I need to restock my wifes little Rossi. I have some very nice claro walnut for the buttstock and forarm. The thing is I need to drill a long hole through the butt stock to bolt to the receiver.
How do I do this accuratly?

Thanks for your advice and help
Steve

I do this on a lathe between centers

I do it essentially the way Duane does; I use a "gun drill" I make from a piece of 3/8" drill rod, put centers in both ends where I want the hole to come out and place the drill in the three jaw, the block of wood against the tailstock center and push it into the drill. I go half way, turn it around and go the other half. It is amazing how the holes meet in the middle. As for the counter-bore, I have made up a few big drills with 3/8" pilots groung on them so they won't wander.

You can do the same thing with a drill press, make a center by hammering a nail through a 1X4, cut off all but 3/8" of the nail.

Chuck a section of drill rod into the spindle and line them up. Then clamp th 1X4 to the table, remove the drill rod and chuck up your drill.

You can make your indicator rods from steel brake line tubing if you have trouble finding drill rod.

(I didn't invent this, I think James Howe was where I read it a long time ago.)

The drill press does not have a long enough stroke.

I don't have a lathe which stinks. I don't know nothing about a lathe and the terminology that you are telling me.

I didn't know if you all can tell me where I can get a drill bit and make a jig of some kind to drill with.

I worry about the drill bit following the grain of the wood. I will be drilling diagonal to the grain.
Bob Starky at Calico hardwoods hand picked the wood for my wife and I don't want to mess it up.

Any other ideas?

Thanks so much for your help.

Jim, you can do it with a drill press, you just need to do it 3 inches at a time <G>. What needs to be done is have indicator rods made up in a set, each rod being longer that the preceding one by whatever stroke the press has. I agree it is nowhere near as efficient or accurate as doing it on a lathe, but for a guy who only has a drill press in his garage it is a workable option.

quote:

Originally posted by Wildlife Artist:
I don't have a lathe which stinks. I don't know nothing about a lathe and the terminology that you are telling me.

I didn't know if you all can tell me where I can get a drill bit and make a jig of some kind to drill with.

I worry about the drill bit following the grain of the wood. I will be drilling diagonal to the grain.
Bob Starky at Calico hardwoods hand picked the wood for my wife and I don't want to mess it up.

Any other ideas?

Thanks so much for your help.

Since this is a nice stick of wood that needs to be done right the first time, it might not be a bad idea to have someone who has the right tools drill this for you.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark:
Jim, you can do it with a drill press, you just need to do it 3 inches at a time <G>. What needs to be done is have indicator rods made up in a set, each rod being longer that the preceding one by whatever stroke the press has. I agree it is nowhere near as efficient or accurate as doing it on a lathe, but for a guy who only has a drill press in his garage it is a workable option.

The problem with doing it three inches at a time is clearing out the chips. If you have to lower the table everytime to clear it, you lose your setup.

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:
I do this on a lathe between centers

How do you drill anything when it is (between centers)?

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:
I do this on a lathe between centers

How do you drill anything when it is (between centers)?

I have seen it done on the drill press in my brother's garage, but I have not seen it done on the lathe. I would assume that the stock is first spun between centers [with a dog or stop on the faceplate] and then the center in the tailstock is replaced with a short stiff centering drill.



The stock is spun again with the with the drill as the tail stock center, and then the tail stock ram is advanced. Then the drill is replaced with a longer drill....

The hole can be drilled with a slow speed 1/2 hand drill motor. This is done all the time with muzzleloader stocks without a lathe. In drilling these long holes on a full lenth flintlock blank, you need to make about 3 guides to hold the drill inline with the blank location and all bolted to a flat table with the ramrod hole partly cut to the main body of the stock. The same thing can be done with a short blank as you are making. First make a drawing on a large piece of paper of the stock to show where the hole will be located. I drill the guides as a one piece block and then cut into. Most of the time this will be off set about 1 in. from the right side of the blank for a right hand shooter.

The best drill bit that I have is one made from a 3/8 in. drill rod. The end has a pointed center turned about 1/4 in. long and to about 1/8 in. diameter. The cutting edge is flat on the end and filed to have a good amount of cutting surface on both sides of the point. As you drill the pointed end will be forced into the wood first and help guide the drill. This has worked on several stocks for me.

The best way is to have someone drill this hole for you with a lathe. I only offer this info to show others ways. I normally drilled the blanks while I was working in a lathe.

quote:

Originally posted by tnekkcc:

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:
I do this on a lathe between centers

How do you drill anything when it is (between centers)?

I have seen it done on the drill press in my brother's garage, but I have not seen it done on the lathe. I would assume that the stock is first spun between centers [with a dog or stop on the faceplate] and then the center in the tailstock is replaced with a short stiff centering drill.



The stock is spun again with the with the drill as the tail stock center, and then the tail stock ram is advanced. Then the drill is replaced with a longer drill....

The stock don't spin, the drill bit in the headstock does.

If you're starting from a blank, you have quite a job ahead of you. I did my 20 ga Rossi, and I call it my 7 snowstorm stock. Whenever I was snowed out of work, I would work on the stock. As I remember, I used a long 3/8" drill called a Bellhangers bit(electrical supply house), and drilled from the action end 1/2 way, then drilled from the butt with a 1" spade bit. Drew the outline of the action, with the screw in it, on the side of the blank, then made a jig with 4 c clamps, and a piece of 3/8" tubing along the top of my workbench to center the belhanger bit left to right, and eyeballed the tubing to the drawn outline of the screw on the side of the blank.

Stevie,
Mine is identical only the flute is longer; it will hold more chips before I have to clear it.

Wildlife,
Like you, I do not have a lathe (or the skills/training to operate one) and have hand drilled the drawbolt holes on 3 stocks. I start the holes dead straight using a drill press, but as noted, that only gets us the first 3 inches, which is a good starting guide hole. I built a simple jig and hand drill the remainder using a breast drill with razor sharp augers. The auger's lead screw is removed on the small dia and dulled on the large dia. I may try the gun drills next time instead of the augers. The breast drill is really slow but won't pull itself through the side of the stock. I get the stock 100% headed up and tight, then drill the hole because during the inletting process the frame doesn't always end up exactly where I thought it would.

Breast drill


Headed up with a hole

as a suggestion - if this is your first time , you can really F*U* up a nice piece of wood fast. deep drilling the bit can shift just a little bit really quick and end up coming out the side instead of the end. all is takes is a hard spot in the wood to shift the bit that little bit

Thanks, SDH. If you drill the hole first, do you attach the drawbolt and guide the frame in during the inletting ? - or do you have enough control during the inletting to have everything line up once it's finished?

Ok, I am certainly no expert at this but it has been enlightening.

Jim Kobe, thanks for the "duh" moment about drilling from the headstock!

As a woodworker, the bit you all use (Jim and SDH) reminds me a LOT of the lamp auger I use to drill lamp bases, except it is only 30" long and I have a hollow tailstock for it. One may work for your shorter jobs. They come in 3/8" and I believe 7/16".