Drilling through a R&P

Lurch830

Lurch830

messin' with sasquatch
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Location
Wilton, NC
Anybody know of a shop/person that has a carbide bit long enough to drill through a d60 pinion?
I've got an idea to turn an old set of gears into a lamp and my drill press/drills won't cut it.
Overall idea is to bore a ~3/8" hole through the pinion lengthwise, drill another hole (or machine a slot) @ 90* to that one & the last one (or another slot) through the radius of the ring. I'll then weld them together, run one of those DIY lamp kits from Lowe's/Home Depot & clear coat it
 
You could maybe find a machine shop that could put it on a lathe and bore a hole that long for a "decent" price. Would be much easier to anneal it first too.
 
Drilling a hole like that is no challenge for any decent machine shop, but I doubt they'd do it for free, haha. Or if they say it's not possible, it could be cut with a sinker EDM. I believe user PAT Ventures on here owns or is somehow involved with Rockingham Wire Cut, which likely has the equipment to EDM it. But a carbide drill bit will walk right through it and there should be plenty of people around Concord who could do it.
 
If you felt like sending it down here, I could do it. I'd like to see what you're going to do with it. That sounds like a great idea for my brand new house! Lamps made out of truck parts :D
 
jeepinmatt said:
Drilling a hole like that is no challenge for any decent machine shop, but I doubt they'd do it for free, haha. Or if they say it's not possible, it could be cut with a sinker EDM. I believe user PAT Ventures on here owns or is somehow involved with Rockingham Wire Cut, which likely has the equipment to EDM it. But a carbide drill bit will walk right through it and there should be plenty of people around Concord who could do it.
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That's what I'm thinking, I just don't know who to ask. My connection at CPCC is gone & we're not allowed to do 'government' jobs anymore at work which sucks since we have some cool toys to play with! I'm willing to anneal it a bit with a torch before hand to make it easier/quicker. May be able to get it done at Fabrication Associates for cheap...

Croatan_Kid said:
If you felt like sending it down here, I could do it. I'd like to see what you're going to do with it. That sounds like a great idea for my brand new house! Lamps made out of truck parts :D
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I'll keep this in mind. I'll be at Sunset Beach October 12th to shoot a sniper rifle dialed in at 600 yards & ride bikes. That's the closest I'll be for a while, but its still ~3hrs away. Either way, when I'm done I'll post up some pictures!
 
If you find a machine shop with a lathe that can do it, I'd compare pricing of just doing a hole large enough to feed a wire vs hollowing as much material out as possible. shed some weight. but that might not be a concern of yours.
 
mbalbritton said:
If you find a machine shop with a lathe that can do it, I'd compare pricing of just doing a hole large enough to feed a wire vs hollowing as much material out as possible. shed some weight. but that might not be a concern of yours.
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Not a bad idea...my real concern is somebody getting cut on the exposed teeth.
 
Lurch830 said:
Not a bad idea...my real concern is somebody getting cut on the exposed teeth.
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Have it powder coated with Clear. Looks GREAT on raw metal and it smooths out the sharp edges while leaving a crisp edge. We do many of our retail displays with clear powdercoat over raw metal. Its really cool and preserves that raw metal look and seals it from rust. You can even get a satin or a gloss finish.
 
mbalbritton said:
Have it powder coated with Clear. Looks GREAT on raw metal and it smooths out the sharp edges while leaving a crisp edge. We do many of our retail displays with clear powdercoat over raw metal. Its really cool and preserves that raw metal look and seals it from rust. You can even get a satin or a gloss finish.
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Got any pictures & a ball park estimate?
I thought about just clear coating it with the spray bombs you can get at auto stores. I welded 4 rotors & a drum brake together one time as a fire pit/trash can for a co-worker & then clear coated it...heaviest flippin' trash can I've ever seen!
 
I would use a carbide bit, drill through the hardened steel on the outside at both ends, then use a long standard bit for the inside. It's not through-hardened. You can probably purchase the bits you need for $15.
 
Lurch830 said:
Got any pictures & a ball park estimate?
I thought about just clear coating it with the spray bombs you can get at auto stores. I welded 4 rotors & a drum brake together one time as a fire pit/trash can for a co-worker & then clear coated it...heaviest flippin' trash can I've ever seen!
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I can get pictures, but for a one off piece you would probably achieve the same/similar result with clear spray bomb coated lightly several times. I did that with a beadlock ring I had and it looked great.
 
OnlyOneDR said:
I would use a carbide bit, drill through the hardened steel on the outside at both ends, then use a long standard bit for the inside. It's not through-hardened. You can probably purchase the bits you need for $15.
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That's what I'm thinking, but I don't think my simple bench top drill press would cut it (as far as set-up).

mbalbritton said:
I can get pictures, but for a one off piece you would probably achieve the same/similar result with clear spray bomb coated lightly several times. I did that with a beadlock ring I had and it looked great.
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That's my plan, I figured that powder coating would run this 'project' up in $. Trying to get it all done for a $20-$30 since its just a trinket.
 
As long as you can slow that drill way down you should be okay, and use some cutting fluid. You do not want a fast drill speed (guessing <300rpm), but high pressure is good. You can probably make a wooden jig to hold it upright and square and to "pinch" it to hold it in place, then bolt or clamp to the drill press base plate.
 
I can't remember how slow I can get the bit turning, but when I reamed my toyota dropped pitman arm, I know the reamer stalled my drill press several times before I took it to somebody else.
 
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