chamber bits

[Boekweg]

Just updating some info i posted on here earlyer.
I went back and rounded my bits more and i also heat treated and sharpend them.

Before rounding more and heat treating.

After rounding more and heat treating and sharpening.

as you can see, they work very well. it drilled the chamber perfectly!

I am in the prosses of making another pipe right now.

[e Markle]

Glad you rounded them a bit - that will serve you better. Very cool that you hardened them!

[Mike Messer]

Did you grind those hand held, or use some kind of machine or trick to get the same curve on both sides?
They look almost like the edges are perpendicular to the flatter faces, but they probably angle back on the cutting edge, right?
Looks like they drill pretty good. What kind of drilling equipment did you use?
I wonder if you could use the same method to make a 1-1/2" (45 deg) countersink to bevel the top of the chamber?

I hope you don't mind me asking a bunch of questions.

[Boekweg]

@Mike,
Well being a machinist/welder/fabricator, i have pretty much worked with metal my whole life. I rounded these on a disc/belt sander by hand. It took no time at all. Although i am very use to having to do this kind of work. So there is no trick, i just eyeballed it. Like i said, having done this kind of stuff my whole life, im fairly accurate. The cutting edges are sharpend so there is an angle on the back side. I have a home made ironforge that i built to heat treat the bits. I drilled the Ebauchon block using a vice and a drill press with the chamber bit. Im still in the process of setting up my lathe to drill blocks. As for the 1-1/2" (45 deg) countersink to bevel the top the chamber, that is a good question and something i just might try.

I dont mind lots of questions lol, ask away!

[caskwith]

I have often thought about a large countersink for the top of the bowl, but the angle available are usually far too steep and you need a super ridgid setup otherwise it will chatter like crazy. Best way to countersink the top is to use a lathe and cut it then sand it smooth.

[Mike Messer]

@Mike,
Well being a machinist/welder/fabricator, i have pretty much worked with metal my whole life. I rounded these on a disc/belt sander by hand. It took no time at all. Although i am very use to having to do this kind of work. So there is no trick, i just eyeballed it. Like i said, having done this kind of stuff my whole life, im fairly accurate. The cutting edges are sharpend so there is an angle on the back side. I have a home made ironforge that i built to heat treat the bits. I drilled the Ebauchon block using a vice and a drill press with the chamber bit. Im still in the process of setting up my lathe to drill blocks. As for the 1-1/2" (45 deg) countersink to bevel the top the chamber, that is a good question and something i just might try.

I dont mind lots of questions lol, ask away!

Thanks for the info, I was just wondering how you did all that, and yea, I'm pretty good at eyeballing it, too. I use magnifying glasses, also. It is amazing how you can see little irregularities, maybe even better than a machine, sometimes, depending on what you're doing.