Any ideas?

iwaxmyjimmy

iwaxmyjimmy

College Web Wheeler
Joined
Mar 10, 2007
Location
Greenville NC
I've got 2 old 350 Chevy camshafts that I want to bore a 1/2" hole down them so I can turn them into lamps, anyone have an idea on how to do this? I have access to a lathe but that would have to be one long ass drill bit.
 
Maybe cut them into shorter sections a normal bit would go through, then JB weld them back together?
 
Find somebody with a EDM machine.
 
Well I found out a SBC cam is 22" long and just found a 1/2" bit that's 12" long. Chuck it up in a lathe do half, flip the cam and do the other half is the only thing I can think of.

I've got these cams on hand already that's why I was trying to use them lol. It's a $15 bit so I'll try it, if it doesn't work I'll just get some LS cams


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Not 100% certain, but I'm betting you'll need a couple of the 12" bits, and probably a stubby carbide bit to drill through the hardened journals on both ends.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Not 100% certain, but I'm betting you'll need a couple of the 12" bits, and probably a stubby carbide bit to drill through the hardened journals on both ends.
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School has a bunch of carbide bits in the machine shop, I think as long as I got the RPMs right, used a lot of cutting fluid, and just pecked at it I might be able to get buy with 2-3 of the 12" bits. Possibly less depending on how fast I feed it.
 
iwaxmyjimmy said:
School has a bunch of carbide bits in the machine shop, I think as long as I got the RPMs right, used a lot of cutting fluid, and just pecked at it I might be able to get buy with 2-3 of the 12" bits. Possibly less depending on how fast I feed it.
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If they are good quality bits you will be fine. Drill a nice pilot hole with the carbide bit, oil, peck, and take it easy. If you can do it in a lathe it should work out ok. When the 2nd hole intersects with the first, they probably won't be perfectly aligned, and it will grab and take the corner off your drill. The rest should just be like regular drilling.
 
jeepinmatt said:
If they are good quality bits you will be fine. Drill a nice pilot hole with the carbide bit, oil, peck, and take it easy. If you can do it in a lathe it should work out ok. When the 2nd hole intersects with the first, they probably won't be perfectly aligned, and it will grab and take the corner off your drill. The rest should just be like regular drilling.
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Yeah it'll have to be in a 3 jaw chuck, our collars only go to 1". I've got to check to make sure there is more than 2.02" diameter for the thru hole
 
Keeping the bit from walking when drilling through something with random changes in hardness through the core is going to be interesting.....
 
Fabrik8 said:
Keeping the bit from walking when drilling through something with random changes in hardness through the core is going to be interesting.....
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Yeah I'm already tracking that
 
Fabrik8 said:
Keeping the bit from walking when drilling through something with random changes in hardness through the core is going to be interesting.....
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Good news is if it's case hardened, it probably won't break out the side, haha.
 
Got on eBay and found some DOD LS cams for $30 each... I'll probably go that route since they are hollow. Instead dealing with boring a hole in a SBC one.
 
junkxj said:
Maybe cut them into shorter sections a normal bit would go through, then JB weld them back together?
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Way easier option would be hold over you head and drop it!!!
 
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