Any suggestions for drilling out pre-drilled cork rings with a power hand drill so that the drill doesn't "walk" to the side causing the hole to be off-center? Thanks.

Pilot hole bits:

[flexcoat.com]

For short split grip sections and fore grips, the normal pilot hole bits work quite well. Start the bit on one side and stop after a half inch or so, flip the grip around and drill the rest of the way. This will prevent the end from blowing out. For longer grips, within reason the reverse pilot bits should work well.

Release the ring every few seconds as you walk the ring down the reamers.

><))))">….><))))">….><))))">….Just Fish

Prior Lake Rod Building Guild
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What Joe said, I use both, mostly the pilot bit as my grips are 4" and 2 1/2 " long, work great. I usually drill through until the pilot just barely comes out the hole in the other end, then back it out and start at the other end, perfect every time.

He is asking about rings here.

Thanks for the replies. I should have provided more information: The question is for drilling individual cork rings for ice rods. Many of these blanks are not tapered in the grip area, so that's why I drill the rings rather than ream. The diameters are small - about .160 to 250 or so, and pilot drills and tapered reamers mostly don't apply to these smaller, mostly non-tapered holes.

Using a drill press you place the ring on the bed and bring the rotating drill down onto it. As the drill starts to engage the ring you let the ring spin and as it spins, press the drill down into it.

Not perfect, but it doesn;t have to be. When you glue the rings into a grip you will turn down the OD to be concentric with the bore and all will be well.

Using a drill press you place the ring on the bed and bring the rotating drill down onto it. As the drill starts to engage the ring you let the ring spin and as it spins, press the drill down into it.

Not perfect, but it doesn;t have to be. When you glue the rings into a grip you will turn down the OD to be concentric with the bore and all will be well.

I made a “jig” that would mount to my drill press base plate.

I was in the same situation with the very small diameters of Ice rod blanks, they were less than .250, so I bought rings with no bore thru them.

The jig consists of a top and bottom of 1/2 thick Popular ( used because it does not cup and has a better hardness than Pine, but still cheap to buy) .In between the top and bottom there is a V that the ring can slide into, space is .50” so a standard ring can slide into the gig, then I added a swing arm” to hold the ring in place. Used a ring with a .25 bore to locate the center and placement of the V pieces that are sandwiched between the top and bottom of the jig. I took a bit to make it, but it works like a charm. I mount it to the base plate of the drill press with some bolts and wing nuts.

Sorry Dan, I took it to mean that you were using pre-drilled rings, and not doing the pre-drilling yourself. That changes everything.

Hello Dan.

If you have a drill press you can use this:

CRB Cork Ring Holder Base SKU: #CRB-BCRH $7.95 and CRB Cork Ring Holder SKU: #CRB-CRH $6.95, from MudHole.


Tight Wraps & Tighter Lines.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

I do the same thing as the previous posts.

I take a piece of harder wood and I use a forstner bit to drill a hole that is about 1/2 the depth of the cork ring and the same size as the cork that I want to drill.

[www.homedepot.com]



Then, to drill the hole, I use a brad point drill bit in the required size. The brad point drill bits leave an exceptionally clean hole in the material being drilled.

[www.homedepot.com]

Then, I clamp the wood jig to the bed of the drill press, insuring that the jig is centered with respect to the descending drill big and you will be good to go.

I use a pair of heater hose pliers to hold the cork ring when drilling and to quickly remove it and ready another for drilling.

[www.harborfreight.com]

[www.wihatools.com]

I cut 3/4" wide strips of 140 grit sandpaper and contact-cement them in an open [3/4" gap] spiral for 18" or so along a 2' section of broken rod butt, leaving enough surplus rod butt for a handle. I can make 4 or 5 such reamers in different diameters from one sheet of sandpaper and one broken [scrap] rod. The difference in the angle of taper between broken rod butts is insignificant. These reams will quickly and cheaply produce perfectly concentric holes in cork grips, accurate to small fractions of an inch.