Well yesterday was the do or die day.

The set up was ready and I had to get the stump bored out. I spent most of yesterday finishing the drill bit. I used Ti coated carbide inserts for the bit and I should have used no coated or at least removed more of the coating before brazing. Next time! The set up was pretty simple and I was ready to go.

I used a Milwaukee 1/2 Drill to turn the bit. I secured the stump on the bed of my mill. The vacuum was connected to the rotary port on the bit.

The stump had a curve in it and I was really worried about drilling out of the side of the stump. 

The drilling took about 30 minutes. The center plug will be used for something else in the future.

Thanks for checking in.

Cheers 

I’ve started working on a new project along side the Bee Bar. It’s going to be a boom lamp. The base is kind of dictating the direction as it’s a Mahogany stump from North Key Largo. I have wanted to use this piece for a while and have finally figured out how I’m going to bore the center.

Getting ready to level the bottom with a router. 

Routing the bottom of the Boom Lamp base. 

The center needs to be removed for several reasons. One is weight. Two other reasons are that I need a place to run the electrical and I need a place for the boom counter balance. This wood has made me realize the finite supply that I have, so the idea of turning the core that I will be removing into sawdust is kind of repulsive.  I’m going to core drill this thing.

I’ve started fabricating this core drill. It’s 3-1/2 inches OD and 3-1/4 ID. The stump is about 39 inches long. I’ll be adding carbide teeth to the drill in the next couple of days. I hope to start drilling this weekend. 

Cheers till the next post.