Boring Time in the Shop - Note Updated Tool Bit Size

Vaughn McMillan

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I had a boring weekend in the shop. Boring bars, that is. :D

I really like the 3/4" stainless steel boring bars that came with my Monster hollowing rig. However, they're limited to working through a 7/8" or larger hole, and I wanted to be able to go smaller. Over a year ago, I bought a set of Don Pencil "Stinger" 7/16" boring bars. They were a nice size, but I never did like the round bar cutting tips that came with them. Plus, the set screws to hold the cutters were tiny, and they stripped out way too easily (or my hex wrenches twisted because they were so thin).

After reading about several guys recently making their own boring bars and Oland tools, I figured I should give it a shot myself. I wanted 1/2" bars that were capable of holding the 1/4" cutters that I already had for the Monster rig.

Saturday, I picked up a 3' piece of 1/2" cold rolled steel bar and a few set screws at the local hardware store. The first three bars went so well, I went out Sunday and bought another 3' piece of steel and made a few more. Here are a few progress pics...

First, I had to figure out how to drill a hole in the end of a 1/2" steel bar. I took a wooden screw clamp, and drilled a 7/16" hole between the two halves of the clamp.

Boring Bars 01 - 800.jpg Boring Bars 02 - 800.jpg

That allowed me to hold the bar vertically and drill a pilot hole...

Boring Bars 03 - 800.jpg

And then the final hole. (I don't know what size it is...I just experimented around until I found a hole size the 1/4" square HSS bits would fit in.)

Boring Bars 04 - 800.jpg Boring Bars 05 - 800.jpg

Then, to hold the cutting tip in place, I needed a tapped hole for the setscrew. I ended up using a 10-24 screw, so the pilot hole was a #25 bit...

Boring Bars 08 - 800.jpg

I also wanted to make a bar with an angled cutter, so I ground an angled flat spot on the end of a bar and drilled a hole to fit the cutting tip...

Boring Bars 06 - 800.jpg Boring Bars 07 - 800.jpg

The angled bar also got a setscrew, but I didn't get any pics of that operation.

I also made three different bent bars (with a little help from my propane torch), but didn't take any pics of the bending process.

More in the next post...
 
And here are the results...

Boring Bars 09 - 800.jpg

Here are the three bent bars. I'll probably make more after I see how these perform...

Boring Bars 10 - 800.jpg

And here are the three straight bars. One is truly straight, one has an angled bit, and I ground one of them down to accept a scraper bit from the Monster gear.

Boring Bars 11 - 800.jpg

Here's a detail shot of the angled bit...

Boring Bars 12 - 800.jpg

And the scraper bit...

Boring Bars 13 - 800.jpg

And as an added bonus, all of them (except the scraper bar) will accept my Hunter carbide insert...

Boring Bars 14 - 800.jpg

All told, including steel bar material and setscrews, I spent under $20 to make these. Given my choice, I would have preferred to buy them from Randy at Monster Tools (assuming I could talk him into making 1/2" bars for me). Randy uses much better steel, and his tools are machined instead of hacked and ground. Unfortunately, being laid off, my tool fund ain't what it used to be, so these will have to do until I can afford to buy some better ones.
 
Those look really great Vaughn, well done! :thumb:

I'd suggest you buy some shorter set screws, those one will catch on the lip of the opening when you are putting the tool into or removing it from the hollow form.................. DAMHIKT :doh:

Well done indeed! :clap:
 
...I'd suggest you buy some shorter set screws...

Yep...planning on hitting the store tomorrow. I wasn't sure what length to get, but now I have a better idea how long they need to be.

I'm also probably going to try re-drilling the setscrew holes on the two swan neck bars. They are not 90º plumb with the world, so the cutting tip is rotated a bit on each of them. I may experiment with them though, and see how they work in a shear scraping position. I'll probably also pick up another piece of 1/2" steel, just to do more playing around. They're really pretty quick to make.
 
Yep...planning on hitting the store tomorrow. I wasn't sure what length to get, but now I have a better idea how long they need to be.

I'm also probably going to try re-drilling the setscrew holes on the two swan neck bars. They are not 90º plumb with the world, so the cutting tip is rotated a bit on each of them. I may experiment with them though, and see how they work in a shear scraping position. I'll probably also pick up another piece of 1/2" steel, just to do more playing around. They're really pretty quick to make.

Next thing you know, you will be buying a MIG welder :D :thumb:
 
Nice work Vaughn,

That was a great idea to drill a clamp to accept the steel for end drilling, I think I'm going to have to steal that because you have inspired me to have a go at making tools myself.

Good work, thanks for sharing.

Brendan
 
If you had the two screw pin jaws on your lathe chuck, you could just use the pin chuck holding the steel (it would slide through the hole in your head stock) and put a drill bit in your drill chuck in the tailstock :thumb:

But yeah, that clamp trick is one to file away! :D
 
If you had the two screw pin jaws on your lathe chuck, you could just use the pin chuck holding the steel (it would slide through the hole in your head stock) and put a drill bit in your drill chuck in the tailstock :thumb:

But yeah, that clamp trick is one to file away! :D

I thought if that, but had a bowl mounted on the lathe. Plus, I didn't want to get oil all over the lathe. :p

Vaughn Could you go out and jse them today.? PLEASE ok pretty please with a cherry on top.:thumb:
I have a pile of that cold roll and have been afraid to use it in fear that it will bend. But if yours holds up than I might just give it a try.

I know a number of other guys have done fine with the cold rolled steel. I think as long as you're not getting too heavy-handed it should work fine for you. It doesn't bend real easily.
 
Those are fantastic Vaughn! Thanks for posting. I've made a couple of basic tool recently, but yours give me inspiration to take it a step further. I find it's really rewarding to make a tool that works well:).
 
So what would it take to commission a set of 3 for those of us that have the mechanical ability of a trained muskrat on Friday night? I'm feeling really inadequate at the moment :eek:. Your talents extend much further than just wood...Props!!!:thumb:
 
Vaughn, that is a nice set there...Well Done. :thumb: Will they fit in your hollowing rig or will you be making handles for them? I ask because you say Don P. doesn't sell that size of bar.

Jim, get some steel bar and give it a go...it's easier than it looks, sorry to let the cat out of the bag Vaughn :D.

Ditto to what Stu said on the shorter set screws and DAMHIKT either.:doh::eek:
 
So what would it take to commission a set of 3 for those of us that have the mechanical ability of a trained muskrat on Friday night? I'm feeling really inadequate at the moment :eek:. Your talents extend much further than just wood...Props!!!:thumb:
Thanks for the compliments, but these are by no means good enough to be for sale. As I mentioned earlier, I'd prefer to have ordered these from Randy at Monster Tools, but after being laid off, my tool fund is looking pretty empty right now. I had to punt on this play. ;)

...Will they fit in your hollowing rig or will you be making handles for them?...
Yeppers, the Monster articulating arm is machined to receive a 1/2" bar. It's done to real tight tolerances, so I had to grind the ends of my new bars down slightly to fit easily. I've also got a couple Mopnster handles that they'll fit right into if I decide to use them free-hand.

Well I have found that cold roll is just about the easiest to bend.:thumb:...
"Easy" is a relative term, though. If you get a catch bad enough to bend 1/2" cold rolled, chances are you have a bigger problem on your hands than a bent bar. Like a detonated HF all over the shop. :p

Before I made these, I did a search for "bending cold rolled steel", and here's one of the links I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPCjSH_28dg

Doesn't look all that easy to me. :D
 
Hey Vaughn, What's your source for the 1/4" HSS cutter stock? Man, I'm fired up to make some tools!!

Barry, since Vaughn sleeps even later now and he won't be up for a few hours ;)...I'll tell you were I get mine. Harbor Frieght! They have this set of bits that includes a few sizes. Also Enco sells them in wide variety of sizes, and I've heard good things about them, just never ordered from them personally.
 
Hey Vaughn, What's your source for the 1/4" HSS cutter stock? Man, I'm fired up to make some tools!!
Barry, I've gotten mine from Randy at Monster Tools. Yesterday I saw the Harbor Freight offering Jeff mentioned, but I only needed and wanted the single 1/4" square stock, not the variety HF sells.

Vaughn,
Good job.
Instead of re-drilling for the set srews in the swan necked tools, could you simply rebend the bars to get the correct orientation?
Thanks for the suggestion, Paul. To change the orientation, I think I'd need to twist the end of the bar, or straighten it back out and re-bend it. I don't really have the tools or muscles to do either of those, so re-drilling is the easiest approach to fixing them. For now, I think I'll try them as-is. If they're wonky, then I'll either re-drill or just make more and try to get them right.
 
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