Drill bits

[hdehart]

My question is on drill bits. I keep breaking my bits when trying to make the pivot polishers as shown in your learning to turn video. Is there some sort of clutching mechanism that I should use for this? I drilled my last one by holding the bit in a pin vise. I still managed to break one bit though. Thanks ahead of time.

Howard DeHart

[drichards]

Hi Howard
That’s a very good question!
The trick for drilling brass is to use a drill with a low rake angle. Otherwise a sharp twist drill will tend to grab the soft brass and can snap the drill. Some brasses drill better than others though.
Changing the rake angle on a twist drill by hand isn’t easy for me but if you dull the cutting edge a little that will work wonders and that’s really easy to do. Here’s a link to an article showing a simple technique to grind the tip.
Another option is to make a spade drill.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/handycrowd.com/drilling-brass-the-easy-and-safe-way/amp/

Hope it helps Howard!
Dean

[hdehart]

Thank you very much Dean. That is good information. I’m using some very small drill bits, but I understand the concept.

Howard

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