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Drill Down

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whiskers

Joined
Dec 31, 2015
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Location
Peterborough Ontario Canada
Has anyone ever tried using a mortising drill bit to cut out sweep ports?
I’ve cut out my share of gun ports over the years and thought of the square drill bit today.
The inside of the model would have to be backed securely with scrap wood or the blowout would be disastrous.

John
 
Y.T. said:
"...mortising drill bit..." Hmm.. Every day I learn some new words on this forum.
Click to expand...
A mortising drill bit is a drill bit inside a hollow chisel that cuts a round hole. The bit spins, but the chisel doesn't, and the chisel pushes down through the wood as the hole is cut.

1726885499257.png

 
whiskers said:
Has anyone ever tried using a mortising drill bit to cut out sweep ports?
I’ve cut out my share of gun ports over the years and thought of the square drill bit today.
The inside of the model would have to be backed securely with scrap wood or the blowout would be disastrous.

John
Click to expand...
You need a drill press with a special mortising attachment to hold the drillbits or a mortising drill press,.To cut a square hole, you have to establish a force to cut through, the square part acts as the chisel.
 
Drilling a hole and squaring up with a scalpel or other small hobby knife and/or tiny sanding stick works well. If it is a larger scale another method for cutting gun ports was brought up yesterday in Ausierob's post (https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/threads/how-to-finish-hull-and-cut-gun-ports.15348/post-399674) about how to cut out gun ports works for the sweep ports. If the port is framed the following will work. If it is not framed, just the drilling and finishing with a scalpel is usually enough for the sweep ports but not the gun ports.
Allan
Port opening cutting.PNG
 
Diamond needle files are very effective and aggressively remove wood, faster than regular metal files. Diamond bits on a rotary tool are even faster.

For these side gallery towers made from coarse grained mahogany, the rotary diamond bit quickly ate holes when making a starting plunge cut for windows in a controlled manner such that the brittle wood did not split, nor did the delicate structure make that sickening *CRUNCH* sound we all dread. The needle files on the right were used to cut the square corners.
1726946771356.png
 
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From my experience, I have no luck using diamond abrasives on wood. It doesn't matter if it is just files or rotary tool attachments all they do, just burn the wood and clog the tool. I might have very fine grit, but I doubt that all of my diamond abrasives have the same cut. Diamond tools are nothing more than diamond dust glued to a surface, therefore I cannot imagine they come in various cuts (grit), but this is just me.

I do have success removing wood with self-made sanding sticks. On a various length and widths, using double-stick tape, affix the sandpaper of various grits. Also, for the rotary tools, we have many attachments with the use of sandpaper. I found it very efficient but dusty. But again, it is just me...

A Shapt scalpel or #11 blade should do the trick...
 
Jimsky said:
From my experience, I have no luck using diamond abrasives on wood. It doesn't matter if it is just files or rotary tool attachments all they do, just burn the wood and clog the tool. I might have very fine grit, but I doubt that all of my diamond abrasives have the same cut. Diamond tools are nothing more than diamond dust glued to a surface, therefore I cannot imagine they come in various cuts (grit), but this is just me.

I do have success removing wood with self-made sanding sticks. On a various length and widths, using double-stick tape, affix the sandpaper of various grits. Also, for the rotary tools, we have many attachments with the use of sandpaper. I found it very efficient but dusty. But again, it is just me...

A Shapt scalpel or #11 blade should do the trick...
Click to expand...
The rotary bits come in coarse, fine, and very fine diamond. The coarse ones remove wood fast and don't burn the wood if you run them at lower speed, and frequently chip off the wood dust that clumps onto the bit. The plasticized sawdust chips off a diamond bit easier by simply rubbing a coarse sanding block over them than cleaning metal files with a file card.
 
Alternatively, I found this a very good solution, which is to build the ready-size port sills., and then you don't have to be precise in cutting the hole.

1726948182471.png
 
All of this is the realm of Corner Chisels. If you google them you will find a selection. The mortising bit is a variation that uses a wood bit to remove wood and to pull the chisels in. This would seem to be way too aggressive for use on a model ship hull. I have a small corner chisel that I bought from MicroMark a while ago. It fits into my drill press. It would work well making square or rectangular holes in sheet stock.

Roger
 
It helps to start the process by drilling a starter hole using a diamond bit dremel tool. The hole does not have to be deep, just deep enough.
 
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