Step drilling goose barrels!

[Jeff @ Mutt Calls]

Parker, I'm not sure if I can help here or not.  I'll add my two cents for what it's worth.  I'm not on the same level talent wise as others joined in here on this topic.  Are you "stepping" your barrels so your 5/8" bore comes out to a 7/8" bore at the end.... sort of like a flute?  I think this is what I am hearing?  I have pretty good luck doing it this way.  I use a shortened homemade pin mandrel.  After I turn my barrel on my regular mandrel, I will remove it and use the short mandrel. Obviously I put the flute facing out or away from the mandrel so I can bore inside.  If you have bored your barrel all the way through @ 5/8" that is you starting diameter.  I use a small scew chisel and work down into the bore and get the flute shape I want.  Depending on your mandrel design, you can usually bore into the barrel up to 3" safely.  You'll need some wood to work with when you get in the bore that far so don't get the shape to thin at that point. I like the step drilling but I also like the smooth look of a fluted barrel.  There are no exacting sizes doing it this way.  Your piece of wood will dictate how wide you want the inside end of your barrel to be.     

Mutt

[dogcatcher]

Sorry guys no revelations!  You do not want  to know the other method I came up with unless you have money to burn.

Cheapest way is to drill on the lathe using a 4 jaw chuck.  After looking at your measurements I would use a chisel to clean out the 7/8" end.  Drill the length with a 5/8" and then drill to depth with the 3/4" using a Silver Deming bit.  Then clean out the end to 7/8" using a turning chisel that has a scraper side ground on one side.  I would use the Silver Deming bit for both the 5/8 and the 3/4.  If you choose to drill the 7/8" part drill last also using a SD drill bit. 

This is the way I make my deer grunt calls, using 1/2" and 5/8" bits.  I would guess that maybe one in 10 will be off centered a little, but that is usually operator error, in other words I screwed up.   Then it is only cosmetic not affecting the sound, I save these for friends and relatives.   

Marvin

[VECtor Calls]

Okay.  Thank you for looking at it Marvin.  I'll be interested to see if Wes and Bob think those bits available there are going to work, cause I can't seem to get the measurements to come out right when I'm plugging them in.

Anyone want to guess what a carbide bit is going to cost?!  I'm getting ready to call and get a general idea.   

Parker

[VECtor Calls]

YEEE HAAAAWWWW!  I'm glad they took the couple of minutes on the phone with me to explain things!

He said the 7/8" in carbide is what was going to cost me.  The bit would be $350 to $400, and there would be a minimum order of two!     I'm glad he took the time with me to go through this, so I knew it wasn't something that was even close to in my realm of costs.

Parker

[dogcatcher]

Try the 4 jaw chuck way.  I will send you an email showing the end of the chisel I use for basically the same thing.  Takes less than 10 minutes to cut the blank, chuck and do the 5/8" and 3/4" drilling and then clean out the end to 7/8" with the chisel.  The 7/8" end measurements are not that critical, it just needs to be close enough for government work.

Email on the way.

Marvin 

[VECtor Calls]

   Okay.  Thank you Marvin!  I will take a look at what you've got for sure.  I need to look at what chuck this is I have here to use.  I'm QUITE certain I'm not using it to its full potential.  So far, all I have used it for is to drill the hole in turkey call striker heads.  I'll let you know what it is.  I'm guessing it would help me out a lot if I knew all of its uses.

For a HSS bit made for this, it would be in the $265 range from Custom Cutting Tools, Inc.

Parker

[dogcatcher]

How many do you think you will drill out of that biit before you would need a new one?

Marvin

[VECtor Calls]

   I talked with Marvin on the phone, and he got me all lined out. 

Trick is, having a 4-jaw chuck for your lathe is the key to all this going perfectly centered.  Well, I've always had a 4-jaw chuck, and I didn't know what all the uses of it were!     One-way Talon just sitting around collecting dust, when I would have been using it all along if I would have known its worth! 

I've just got to get me some reduced shank bits for my 1/2" lathe chuck when I'm in the city tomorrow, and it sounds like I'll be up and running!

THANK YOU MARVIN for taking so much of your time to help me figure this out!   

Parker

[VECtor Calls]

(I'm still interested to hear from Wes and Bob if they know how that chart works for ordering those enco bits).

Parker

[dogcatcher]

You are very welcome.  Glad I could help.

And I want to see the parts combination for the centering bits.
 
Marvin

[Braz]

Parker, I would really like to see a sketch of what you are talking about doing. I think I know, and I think the 4 jaw chuck is the way to go. I use that chuck a lot! That is what I use for most of the drilling I do on the lathe. But put a sketch of what you are talking about up so all will understand better. Thanks.

[Curmudgeon]

I use the pilot bits from emco.
I have a singlel 5/8 pilot that fits a 3/4 and a 7/8 bore.
You would need a 5/8 pilot, a 3/4 bore, a 3/4 pilot and a 7/8 bore, if I understand what it is you want to do correctly.
I did find that the shank on the 7/8 bit was > 1/2 so I then had to buy a larger chuck for the drill press.
I like the way it works and use it a lot to set up barrels for a gut sert.

[VECtor Calls]

Parker, I would really like to see a sketch of what you are talking about doing. I think I know, and I think the 4 jaw chuck is the way to go. I use that chuck a lot! That is what I use for most of the drilling I do on the lathe. But put a sketch of what you are talking about up so all will understand better. Thanks.

I'll have to get on my other computer later and get it drawn up.  I'm working on running a new anti-virus program on this computer cause it needs it, and it appears to be pretty time consuming!  I need to be dropping some guts in a couple deer grunters right now.  :D

Parker

[dogcatcher]

I use the pilot bits from emco.
I have a singlel 5/8 pilot that fits a 3/4 and a 7/8 bore.
You would need a 5/8 pilot, a 3/4 bore, a 3/4 pilot and a 7/8 bore, if I understand what it is you want to do correctly.
I did find that the shank on the 7/8 bit was > 1/2 so I then had to buy a larger chuck for the drill press.
I like the way it works and use it a lot to set up barrels for a gut sert.

Richard,
Can you get us part numbers from Enco.

Marvin

[VECtor Calls]

That would be FLAT OUT AWESOME if you could Richard!   

Parker