Step Drill Bit for End Pin Jack?

[slide496]

Hi All,

Recording KIng came out with a goldfoil pickup that fits in small sound hole guitars that I want to put in one of my parlor stellas to test so I have to drill a hole for an endpin jack and in one of the youtube tutorials I found the person used a step drill bit which I didn't know existed.

I picked up a kit .

I attached a picture below. Does anyone use one of these?



Thanks,
Harriet

[bonzo]

Hi Harriet. I've used these step drills with success on wood and metal.
Take your time and don't press too hard!

[slide496]

Nov 22, 2022 20:32:08 GMT bonzo said:

Hi Harriet. I've used these step drills with success on wood and metal.
Take your time and don't press too hard!

Thanks Bonzo - I won't press hard, thanks for that tip as well.

Best,
Harriet

[pete1951]

Usually I would use a sharp drill about 1/4” then ream the hole to the correct size. A reamer gives a clean edge, whereas a drill sometimes splinters the wood a little. I have also used a ‘rat tailed’ file to enlarge a small hole,

A stepped drill is fine for thin materials, but for an endpin jack you need a parallel hole through the end block ( or almost parallel if you use a reamer) If the set of step drills you picture does have one with a maximum hole size that matches your jack I guess it would work.

I have a couple of step drill and use them often ,but only on thin material .

Pete

[slide496]

Nov 22, 2022 23:05:00 GMT pete1951 said:

Usually I would use a sharp drill about 1/4” then ream the hole to the correct size. A reamer gives a clean edge, whereas a drill sometimes splinters the wood a little. I have also used a ‘rat tailed’ file to enlarge a small hole,

A stepped drill is fine for thin materials, but for an endpin jack you need a parallel hole through the end block ( or almost parallel if you use a reamer) If the set of step drills you picture does have one with a maximum hole size that matches your jack I quests it would work.

I have a couple of step drill and use them often ,but only on thin material .

Pete

Hi Pete,

Thanks, I didn't know that about an endblock, the stella has a floating bridge - to update - checking there is a block with an endpin independent of the tailpiece available for widening.

I'll hold onto the step drill set unopened until the pickup is installed, not sure I need one for this ...



Best,
Harriet

[mitchfit]

Harriet,

am pretty sure your drill set was designed for drilling through thin sheet metal. the idea being to prevent a standard twist drill tendency to break through the remaining ridge when nearly through material and then "threading" itself into that ring. this can result in uncontrolled advancement from motor inertia alone until the flutes terminate into full diameter shank where chuck holds the drill.

very undesirable when there is an object you don't want to hit that is closer behind the drilled surface than the length of the flutes.

they can not drill a hole without steps in the bore if the drilled material thickness exceeds the length of the "flats" of the step drill, as Pete said.

the gold coating titanium nitride (TiN) is for long tool life when used in metals. they are mostly designed to leave very few dangerously sharp burrs that come with twist drill use. they will leave a slight sharp ring in metals, but only on the exit side. requires hitting it again from backside lightly for burr removal.

will work fine for wood, but are prone to "wander" with hand drill, so if location is critical go with Pete's rat tail file recommendation.

hope this helps,
mitchfit

[tokyo]

I just use standard drills and work up in size but important to avoid tear out put the drill in reverse on first contact,Nice set of reamers i have a long one with a cross bar for hand use only gives me more control...Good luck,

[pete1951]

Nov 23, 2022 21:03:11 GMT tokyo said:

I just use standard drills and work up in size but important to avoid tear out put the drill in reverse on first contact,Nice set of reamers i have a long one with a cross bar for hand use only gives me more control...Good luck,

Putting the drill in reverse to start the hole works well, ( I might drill a small hole first to make sure the larger drill stays central) or you could use a countersink or even your step drill to start the hole.

I also sometimes use a rat tail file in a drill. This can be a disaster, most round files have a spiral cutting pattern, like a drill bit. If you put the file in a drill ( it can be a challenge to get the square tang to fit in the 3 jaws of the drill) and start to enlarge a hole it will be drawn in by the spiral and probably split the wood. However if you have a reverse on you drill the file will happily file away without pulling in . Not a practice I would recommend to the novice.
Pete

[slide496]

Thanks for the continued helpful comments. Much appreciated.. I managed to order the final size 15/32 drill bit wrong when I bought it (duh) so one the correct size is on the way and I have several sets of smaller drill bits if I need them to step up. Plan on returning the step up drill bits.

Best,
Harriet

[slide496]

Unexpected!

I tested the pickup before installing and it's defective - the guitar cable won't go all the way in so I'm shifting direction and not installing the jack after all. As far as I saw online they are selling and advertising a bunch of different styles of "goldfoil pickups" along the lines of the original in appearance, so probably no great loss. I learned something about installing an endpin and the tools I might need -thanks again to forum members for the comments...


Best,
Harriet