drilling long (36") accurate holes in wood

[M Smith]

Don,

glad to have someone chime in who has actually done this drilling operation successfully.

I really like the idea of rotating the post a quarter turn after drilling a little bit to ck alignment- i had not thought of that.

This is a traditional turned post so it has 3 areas that reduce down- the smallest being only 1 3/4". This is why it has to be very very close to being right on. I would not have even asked about this here if it were just a solid round or square post- that would be fairly straight forward as you have described and am confident i could drill thru without a problem.

I called a old time custom wood turning shop here locally (Abaroot Wood Turning) and inquired if they could do it for me- NO was the answer along with a bit of a chuckle as he said "Good Luck" !!!

I also asked my stair parts supplier who did the custom turning and he also said they were not set up for something like that.

Going to attempt it mon or tues and am confident it will work.

thanx to all for their input,

M Smith

[newman]

If the smallest diameter of the newel is 1-3/4" and you're drilling a 1-1/8" hole, it leaves you with a wall thickness of 5/16" - aren't you worried it will break along that area?

[newman]

more importantly, who spec'd this job?

[M Smith]

Newman,

yes i am concerned about the amount of "meat" left after drilling the thru hole. 5/16" doesn't sound like much but's enough, at least that's my "gut" feeling about it. It's only that dim for a very small area- again it's a "traditional turned post".

This is a "design as you go" project, so i'm the guilty party responsible for "spec'ing" this out. This thread was born out of my other thread "Newel Post Attachment- Engineers Wanted" - i was not originally going to drill a thru hole but found it to be a very interestin concept (post tensioning) that was suggested and thought this to be a perfect oppurtunity to try it out. Mainly to say that i did it and go thru the learning process to understand it and put it away in my "bag of tricks" for the "next" time.

M Smith

[Jim Baldwin]

Well Matt I'm not surprised you got a chuckle from Abaroot (he could have turned you a new newel post with a hole in it, quicker than us talking about it). As for the assertion that full length lamp posts are somehow bored after turning... well that's another chuckle.

The only comment that made any sense was the suggestion to bore it on a lathe with the post rotating around the stationary bit. Of course you'd need a serious machinist lathe (the kind they bore gun and artillery barrels with.

My grandpa in Abaroots' shop cir. 1950's

[M Smith]

Jim,

i still haven't attempted the drilling operation !!! The clients changed their mind on some design details AGAIN. All new treads and risers in Rift White Oak instead of the plain sawn ones i already fitted and finished !!!!!

Info about lamp posts being bored thru after they are turned was just something i read about. I haven't actually tried it but with a good sharp ship auger bit and an extension or two i'd think it'd be fairly straight forward to do ???

Take a look at reply #29 - there's a link to a YouTube video of EXACTLY they way i would do it if i had access to such a machine. The bit is definitely not stationary as you suggest, but it's all about the bit tip geometry- similar to a shell auger bit used for drilling long accurate holes in wood.

Let you know how it goes - your comments earlier in the thread were taken as a personal challenge which i actually embraced heartily as i rarely get them. Coming from someone with your experience makes it even more enticing !!!

M Smith

[Jim Baldwin]

Interesting video and demonstrates that anything is possible (I should have taken the time to view it prior to responding). In the machinists' trade, this is routinely done with "line-boring" lathes and equipment (no harbor freight re-engineering required).

Still I have turned many newel posts, columns, pedestals (and at least a few dozen lamp posts) around a central hole. I've also bored deep holes precisely in the ends of turned posts (on the lathe) in order to splice them together but that's another subject.
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Ah yes, customers (Goldie Hawn in "Overboard"). I actually had some rich-beech tell me once that the my oak looked "to oakie" (No lie).