Okay. So, there are drill bits, and then there are drill bits worth a dang. Took me a ride to Menards to find the good ones...
I started with the stainless baffle. And promptly roached the brand new drill, as it cut off center and through.
I then tried smaller drills and stepping them up.
No dice. After breaking one off in the end cap, I managed to turn it the opposite direction using needle nosed plier and with a tiny “Ping”, it came out.
Pushing harder with a new bit was also ineffective, as the drill simply punched into the drill press chuck.
Reassess. File cuts titanium fine. Inspect drills. New, sharp, and 118 degree split point.
Resolve to try new drills.
Lowe’s only had DeWalt crap. Earnie’s is closed on Sunday. Hit up Menards and find Bosch tight twist 135 degree drill bits. Only 9/32, no letter drills.
Not completely satisfied I headed back tkk on the shop.
I was dubious of the cutting oil I used earlier and washed everything with brake cleaner.
I grabbed a new baffle and decided to just screw one up, right off the bat.
To my amazement, it cut like it was plastic!
Perfect, shiny, spirals of titanium effortlessly lifted from the baffle and stay together for the entire boring! I then drilled every thing else out as if it were butter. I didn’t even need to open the other three I bought. Just wonderful!
The drill press is not as great as I imagined. When tightened on the vise block it slightly lifts one side. This resulted in less than concentric holes. I was concerned that the bore size wasn’t enough for my ham-handed Hackett, so I assembled the whole suppressor and ran the entire thing onto the drill from both ends. I disassembled it, rotated the baffles a bit, and then ran it again, twice.
Now when looking through the tube there is a single concentric bore. Probably slightly bigger than I intended.
Upon returning home I washed everything, reassembled, and then placed it on my rifle. I don’t have an $80 concentricity rod from Guiselle(sp?) but I do have a carbon cleaning rod. It was not perfectly centered, but it wasn’t bad...
Then only thing left to do was try it! So I did!
In the basement!
Grabbed up a log end, went down stairs and fired five rounds.
When I came back up I asked my girl if she heard that.
“Heard what?”
So. Awesome. Yeah.
It works even better than I imagined! Even quieter than an oil filter I watched someone, not me, use once.
Absolutely a riot! This was my first, it is not the last!
I have a 30 caliber suppressor to engrave and drill next.
Oh, and my engraving does not look completely like a third grader did it.
That’s at least sixth grade...
After struggling with the drill press I’m going to have a second look at the wood lathe. It would be nicer to do this things at home.
I wish I had a block of titanium to test with...