All of Those Scrap Drill Bits!

[pfredX1]

Ed,
You could probably put a headless wood screw into your plug stock, and chuck that up in a cordless drill to shape your wooden plugs on a belt sander. Then just trim off the screwed up end when you're done. The old hand drill lathe technique. If you can't just grab the whole work piece in the chuck's jaws. Then trim it off once tapered. Drills are better at holding stuff and spinning it around than I am. One dowel should net you close to a gross of straw plugs I figure.

[Frank S]

Ed square Pvc shapes are commonly used in the electrical industry as wire mold , race ways and the like most often found inside of machinery control panels.
Home Depot carries a limited selection but a good electrical supply or WW Graingers will carry a much wider assorted shapes which cover a wide range of applications
google PVC race way or non metalic wire mold
I don't remember the names of the outlets I used to use when contracting in CA but there was a good supply house in Torrance and another in Irvine and one up in Oxnard when I was working in Southern Ca when further north I used one in Sacramento or over just out of San Francisco

[Ed Weldon]

Mounting dowel stock in a cordless drill with a hand tighten chuck is a good idea. You can only get about 25-30 out of a 3ft dowel. That's because they need to be around an inch long to get a locking taper and allowing for you to eyeball the diameters rather than stop to measure with calipers. The shallow taper to get a lock is due to the low coefficient of friction and the relatively high modulus and thickness of the plastic tube. Less taper and length for the plug would be needed if you could make it a precision lathe job and other materials may be practical. It's possible that you could make it a cylinder and glue it in with the right ACC adhesive. Or heat the end of the tube by sticking it in boiling water, put in the close fitting plug and let the plastic shrink around the plug as it cools. And don't forget you may want the plug on the other end to be removable and the ease with which you can make ID markings on wood. The straws I use are around .225" ID. A bit short of 6mm and maybe a good fit to a .22 bullet casing which shows from a drawing on the net to be .225". If you have a good source for these it could be the perfect answer.

[Ed Weldon]

Frank S -- Thank you for the source info on square wire mold/raceway.

[bob1275]

As mentioned plastic conduit is used a lot for covering power cables and small water pipes. Sticks to the wall with a clip on cover - very useful in a lot of applications.
Maybe it's one of those things that's more common here in the UK, there always seems to be stuff in USA that we can't get here.

[Toolmaker51]

As mentioned plastic conduit is used a lot for covering power cables and small water pipes. Sticks to the wall with a clip on cover - very useful in a lot of applications.
Maybe it's one of those things that's more common here in the UK, there always seems to be stuff in USA that we can't get here.

Wiremold is not only a generic item name but an actual brand as well. It is very common in wiring older homes over THHN conductors; far better than banging through and refinishing walls, irreplaceable for block walls. Basically, its conduit with 3 sides. Either way, a variety of brands are made. The technique is known as Surface Wiring, I believe it's only applicable in 1 phase wiring of power and light circuits, and likely ethernet/ phone type communication cables. There also is something similar for office cubicles.

[DIYer]

Thanks Rick! We've added your Drill Bit Refurbishing Method to our Drilling and Drill Presses category, as well as to your builder page: Rick's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Drill Bit Refurbishing Method by Rick Sparber

tags: drill bit, sharpening

[DrByte]

Any of you guys will to go out on a limb and tell me which drill brand you've had the best luck with? I've got lots of drills, both American and imported. None of them seem to be really good bits? Whats the preferred brand/type here?

[Frank S]

Any of you guys will to go out on a limb and tell me which drill brand you've had the best luck with? I've got lots of drills, both American and imported. None of them seem to be really good bits? Whats the preferred brand/type here?

I used to feel that Dormer gave me pretty good service, recently I have been buying Norseman for my smaller bits up to 1" for straight shank but Dormer Premium HSS for my taper shank They do a pretty good job even when having to drill through AR 400 and leaf springs the key is down pressure and low RPM with lots of coolant. Mostly because they are what are available where I have been shoping

[rgsparber]

Any of you guys will to go out on a limb and tell me which drill brand you've had the best luck with? I've got lots of drills, both American and imported. None of them seem to be really good bits? Whats the preferred brand/type here?

A related question is - "what is the best way to deal with dull drill bits"?

My answer is to use a Drill Doctor. When I break a single drill, I often go to Ace Hardware and buy what they have. Nothing special. But I keep my drills sharp with a well centered point. IMHO, that is the key to using any drill. Obviously, the best drill in the world is no good if dull.

Rick