Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on April 19, 2010 at 4:28am

Matt,
Sears use to sell a fly or plainer cutter to be used in a drill press.This cutter could make 3 inch wide cuts at one pass. I agree light cuts work the best in a milling machine or drill press. Push sticks could also help:)

Bpb

Matt Towe said:

Nice Bob!
I used the drill bit technique a couple of weeks ago to remove a depth of 1/4" from a 2x4 that was 10" long. (Making a very heavy duty sanding block for 40 grit).
I took my time and also used a fence. Worked very well and quicker than I expected.
1 trick I came up with. Since shallow cuts work best, I make a thin wedge to put under the depth gauge carrier on the drill.
Make a cut, tap the wedge for a bit more depth, make another cut, tap, cut, tap, cut ad infinito .....


Matt

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Permalink Reply by Dave Onastik on April 19, 2010 at 4:45am

How would this method work for cutting a channel out of a neck for a truss rod?

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Permalink Reply by Ben on April 19, 2010 at 4:48am

I think it could work pretty well as long as you have a template to go by. Just make sure you dump the woodchips regularly.

Dave Onastik said:

How would this method work for cutting a channel out of a neck for a truss rod?

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Permalink Reply by Doug Thorsvik on April 19, 2010 at 2:45pm

I use the technique to cut the slots in my poplar necks to accept a 1/2" x 1/8" steel bar and it works pretty good. I just grind down the other side of a normal 9/64" drill bit (smaller bits broke on me). I had to build a special jig to raise the table small amounts on my old drill press.

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Permalink Reply by Outhouse Instruments on April 19, 2010 at 4:42pm

Bob Harrison said:

Matt,
Sears use to sell a fly or plainer cutter to be used in a drill press.This cutter could make 3 inch wide cuts at one pass. I agree light cuts work the best in a milling machine or drill press. Push sticks could also help:) Bpb

I don't think Sears still sells them, but there is a thing called a Saf-T-Planer ( I think) and that's what it is ... a flycutter of sorts for wood. I think the call it a thicknesser or sumpthin.

Hard to find and more than I wanted to pay.

Matt

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Permalink Reply by Dave Onastik on April 19, 2010 at 11:23pm

Good to know Doug. Thanks. I have a small Sears Tabletop router that would work for a truss channel, but the idea of cutting the channel with the neck face down where I can't see what's happening makes me nervous.

Doug Thorsvik said:

I use the technique to cut the slots in my poplar necks to accept a 1/2" x 1/8" steel bar and it works pretty good. I just grind down the other side of a normal 9/64" drill bit (smaller bits broke on me). I had to build a special jig to raise the table small amounts on my old drill press.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on April 20, 2010 at 7:15am

Doug,
I like the idea of useing the dril bit to cut a slot in your neck. This method is much safer than useing a router bit. Unrestrained Router bits in a drillpress is a far differant animal than a drill bit used as a side cutting tool in this applacation. Drill bits can flex and this aids in not grabbing the wood, but drill bits can break easer than a router bit. Wear your safty glasses all :)
Bob
Doug Thorsvik said:

I use the technique to cut the slots in my poplar necks to accept a 1/2" x 1/8" steel bar and it works pretty good. I just grind down the other side of a normal 9/64" drill bit (smaller bits broke on me). I had to build a special jig to raise the table small amounts on my old drill press.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on April 21, 2010 at 12:06pm

All, I tried the drill bit as a router bit for the truss rod slot. First I drilled a lot of holes to full depth, then routed the holes into a slot. This worked very well. Thanks for the good tip:) Bob

Dave Onastik said:

Good to know Doug. Thanks. I have a small Sears Tabletop router that would work for a truss channel, but the idea of cutting the channel with the neck face down where I can't see what's happening makes me nervous.


Doug Thorsvik said:

I use the technique to cut the slots in my poplar necks to accept a 1/2" x 1/8" steel bar and it works pretty good. I just grind down the other side of a normal 9/64" drill bit (smaller bits broke on me). I had to build a special jig to raise the table small amounts on my old drill press.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Onastik on April 21, 2010 at 5:39pm

Great idea!
Bob Harrison said:

All,

I tried the drill bit as a router bit for the truss rod slot. First I drilled a lot of holes to full depth, then routed the holes into a slot. This worked very well. Thanks for the good tip:)

Bob

Dave Onastik said:

Good to know Doug. Thanks. I have a small Sears Tabletop router that would work for a truss channel, but the idea of cutting the channel with the neck face down where I can't see what's happening makes me nervous.


Doug Thorsvik said:

I use the technique to cut the slots in my poplar necks to accept a 1/2" x 1/8" steel bar and it works pretty good. I just grind down the other side of a normal 9/64" drill bit (smaller bits broke on me). I had to build a special jig to raise the table small amounts on my old drill press.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on April 22, 2010 at 3:23am

This is what I used for years to make a drill press into a milling machine. Harbor Freight sells them for about $40.00 for the 4 inch model.:)

Dave Onastik said:

Great idea!


Bob Harrison said:

All,

I tried the drill bit as a router bit for the truss rod slot. First I drilled a lot of holes to full depth, then routed the holes into a slot. This worked very well. Thanks for the good tip:)

Bob

Dave Onastik said:

Good to know Doug. Thanks. I have a small Sears Tabletop router that would work for a truss channel, but the idea of cutting the channel with the neck face down where I can't see what's happening makes me nervous.


Doug Thorsvik said:

I use the technique to cut the slots in my poplar necks to accept a 1/2" x 1/8" steel bar and it works pretty good. I just grind down the other side of a normal 9/64" drill bit (smaller bits broke on me). I had to build a special jig to raise the table small amounts on my old drill press.

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Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on April 22, 2010 at 4:16pm

You can get drill rod at Fastenall, I buy them to forge knives out of them they are 01 steel.
I have one of those vises but it is not really flat on the bottom, other than that it works well for the price.
You can make a lot out of one rod and send them to your friends
Cheers Ron.
http://www.fastenal.com/web/locations.ex
http://www.fastenal.com/web/products.ex?N=0&Ntk=Search+All&...

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