dril bit jammed

W

weegee3

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey guys
I have a drill bit jammed in the end of a purple heart shaft and have been at it over an hour and since it's getting late, I'm going to bed and sleep on it.
Have tried locking the bit down with a vice grip and pulled and pounded on it but it's in there prety good. I need something like a wheel puller, only smaller to pursuade it out. I suspect the shavings have it jammed tight. I'd like to save both the shaftt and the bit, so I'm calling out to you more clever guys than I to give me the answer, so I can get back at it after breakfast. Eventually I'll solve it but perhaps you have gone through it before and can save me some time and sweat.
Thanks for helping me with a pissy assed problem
Weegee
 
weegee3 said:
Hey guys
I have a drill bit jammed in the end of a purple heart shaft and have been at it over an hour and since it's getting late, I'm going to bed and sleep on it.
Have tried locking the bit down with a vice grip and pulled and pounded on it but it's in there prety good. I need something like a wheel puller, only smaller to pursuade it out. I suspect the shavings have it jammed tight. I'd like to save both the shaftt and the bit, so I'm calling out to you more clever guys than I to give me the answer, so I can get back at it after breakfast. Eventually I'll solve it but perhaps you have gone through it before and can save me some time and sweat.
Thanks for helping me with a pissy assed problem
Weegee
Click to expand...

This may sound silly but have you tried to twist the bit in reverse?
 
While the bit, and the shaft were chucked up in the lathe, you could'nt turn the chuck by hand to free it? Might try laying it down and tapping gently on the drill bit with a mallet, on all sides.
 
It is very common with twist drills (not sure what type drill you are using) to grab and get jammed when they are about to break thru on very thin, as well as very soft materials. Look at the flute edge on a spiral flute drill, as opposed to the edge on a spade drill. The spade drill is flat faced, while the twist drill has an aggressive rake angle. That rake angle is what causes the problem. You can just take the drill to a bench grinder and hand grind the face angles back on the cutting edges a bit, to maybe 3 to 5 degrees, and it will eliminate the majority of these problems. This won't get your drill out, but it'll save you some headaches next time.
 
Busbee Cue said:
This may sound silly but have you tried to twist the bit in reverse?
Click to expand...

What he said, but lock the chuck from turning, and use a jar opener, you know the rubber type wrap you would put on a jar lid to open it, or the stuff you put under a rug or place mat to stop it fromn moving. Use that to wrap around the shaft and use you hand on the shaft to help with it not to turn. While doing that, use a pair of visegrips on the shank of the drillbit and turn it in rev, then forward and back and forth like that untill you get it to let go and come out. It sounds like the chips backed up and got trapped and now have formed a blockade behind the point of the drill bit. When wood gets hot, it expands and can do this. The morning may bring a better result. Hope all ends well.
Dave
 
I can't remember not getting one out when something like this happened, but I do remember it's much harder after It's cooled down. I suppose this is due to expansion and contraction. I've come to find out that for me, if this happens, The quicker I get it loose the better. I do what has already been mentioned first, and This depends on lathe I guess, but I reverse the jaws by hand, or grab the cue/shaft it's self from behind the tail stock so that It does not spin inside of the jaws, and I try to break the drill free, while backing it out. sometimes If you get It slightly loose you can work It back and forth just a tad, and free it up some more, and that can make backing it all the way out easier. If the drill is spinning in the chuck, then sometimes I can tighten It up more and just be aware of whether I'm spinning it while trying to break the cutting side free.

2 different situations can occur though, There's the one where you start breaking the outer edge that was mentioned. I've noticed that when I feel It starting to grab if I do a controlled tight style of chip drilling right at the end that It helps to keep this from happening to me. As already mentioned the type of bit has much to do with that. I have all different kinds and sizes, and they each have their own characteristics. Some cut slower, but don't bind, Others are more aggressive and are highly prone to it.

The other situation is smoking the drill up, and for lack of better words, sort of fusing It to the wood. That one can get pretty bad also, and have you pulling hair out in wands just the same.

Sometimes they come loose easily and other times It can seem hopeless. I think most of all It was probably just persistence on My part that eventually led to getting the drill free when this happened. Truth is if there is an easier way I'd be interesting in hearing too. I just have My drills that I have used, know how each one acts, and so can see trouble coming before it happens, but there's always that occasional goof up when I try to push things even though I know better.

Greg
 
Dave38 said:
What he said, but lock the chuck from turning, and use a jar opener, you know the rubber type wrap you would put on a jar lid to open it, or the stuff you put under a rug or place mat to stop it fromn moving. Use that to wrap around the shaft and use you hand on the shaft to help with it not to turn. While doing that, use a pair of visegrips on the shank of the drillbit and turn it in rev, then forward and back and forth like that untill you get it to let go and come out. It sounds like the chips backed up and got trapped and now have formed a blockade behind the point of the drill bit. When wood gets hot, it expands and can do this. The morning may bring a better result. Hope all ends well.
Dave
Click to expand...



That's about the only other way I can think of to do it when all else fails. I hate putting the vice grips to the drill, but if It just slides in the chuck, a vise can't hold it, etc., then it's the only way I know of to get a good enough grip on it. Sometimes you have to keep the back and forth going all the way out. Probably jamming and re jamming the same chips over and over. I can't remember the last time I locked one up that bad though. I try to avoid It at all costs, but I've had a few battles with it in the past. I think being paranoid about It, helps me avoid It LOL. Might not be as accurate or solid as a metal lathe, but that's one thing I like about taig tailstocks. I have more feel and control therefore, am able to counteract any problems coming before hand. I only use drills to make a hole anyhow, everything is undersized, and followed up with a boring bar or carbide reamer. More accurate holes in metal pins etc. I do an another lathe. I turn the noses and polish on the same lathe.
 
I am embarrasses to admit it but my question was stupid and I wish I had never asked the question. After a nights rest, I was able to free the drill with a vice grip and a hammer.
It does say though, that working late at night when tired is a recipe for trouble.
You do stupid things and you can compound the problem by saying stupid things.
In the future, I shall endeavor to not work with power tolls when tired and more importantly, not expose my stupidity to my colleages on the internet.
What a smchuck.
Weegee
 
weegee3 said:
I am embarrasses to admit it but my question was stupid and I wish I had never asked the question. After a nights rest, I was able to free the drill with a vice grip and a hammer.
It does say though, that working late at night when tired is a recipe for trouble.
You do stupid things and you can compound the problem by saying stupid things.
In the future, I shall endeavor to not work with power tolls when tired and more importantly, not expose my stupidity to my colleages on the internet.
What a smchuck.
Weegee
Click to expand...

Don't feel too bad, we've all been there. the only people who never
have problems are those who never do anything:).

Glad to hear you were able to retrieve your stuck bit, I'll offer a tip for
others who may face a similar problem at some time.

Next time: dry ice on the shank of the bit.

Ways to avoid a 'next time'.

Purpleheart, like many of the tropical hardwoods is gummy, and can "weld"
itself to the spiral of a bit - similar to Aluminium.

Don't try to drill the full length in one plunge. Feed the bit in an inch-ish,
retract and clean out the spiral, feed in another inch, rinse. lather, repeat.

You might even need to drill with a smaller diameter bit, or two, before
drilling the final size.

Dale
 
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