How do you guys do this? With what tools?
And also, how do you make it so that the hole is nice and smooth?
Thanks
And also, how do you make it so that the hole is nice and smooth?
Thanks
How do you expand the hole in a brush handle?
- Thread starter heirkb
- Start date
You could clamp the brush handle in a vise and enlarge the hole with a forstner bit in a drill press or you could use a dremel tool with a carving burr.
You get a nice neat hole by the application of skill.
You get a nice neat hole by the application of skill.
I ended up buying a rotating rasp. I placed my brush handle in a padded vice and went to town with my drill. It worked fairly well.
Being a machinist by trade for most of my life, the obvious answer would be a lathe.
I have done it several times, the last time in a restoration for a brush for Maher:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=103859
But be CAREFULLY!! I use a special centering vise designed for drilling my pen and brush handle blanks. The handle in question is wrapped in a thin, rubber-like padding material, so the handle is not damaged and cannot spin during the drilling. Use Forstner bits, they come in all kinds of sizes, it is hard to find metric bits here in the USA, though. I use the best matching fractional size. The trick is to have the hole to be enlarged perfectly centered under the bit. Then slowly drill out the hole, I use a speed of about 400-500 rpm in the drill-press. I would not tackle this with a hand-held drill!
Do not try to use Spade bits for enlarging a hole, does not work well, don't ask me how I know
If a hole is still a tad too small after drilled out with the best matching bit size, I use a micro sanding drum from a Dremel tool with an appropriate grit sanding sleeve. This is held in a hand-held drill since I feel I have better control over it than with the Dremel.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=103859
But be CAREFULLY!! I use a special centering vise designed for drilling my pen and brush handle blanks. The handle in question is wrapped in a thin, rubber-like padding material, so the handle is not damaged and cannot spin during the drilling. Use Forstner bits, they come in all kinds of sizes, it is hard to find metric bits here in the USA, though. I use the best matching fractional size. The trick is to have the hole to be enlarged perfectly centered under the bit. Then slowly drill out the hole, I use a speed of about 400-500 rpm in the drill-press. I would not tackle this with a hand-held drill!
Do not try to use Spade bits for enlarging a hole, does not work well, don't ask me how I know
If a hole is still a tad too small after drilled out with the best matching bit size, I use a micro sanding drum from a Dremel tool with an appropriate grit sanding sleeve. This is held in a hand-held drill since I feel I have better control over it than with the Dremel.
I don't have any experience with this but it looks as though it would do the job and it's not a bad price.
http://www.nextag.com/Grace-Mini-Turntable-Vinyl-631684450/prices-html
http://www.nextag.com/Grace-Mini-Turntable-Vinyl-631684450/prices-html
Did you mean this for the thread about converting LPs to CDs?
Maybe you mount the dremel bit on the record spindle and.....
Hysterical, Cary.
Now, see, he's not been a machinist by trade for most of his life.
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