Greetings Pipers, I bought some drill from Ebay six weeks a go sixteen in all, after asking the seller what sizes and lengths they were I started getting suspicions that theses drills were used for making Uilleann pipes,
I got the lot for $10.00’s, when they arrived two weeks and after opening the box I was totally amazed that I had been right in my suspicions, 
the set of sixteen drills was exactly what I’ve after for making Concert D pipes, there were 3x12"x13/64th for the chanter bore,2x12"x3/16th for the baritone drone, 1x6"x9/64th and with 13/64th or 3/16th for tenor drone, makers choice of the two sizes, 11/32nd and 9/32nd for the bass drone, won’t bore you to much with all the other sizes, but they are all there even for the chanter note holes every one for the job, there came from
“Wilton, CT. U.S. Phoenix” am I right, 
anyone kwon any old or modern pipemakers from this place that they might have belonged too, any help or idea’s would be most appreciated. 
all the best Stew.
Well done Stew!
You don’t have any excuses now for not getting on and making some great chanters. I am looking forward to trying one very soon which hopefully will be 13.4 at the bell end.
You got a very good deal there. The long bits and the wide ones are well over $10 each.
It certainly will Cameron, 13.40 is what its all about on the “Big D” 
IMO the best pipemaking drills from the USA are from Drillmaster in Vermont:
www.drillmasters.com (don’t forget the ‘s’ unless you need marching shoes)
They make to order, and Doug in technical sales knows what pipemakers are using in the product line.
These are pneumatic “gun drills” and they’ll set you back about $85 each, but they are a lot faster and more foolproof than long spirals or D bits. Of course you’ll need a compressor, but I’m sure you’ll find one on eBay
- Bill
Hmmm, Great Chanters, you’ll be wanting some great reeds for them great chanters Stew, I’ve sent a PM by the way, coming down a the weekend,see ya then.
Using a gun drill for pilot holes is an essential activity for a pipemaker. A pilot hole can be drilled perfectly in about 10 seconds.
Even slower is better IMO, say 1 mm/sec or less. You can get drift down to under 0.5mm in 50 cm, and for finish bores in cylindrical drone sections the slower speed makes for a glassy finish.
YMMV
Nice site billh, I’ve seen gundrills working, I can do just as good of job with with a 16"x13/64th HSS drill bit, I can drill a chanter blank on a old Record lathe in 20-30minutes and the bore is pretty straight, the lathe centres must be cock on, and you must use the right speed and with a little patients you can get a pretty straight bore through the chanter blank, I’ve seen a gun drills come through a chanter blank wall, dangereous things if used incorrectly or put in the wrong hands, I’ll stick to the more saver way I know. all the best Stew.
Got the PM reedman.
Hi Stew,
Is Reedman supplying you with reeds for your chanters or are you making them yourself? He must be good if his reeds are better than the one you gave me!
Well, this is first time I’ve heard this opinion from someone who’s used both (gun drills and HSS long bits). If you can do as good a job with a HSS drill bit you are surely in the minority.
I can’t imagine how horribly someone would have to abuse a gun drill to get it to go through a chanter wall - those things are self-centering! Frankly I think gun drills are a lot safer than HSS twist drills if used with a modicum of sense.
- Bill
Ha,Ha, he’s thinks he can make better reeds than me, :roll: Hmmm, Well maybe as good on a good day.
Watch it you “Two” 
Sorry Stew We’ll have to stop teaseing you, behave Cameron.
Yes billh, well there you go, wether the lathe was off center or the wrong
speed or pushing the gun drill to hard, or the wood its self,but something coursed the gun drill to run out of centre, its a case of what tools you prefer and are happy with when doing any work, Hi tech tools don’t necessarily mean a better product or job , it might be quicker, there is a lot of skill needed to make a great set of pipes, but there again Peter Hunter can also do a pretty good job with a HSS drill bit also. . all the best Stew.
Still waiting for any idea’s or who’s drills these might have belonged too.
Leading the ignorance parade here, but, what is the difference between these drill bits and reamers?
A teachable moment,
t
A drill put’s a hole in a workpiece…it cut’s on it’s face. A reamer enlarge’s a predrilled hole…it cut’s on it’s periphery. It’s true that straight chucking reamer’s do virtually all their cutting on their face flute’s, which can usually be resharpened by grinding back the face…but taper reamer’s cut on their outside diameter. Carbide tipped, hollow-tube shanked gundrill’s pump coolant, cutting oil, or air under pressure to the face & remove chip’s. Like a D bit, they cut on one side,and basically bore into the material…rather than use the chiseling action of a twist drill.They need a short, accurately drilled or bored pilot hole to start them correctly. Twist drill’s can wander badly in a deep hole, depending on how evenly the cutting lip’s were ground…and do not produce a round hole. I’ve personally seen a triangular hole, in an optical comparator, produced by a badly ground twist drill coupled with excessive feed.
The way to drill a chanter blank once it centred in the lathe and running true in the steady post, and making sure the blank is totaly straight on its outer sibe,is to pre drill the end of the blank with a drill the same size you are to use to drill out the full length of the bore in the tail stock chuck,I then bring the long HSS drill bit in to complete the rest of the bore, I hold the drill bit in a chuck hell in my hand when drilling the blank, the best way is just to drill very short lengths 1/4"-1/2"inch at a time, then with drawing the drill to clean the cutting end, you will find that the drill will not run so far off centre useing this method, the speed I use is 500rpm. when through, I am never further out than 0.50mm from centre at the other end, when centreing a lathe just because the two centres come together at the head stock don’t neccessarily mean that the lathe is running true over the length of the lathe bed 14"-16" from centres, one of the reason makers have drills running off centre, I check my lathe every time and if needed adjust it when I’m going to be doing centre any boring on chanters and bass drones lengths.
all the best Stew.
Roughly - a drill results in a tubular hole (industry standard drill bits are most often used). The reamer (custom made by the pipemaker or by a shop to the pipemaker’s specification) is used to make that hole conical. More than one reamer can be used to form the conical shape.
When making a chanter, how many step bores do you drill before using the reamer to do the final shape?
Marc