Stretch that drill bit

[Frank S]

Sometimes I need a longer brill bit
Today was one of those times. I needed to frill through a 2x4 laminated table plus 2 6x6 s and 1/8" steel to mount the table in my machine shop van
I torch welded a 36" piece of 3/8" 1018 round rod to a 13/32" bit
I only needed a bit about 18" long but if anything is worth doing it is worth over doing, besides I can always cut it off later.
After grinding both pieces to a point

I welded them together with a torch with a slightly carbonizing flame IE a long center feather instead of a shorter oxidizing flame
the filler was a 1/8" 7018 rod with the flux removed

I kept the torch on the weld area slowly allowing the weld to cool as I moved the torch farther away

As you can see the bit is plenty long

[DIYer]

Thanks Frank S! We've added your Extended Drill Bit to our Drilling and Drill Presses category, as well as to your builder page: Frank S' Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Extended Drill Bit by Frank S

tags: drill bit

[Jamman]

love it I will need to make one for my rifling button project could use some help on it you game

[Toolmaker51]

Not to dissuade you, but button rifling is a bit more complicated. 1st; you asked about a broach. For this type of cut, it is a cutter with multiple radial teeth. They each 'scrape' a small bit of material, with an increase in tenths [.0001] from the starting end. It requires accurately sized and straight bore. It would take a 'set' of them, each with an un-toothed section to engage the previous cut and rate of twist. 2nd; A button is carbide, which requires specialized grinding equipment. Neither a practical project.
Best solution is a hook tool. They go back centuries and certain 'cut-rifling' barrel makers still use them. The bore-riding portion has a slot and adjustment for the cutter. It carries the cutter as being pulled through bore. Twist is regulated by the rifling bench. A pass is made in the first groove, rotated around to each groove one cut at a time. It has a wedge to increase the depth for each cut. .003 depth per side would need about 30+ minimum passes in each groove. The best barrel makers including Colt, Pope and others could control size so well the result was a very small taper - larger at breech than muzzle - to compress a lead projectile gently for the greatest accuracy. The debate goes on which method produces the best barrel. Cut rifling has the sharpest grooves and lands. Button barrels have the smoothest surfaces, burnished by the button, and easier to clean. Cut is great for lead, button barrels are good for jacketed bullets.

[C-Bag]

And thanks Frank for all the details like what kind filler rod, how you set the flame and holding the heat after completing the weld. Those are the details that are priceless and make for a successful project.

[Jamman]

toolmaker you know your stuff I need the simplest method I have a .22 barrel 5/16 id 1/2 od its 18in long I am not going for perfection just functionality and legality so if the hook will do the job can you help me build one I saw a youtube vid with a guy using a 1in piece of hack saw blade attached to a rod and repeatedly pushed through the barrel to cause groves is this like the hook method well if you come up with a plan I am all eyes and appreciation thank you for any help on this

[Jamman]

This may not be the place to do this I just want to apologize to any one offended on my Walmart comment but its true. Lots of you guys don't realize some of us guys are just making it with the economy and jobs being the way it is so we have to sorse our stuff and the tools and methods used may not be top notch but guess what it works and if I have to be more inventive because I don't have a mill or a Haas vf2 but i can come up with a part that I grinned or filed with so hand tool guess what it works. May be one guys opinion may not speak for the whole community but when the only opinions I get come from one guy it makes me wonder. All I can say before we had fancy mills and high teck tools and " Walmart" not bashing I buy stuff there too I am just generalizing may be I should say " store bought " yes my stuff looks crude but this is what I can afford to work with and may be I have resarched and tested my device. Once again I am not here to anger anyone so if my coment upsets you please send me a message and we can disscss it. Bottom line is I am asking for help so if you dont like the way I do things give me a better solution I think this is about fixing problems not making problems

[Frank S]

This thread started out as a method to extend common drill bits. Now it seems to have morphed into a couple of other discussions, which I have no problems with as far as it has gone so far. As long as everyone plays well with others
I have not commented on the rifling button Idea because I feel that anyone attempting to make a button is first going to have to create a very special tool grinding fixture as well as have a very high precision grinder and the skill set to create these buttons.
in general rifling buttons don't actually do much in the way of cutting the groves in the barrel as much as they do more to finish the bore to a smoother rifled state after the groves have been cut. Using the button alone to rifle a barrel method works better in the shorter barrels of handguns.
And that is as far as I am going to hijack my own thread. Feel free to submit a link to your own thread for the discussion of rifling a .22 barrel I will add this though When contemplating the making of a barrel for a fire arm first start off with good high quality ,materials if starting out with tubular steel be sure it is seamless and can withstand the explosive pressures of the discharge to what ever cartage or shell to be used. If this barrel is going to be a sleeved bore or a multi layered barrel then each successively smaller tube must fit tight to the previous bore the larger tube must be honed to as near perfection as possible while the tube to be inserted needs to be polished to as near to mirror as possible then frozen in dry ice or bathed in liquid nitrogen if possible to reduce the diameter enough to be pressed into the outer tube. after all tubes are assembled the final bore needs to be honed to precisely the correct diameter that the chart says the pre-rifling bore is for what ever caliber the barrel will be.
You may find that you will need to extend the length of the reamer or hone in much the same way as I did my simple drill bit extension or it may be better to thread an extension to the tool. Gunsmithing is not something you just wake up on Friday morning and decide you are going to build a fire arm over the weekend. it takes a lot of research and many special made tools to construct even the simplest of firearms if they are going to be safe and be accurate

[Jamman]

Frank I love your style and thank you for the info you gave me possibility this is what I am looking for not Its going to be hard to do of just go out and buy one. I am here to explore the possibilities make the impossibility's possible the time will come when we will need these skills and this medium and men like you might not be around. I took a shot in the dark and it payed off the end mill Idea was a long shot but with your help I see possabuilitys. I know there is a right way and a wrong way to do things but understanding the why its being done will determin the direction need. As I have said time and time again if the fore fathers could make useable devices with crude tools what is stopping us with the abundance of tecnoglogy and infomation at our finger tips.

Thank you Frank and the ones that said hey try this

The Jammer

[Jamman]

Frank thank you for your responce my goal is one come up with a finished project and learn the right way to do it or a way that is safe and will work. I think what a lot of guys dont seen to realize this is new to me and some good in put like you and a few others have given me is what I am looking for. When some one tells me they dont know what I am doing and then tell me what I am doing is wrong makes me wonder what is going on here where am I. I love advice but when some one is telling me everything is wrong but have no advice to fix it or a better way to do it is call criticism and I dont need that. I think from here on I will drop and forget the madness that got me upset. I just want to say thank you to all you guys who gave me very usefull infomation and hope my verbal diahrea did not scare off my help. I was reaching out to people who I thought might be interested in hopes they might pass on some info. So I ask you should I stop reaching out and wait to be contacted or contintune. As my grandmama uesd to say shut mouth dont get fed LoL.