I still Cant Drill Down Inside a Brass Rod- Please Help
so I have wasted $$ and about 1.5 feet about 3/4" solid brass rods. I have a WEN drill press which inst the most expensive but it gets the job done except for this job. I have brad point bits, and having a the worst time drilling down the center of the rod. I have seen online that you reverse the bit and put it into the vise while you put the rod in the chuck. However my chuck goes to 1/2 and will not hold 3/4" stock. I dont want to spend even more money swapping out for a larger chuck. I have 3 types of center finders for circular items. I cant seem to figure out why im not getting a center point and then lighting up the drill bit onto the brass rod. Maybe someone can give me some pointers so I dont keep buying more and more brass rods and basically turning them into trash. The center finder are from woodpeckers so they should be top quality. I also found something cheaper from amazon. Maybe the drill press is off but it is level on my workbench and seems to be squared. Happy to provide photos but it would be nice to know what im doing wrong.
End goal is building a lamp. I need to drill 1/2" hole in one end of the 3/4" brass rod, and then 3/8" at the the end for the lamp socket.
Re: I still Cant Drill Down Inside a Brass Rod- Please Help
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dmf6978
so I have wasted $$ and about 1.5 feet about 3/4" solid brass rods. I have a WEN drill press which inst the most expensive but it gets the job done except for this job. I have brad point bits, and having a the worst time drilling down the center of the rod. I have seen online that you reverse the bit and put it into the vise while you put the rod in the chuck. However my chuck goes to 1/2 and will not hold 3/4" stock. I dont want to spend even more money swapping out for a larger chuck. I have 3 types of center finders for circular items. I cant seem to figure out why im not getting a center point and then lighting up the drill bit onto the brass rod. Maybe someone can give me some pointers so I dont keep buying more and more brass rods and basically turning them into trash. The center finder are from woodpeckers so they should be top quality. I also found something cheaper from amazon. Maybe the drill press is off but it is level on my workbench and seems to be squared. Happy to provide photos but it would be nice to know what im doing wrong.
End goal is building a lamp. I need to drill 1/2" hole in one end of the 3/4" brass rod, and then 3/8" at the the end for the lamp socket.
A brad point drill is for drilling wood, if you get the correct drills for the job then it will drill very easy, finding the center you have to do that by scribing a intersecting lines and then center punch where the lines intersect very basic, or if you know someone with a lathe they could do it in a few minutes
Re: I still Cant Drill Down Inside a Brass Rod- Please Help
It is best to drill with a drill.
In fact, I do not make holes on the machine itself, but only outline the drilling in the center. Then I continue my drill - fast, easy, productive.
