IF YOU REACHED THIS PAGE VIA A SEARCH ENGINE
THIS WILL TAKE YOU TO OUR HOME PAGEOR
THIS WILL TAKE YOU TO THE SHOP TOOLS INDEX PAGE
Tools for the Amateur Riflesmith
Misc. Drills
One type of drill that is often used in conjunction with the woodworking aspect of 'smithing is the Forstner™ style.
These allow drilling flat-bottomed holes in wood. As they have a small pilot, they remain centered, and won't wander or move sidewise in softer areas of the wood. This 7-piece set is $8 from Wholesale Tool and has worked very well for me.
Another kind of drill, rarely used in 'smithing, are the Silver & Deming style. Silver was a manufacturer of drill presses in the late 1890's. These presses did not have adjustable style chucks, but used a 1/2-inch socket with a setscrew. This meant that all drills used in the press had to have a 1/2-inch shank. Deming was Silvers' main competitor, and so, a series of drills, all with 1/2-inch shanks, called "Silver & Deming" were manufactured. Nowadays we have "jacobs" style chucks, so Silver & Deming drills are made only in sizes larger than 1/2-inch, from 33/64-inch to 2-inch, in steps of 1/64-inch to 1-31/64-inch and 1/32-inch steps to 2-inch