I escaped Charley so I'm trudging on:

Thanks Kevin and Mike for the upgrades. I hope for more.

Gordon, I hope someone, perhaps our resident D bit person Leif, will
pitch in with further info for you. He will suggest lubricating the bit
with LDD, which may not be a bad idea. Anyway, to add a few more iffy
tips that some woodturning beginners may not know...... or not want to
know:

13. To provide rigidity. the web of some twist drills thickens along the
shaft's axis. Sharpening with an automatic drill sharpener or a fixed
jig can lead to a thicker chisel edge as the bit shortens. This may
reduce the cutting edge and increase the rubbing surface.
14. Oversize holes may be caused by forcing the bit, or the drill's tip
being off center. Beginning without a pilot hole or shallow and smaller
than the web may not allow the bit to follow and might drill an
oversized hole.
15. Warning! Some new cheap twist drills are neither accurate nor
precise. Some have dull edges with unequal edge lengths and eccentric
points. Often the edges are too backed off for drilling wood. Shaft
diameters vary and some aren't even straight. Woodturners can often get
by, but examine them before buying used or bargain twist drills.
16. Failing to withdraw the bit often in order to clear the chips might
cause them to pile up to one side. This can wedge the bit eccentrically
and force it to cut oversize or to seize up in the hole.
17. When withdrawing a bit held in a tapered Jacobs chuck, hold on to
the chuck, not the tailstock. A drill & chuck that has just exited the
tail spindle and is flying around is a fearsome thing,

Feel free to rub off these jottings from my 'palimpsest', Arch

Fortiter,


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