I bought one of Chris' gun drills, the .775". It was shy of $180 shipped. It came in yesterday & looked like a gun drill, nothing fancy. I bought a small compressor from Lowes for $120, to use with it. The air hook-up is on the side of the bit, so it chucks up easily into even a 1/2" drill chuck. So far, it was very easy & simple to set up.
First of all, the lathe I tested the bit on was my Deluxe, which a lot of guys have. I used a 3/4" straight router bit to drill a 1" pilot hole into the wood, which was a piece of cocobolo. I then chucked up the gun drill & slowly guided it into the hole while the lathe was spinning. I kept my hand on the bit to keep it from vibrating. Once in, it began cutting nice & blowing the chips right out the groove in the bit. I left the tailstock body loose so it could move freely, and had the barrel locked. I put the carriage behind it, pushing it steadily with the autofeed. It took about 3 minutes to drill through the cocobolo with one sweeping, smooth cut. I held a vacuum hose up close to the hole & it caught 99% of the dust & chips being blown out. My concern was how accurately the drill would follow center. I knew my pilot was center. Well, the drill emerged from the other end dead center. I then drilled three more cocobolo rounds & one zircote to be sure it wasn't a lucky fluke. It came out center every time, and the auto feed made it rediculously easy.
So in essence, i'm thoroughly impressed with the drill. I used my Deluxe lathe because I could use autofeed with the bit chucked up in the tailstock, unlike most drills that are mounted on the carriage. It cut smooth, clean, and as fast as I wanted to go. The Deluxe is a common lathe amoung cuemakers, and now there's a gun drill that can easily be used with it to do dead nuts accurate coring. I accurately cored 5 pieces of wood in an hour, which i'm not sure if that's fast or slow but in my shop it's friggin fast. Just thought i'd share my experience with other Deluxe owners.
First of all, the lathe I tested the bit on was my Deluxe, which a lot of guys have. I used a 3/4" straight router bit to drill a 1" pilot hole into the wood, which was a piece of cocobolo. I then chucked up the gun drill & slowly guided it into the hole while the lathe was spinning. I kept my hand on the bit to keep it from vibrating. Once in, it began cutting nice & blowing the chips right out the groove in the bit. I left the tailstock body loose so it could move freely, and had the barrel locked. I put the carriage behind it, pushing it steadily with the autofeed. It took about 3 minutes to drill through the cocobolo with one sweeping, smooth cut. I held a vacuum hose up close to the hole & it caught 99% of the dust & chips being blown out. My concern was how accurately the drill would follow center. I knew my pilot was center. Well, the drill emerged from the other end dead center. I then drilled three more cocobolo rounds & one zircote to be sure it wasn't a lucky fluke. It came out center every time, and the auto feed made it rediculously easy.
So in essence, i'm thoroughly impressed with the drill. I used my Deluxe lathe because I could use autofeed with the bit chucked up in the tailstock, unlike most drills that are mounted on the carriage. It cut smooth, clean, and as fast as I wanted to go. The Deluxe is a common lathe amoung cuemakers, and now there's a gun drill that can easily be used with it to do dead nuts accurate coring. I accurately cored 5 pieces of wood in an hour, which i'm not sure if that's fast or slow but in my shop it's friggin fast. Just thought i'd share my experience with other Deluxe owners.
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