I have a Birds Eye maple reel seat that I need to bore the ID about 1/16". Its hard enough to lock up my custom power wrap (which isn't saying much). I have a small drill press which would work but not sure of a method for centering the seat during the boring and not damaging it. Any suggestions ? Speaking of CPW has anyone else noticed a dramatic decrease in performance after installing the reversing kit. I have no way to measure the RPM but I bet its lost a couple hundred at least and when you only get 750 to start with thats substantial. I can't even bore a piece of cork without taking a chunk out of it. I'll be calling the supplier tommorow but thought I would see if anyone else has had similiar experiences. Anyone thinking of buying one of these can email me direct for a product review.

The gearing reduction you have on the CPW actually gives you more power than if you had less gear reduction and more speed. Your problem on that machine is that the 1/15 HP motor was not designed for wood boring.

You have some options. First, you can bore it on the drill press but it is tricky without a special clamp or jig to hold the insert dead center straight. Another option since you only need to open it up 1/16th inch is to use a very coarse reamer or round file to do the job. You need only remove 1/32nd inch around the inside circumfrence to get what you need. You may find that reaming is the best and safest option in this cases. I am assuming, that you have an insert that is alread bored and you are talking about opening it up just a tad.

You are correct, though, that 750 RPM is getting a bit on the slow side for boring anything other than metal. To get a clean cut you would normally need at least 1,000 to 1500 RPM depending upon material being worked with.

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Shaun Penn State Industries has "drilling center" vise for $39.95 in thear catalog that is what i use in my drill press.i use black and decker bullit drill bits.some of that wood i drill will wipe out a drill bit in a hurry.another tool i got from them is a Squaring jig to square the blank ends on my disk sander $17.95 vary good prices on thear stuff.regards John

Shaun, I think Tom is right on,,if you only need to do this job once in a while. Consider using a piece of graphite blank (a broken piece) as a reamer. Then epoxy fine grain grit to it,,that is available from most catalog stores.. Also,,when sanding the hole by hand to a larger size "only" turn the reel seat ,,not the reamer. Turning the reamer and holding the reel seat fixed will tend to make the hole off center.

How are you doing the boring on that machine? Are you chucking the insert and holding the drill bit somehow? I did not know that that one had a way to hold a drill bit. Does it have some sort of tailstock? Or maybe you have the bit in the chuck and are feeding in the insert. Just curious.

Shaun,

If the reel seat insert is round rather than morticed, I'd be glad to drill it out for you on my metal lathe. (No charge, of course) You pay the shipping, promise to do someone else a favor someday, and we'll call it even. Or, you could find someone local to do the same job. Contact me at maker@canerods.com

Harry

If you want to do it on your drill press, fill the reel seat with a soft dowel. This will allow you to den ter the drill bit. Use a good drill bir, not a spade bit or such. You need a good drill press vise to center it. Find the center of the dowel and use a punch to center the bit.

I guess I am a little crude. I have bored inserts just a little bit simply by holding the insert in my hand and using a battery held drill in the other hand. Use a sharp bit that just slightly enlarges the hole and work up through 2 sizes if you have to. Wrap the insert tightlty with tape, preferably the stuff with the fiberglass threads in it, to try to keep it from splitting. Work at low rpm and try to prevent the bit from grabbing. In any method of boring there is a chance of splitting the insert if you drill too much or if the chips clog in the flutes, so keep it cleared out.