Markndawoods wrote:
I am needing to drill 30 - 36" into the end of a 1" dowel, with a
half inch bit. Built a jug, centering etc not an issue. What I am
unfamiliar with is a bit to go that deep. I tried starting with a
standard 5" HSS and followed with an electricians boring bit, but
that just lost center an blew out the side.

A quick search on google showed various places selling long bits,
many without the lead screw, which it turns out will cause
tremendous damage in end grain g. So I can locate a vendor, but
wondering if someone might already be buying form somewhere.

Does anybody have any experience with something like this? Perhaps
someone has a source they feel is reliable for such things?

Perhaps I am on my own!?

markndawoods

OK, thanks for all the suggestion guys, but we missed the mark,
perhaps I should have explained what I am doing.

I need to drill these holes in 1" dowels, hundreds of them. Hence, I
am not turning these, nor routing them. As I stated, I already built
a jig that affords me dead on accuracy in test runs to center the
hole, no problem there. Somewhat of a production environment. Think
of a curtain rod, 1" dowel, 1/2" hole with a 1/2" dowel sliding into
it, another short piece of 1" dowel glues on the other end. The
purpose would be to "expand" the capabilities of the rod. Make sense?

I did find a location for the bits, they are in Crystal Lake, IL. The
price is right, but they want to rape me for 16 bucks for shipping!
Anybody live by Crystal Lake, IL????

I really do appreciate the input!

You're basically trying to reinvent the wheel here. Google "gun drill".
One source for the specialized pieces you need is
http://www.sterlinggundrills.com/pro...grinding.shtml.

That said, for volume production routing is most assuredly feasible--it is
how pencils are made for example, and pencil factories produce them by the
million. Route the inside contour into rectangular blocks, glue them
together, then route the outside--no need to turn anything. The trick is in
the jigging and setup.