on the hi tech "mobile phone is shight" O how did the world ever survive without all this modern day technology, "Well it did" it was called "Life" Craftsman produced beautiful & wonderful things of all kinds with the simplest of tools at hand, in the modern day world we have beautiful hi tech tools and produce hi tech shight, if a craftsman of old could work with these basic tools Why can't the so called craftsman of today work with them and make great stuff, what ever happened to skill, craftsmanship, and quality,Coyne & Harrington did'nt need gun drills. the worlds gone mad!.

Go take a "shight" in an old fashioned smelly outhouse and wipe your bum hole with a corn cob as you ponder these questions and issues that you rant about. Perhaps the answers will only then come to you. Seek and ye shall find.

Jim McGuire · Post by **Jim McGuire** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 10:52 pm

reedman wrote:Forgive my ignorance here, "but" if gun drills are so good why ain't every pipemaker useing these super duper gun drills

Every pipemaker is not required to own one. Gun drills cost (in the US) around $100-150, save time, and produce an excellent result. Doing a pilot hole is a small part of the boring/reaming of pipes but getting a solid pilot hole can make the rest happen the way the maker wants it to. I do know that every pipemaker that I know who has tried one out has added it to his pipemaking operation.

DMQuinn · Post by **DMQuinn** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 6:27 am

I don't have contact with enough other pipemakers to know, but it would be interesting to learn if any maker who has tried gun drills has in fact rejected them and gone back to using earlier tooling.

The old masters didn't use gun drills, but I'm guessing they used the best techniques and tools they knew of at the time. That's where craftsmanship lies: not in stubbornly holding on to an old way of doing things in spite of demonstrably better results with something else.

John Mulhern · Post by **John Mulhern** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 9:42 am

Dunno, Reed, I don't think anyone's saying that gundrill's are necessarily better,... they're certainly more expensive. I've bought 3 of 'em on Ebay for $10 - $ 15 each, but's it's a pig-in-a-poke regarding size. I think people are just using them because they save time that can be spent on other pipemaking task's. Gundrill's have been around a long time...probably as long as artillery. Using a bit that fit's tightly, is self guiding, and bore's on one side, like a D bit...is just a better way of producing a concentric deep hole than using a bit that chisel's a hole from it's center. The compressed air, for wood/coolant or cutting oil, for metal, that flow's through the shank evacuating chip's, keeping the cutting edge free from chip buildup, is what's responsible for their speed. I don't think anyone's saying they're "super duper" or better than a D bit ground out of O-1...just quicker.
Re:"the good ol day's"...I disagree. I think most craftsmen/artisan's throughout history would've jumped at the chance to use the technology at our disposal today...at least to rough out their final product...to have more time to finesse, voice, fine tune. I agree that sometime's it's difficult to tell the difference between folk's on a mobile phone with tiny headset, laughing & rambling to themselve's in a supermarket... from loony bin release's...but I gotta think that Coyne, Harrington, the Taylor's would've loved to have had a computer...and a CAD/CAM...and a HAAS CNC turning center...and a mobile phone to call their honey's for some luvin' and another beer.

reedman · Post by **reedman** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 5:47 am

Glands wrote, Go take a "shight" in an old fashioned smelly outhouse.

Were do you live pal, hear in England we live a bit more refine life, we have sh*t houses. :roll:

All the best, and hope your next shight's a hedge Hog.

glands · Post by **glands** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 7:36 am

My point is that why not avail oneself of the opportunity to use advanced tools and trechnologies while they exist. None of us are willing to evacuate our bowels the way Harrington and Coyne may have been required to do so since we have indoor plumbing with fancy toilets so why stick to old tools and methods in regards to pipe making. Of course, I understand they may have had plumbing too but I'll betcha they also had used the outhouse a time or two in their travels.

And, why care what people talk about when they use their cell phones. One of the great benefits of technology is convenience. Those seemingly meaningless conversations often provide comfort and consolation to the partiesinvolved in the "shight" conversations. Do we need them? Probably not. Are they great to have? Absolutely.

AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:16 am

[quote="glands"]None of us are willing to evacuate our bowels the way Harrington and Coyne may have been required to do so since we have indoor plumbing with fancy toilets

quote]

Go to Glastonbury Fest.,. It wouldn't be the same if you weren't fishing your wallet out of the poo while tripping off your head. (or so I'm told).

How an analogy betwixt pipemaking and defecation can be used beats me??

Alan

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:50 am

....perhaps it relates to glandular functions...uh...in a way....maybe???

glands · Post by **glands** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 2:15 pm

Well, somebody else here mentioned all the "shight" (I would have spelled it sh*t). The comparison of the effects of advances in technology on our bathroom activities and the process of pipemaking came to mind. I was prompted to suggest thoughts on the rant when considering that people sit on the throne in a posture resembling Rodin's "The Thinker" and often do indeed think while sitting and doing their business. I had hoped that sitting there wondering about the analogies would....well..... never mind.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 3:30 pm

Sometimes this board is just a veritable water closet of knowledge.

Talking about mounting the porcelain, did anyone ever consider porcelain mounts?

Feeling flushed

H.