The message <QRkSDzF8jDeLFw0Q@dlittlewood.co.uk>
from David Littlewood <david@nospam.demon.co.uk> contains these words:
> >Some time back someone posted a link to a video showing a chap drilling
> >a hole in a thin brass bar in a lathe.
> >
> >Iirc he used a chaser to make a cone-shaped cut in the end of the bar,
> >then used a drill held in his fingers to make the hole. It was a very
> >small lathe, probably a watchmaker's.
<snip>
> >Why I'm asking is it's an example of axis-following in drilling - the
> >drill follows the axis of rotation of the part (the part is rotated,
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> >
> >-- Peter Fairbrother
> Peter,
> Probably not relevant to your needs, but oil well drillers do it all the
> time, with a variety of means, limited only by the flexibility of the
> drill pipe. See, for example:
> http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Display.cfm?Term=directional%20drill
> ing
> but I'm sure a search would give more comprehensive expositions, with
> pictures.
> David
Peter,
Drilling the axis of steel arbours is quite a common practice in clock
repair work. There are various tecniques, I am no expert but I have
drilled down to about 0.6mm hand held using a flag in a wathmakers
lathe. I don't thing you would get far if you try to go of the axis with
small diameter drills, as the flexing of the drill would soon break it.
If you have a look at http://www.tascione.com/clockvideos.htm he shows
some clips, from his clock repairing videos, one of the clips shows how
to use a flag.
Hope it is of some interest.
Bill Lamond
Peter Fairbrother - 16 Feb 2010 14:22 GMT
> The message <QRkSDzF8jDeLFw0Q@dlittlewood.co.uk>
> from David Littlewood <david@nospam.demon.co.uk> contains these words:
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
> to use a flag.
> Hope it is of some interest.
Thanks Bill, and Kevin, David etc too. Shame the video cuts out just
before he starts drilling tho'!
I was trying to convince someone that it actually worked, and the drill
follows the axis of rotation of the rotating workpiece.
He thinks that "Unless you invoke some sort of inertial effect, there's
no difference between the rotating and non-rotating frames of reference."
He's wrong of course. If the part is rotating rather than the drill then
when the drill goes off the axis of rotation of the part the "outside"
of the drill tip will be cutting faster than the inside, and good tip
design and careful speed control can make this force the drill back to
the axis of rotation of the part.
The really interesting bit is that for long curving hole paths it might
be possible to steer the drill (slightly) by varying the axis of
rotation at the point where the drill was cutting, using a CNC rotating
machine of some sort.
I don't know how tight the curves you could get might be though; you'd
need a flexible drill shaft and a carefully designed drill tip shape to
get anything more than a slight curve.
-- Peter Fairbrother
David Littlewood - 16 Feb 2010 15:27 GMT
>Thanks Bill, and Kevin, David etc too. Shame the video cuts out just
>before he starts drilling tho'!
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>need a flexible drill shaft and a carefully designed drill tip shape to
>get anything more than a slight curve.
Peter,
Looking at the example of downhole well drilling, how about a flexible
shaft passed down the bore of a curved sheath. The curvature then would
depend only on the flexibility of the flexible shaft. You would probably
have to push the sheath rather than the shaft, with a very short
blacksmith's type drill pushed on its shoulder by the sheath. Would
require damn good lubrication though, and have a short and possibly
exciting life.
Do you have any specific application in mind, or is it just academic
interest?
David

Signature
David Littlewood
Cliff Coggin - 17 Feb 2010 09:41 GMT
> I was trying to convince someone that it actually worked, and the drill
> follows the axis of rotation of the rotating workpiece.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> -- Peter Fairbrother
It took me a while to appreciate that it is essential to rotate the part
rather than the drill to get the hole to run centrally. Like many such
arguments it was easier to visualise the effects by exaggerating the angular
difference between the work and the drill. I now understand that with a
stationary part and a rotating drill the axis of rotation is the axis of the
drill; while with a rotating part and a stationary drill the axis of
rotation is different to the axis of the drill hence the drill tends towards
the centre line.
Cliff Coggin.