Antikythera Fragment #5 - Ancient Tool Technology - The First Precision Drill Bit
Vložit
- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- Antikythera Fragment #5 - #Ancient Tool Technology - The First #Precision Drill Bit, by Clickspring.
There are a number of cutting tools implied in the wreckage of the Antikythera Mechanism, and one of the most interesting is the drill bit. In this video I explore a possible method of how an effective and precise drill bit could have been made in antiquity.
The video where I show the carburisation process in detail can be found here: • Antikythera Fragment #...
If you would like to help support the creation of these videos, then head on over to the Clickspring Patreon page: / clickspring
________________________________________________________
A very special thank you to Patrons:
Sinking Valley Woodworks (www.sinkingvalleywoodworks.com)
Glenn Trewitt
Christopher Warnock
Mike Manfrin
Steven Sladewski
Rollin W. Patrick, Jr.
Jim Popwell
Gary Levario
Pete Askew
Norman Lemke
Andre van Soest
Andrew Smith
Bernd Fischer
Rudolph Bescherer Jr
Sam Towne
Adam Slagle
Jack Cause
Jeremiah G. Mort
Dave Seff
Olof Haggren
Stassinopoulos Thomas
Florian Ragwitz
Larry Pardi
Michael Harmon
Lonnie Koehn
Tim Bray
________________________________________________________
You can also help me make these videos by purchasing via the following Amazon Affiliate links:
Cameras used in this video:
Panasonic GH5 - amzn.to/2rEzhh2
Panasonic X920 - amzn.to/2wzxxdT
Tools & Shop Products:
"Solidworks 2013 Bible": amzn.to/2FObS1D
"Hardening, Tempering and Heat Treatment (Workshop Practice Series)" - amzn.to/2KbZo6l
Salamander A-6 SUPER Clay Graphite Morgan Melting Crucible: amzn.to/2pkVAak
Norton 1-by-2-by-8-Inch Fine/Coarse India Combination Oilstone, Red: amzn.to/2tTEPb0
Saint Gobain (Norton) - 4 Arkansas Stones + case: amzn.to/2HCOAMX
Abbreviated Transcript:
00:12 The existence of an Ancient style of drill bit is strongly implied in the wreckage of the Antikythera Mechanism. And its fabrication would have likely hinged on a crucial process: The ability to take a malleable wrought iron, and transform it into something hard enough to cut bronze.
00:28 I've covered the process in detail in a separate video, but essentially it involves packing an animal based charcoal and salt around the soft iron, sealing it in clay, and then heating it up to a red heat I'm using a low carbon mild steel as a substitute for Ancient wrought iron. Its soft and ductile.
01:00 But there are some great examples of long slender turning to be found within the wreckage of the mechanism itself. There's a shaft that extended from the lunar phase gearing up to the phase display on the front dial that's roughly 4mm in diameter.
01:16 And there are numerous other pins and shafts, some less than a mm in diameter. I'm using a modern furnace for convenience, but a traditional charcoal furnace is quite capable of generating the required temperature. Once at a red heat, the process of carburising the iron is purely a time exercise.
01:51 So I reheated the rods, rolled them straight on a flat surface, and then requenched. The once soft metal is now very hard, but also extremely brittle, and so easily fractures under a light bending load. So to be of use as a cutting tool, it needs to be tempered, in this case to a light straw color.
02:40 I can see this end of the rod is a good straight section, so that'll become the actual bit, and the excess will be removed at the end of the process. A gentle heat raises the temperature of the rod until a pale straw color just reaches what will become the cutting end. The material is now in a tempered state. Still very hard, but tough rather than brittle.
03:23 Despite no longer being widely used, it still has a number of attributes to recommend it. The first being that its very easy to make. Because the primary surfaces can all be formed by hand, on flat abrasive stones. The cutting edges can be shaped for unidirectional cutting, or as in the case that I'm showing onscreen, for single direction cutting.
03:59 And once the operational length has been decided, it can be permanently set by scoring the metal with a file, and then snapping off the excess material.
04:38 In its rigid cross section form, this sort of drill bit will often perform much like a traditional D bit. Delivering a very straight deep hole. Now there is of course an obvious drawback to the drill bit design: The need to repeatedly withdraw it from the work to clear the chips.
05:36 As soon as the cutting edges start to dull, a quick hit on the stones will bring them back to original condition. Now you won't want to throw out your twist drills any time soon, but its a great option to keep in mind for those rare occasions when you really do need a custom drill bit.
References:
Watchmaking by Daniels: amzn.to/2FH3cyh
The many books and DVD's by WR (Bill) Smith: wrsmithclocks.com/dvd/
Antikythera Fragment #5 - The First Precision Drill Bit, by Clickspring. - Zábava
There are a number of cutting tools implied in the wreckage of the Antikythera Mechanism, and one of the most interesting is the drill bit. In this video I explore a possible method of how an effective and precise drill bit could have been made in antiquity. The video where I use it can be found here: czcams.com/video/OtWVA7_9Rik/video.html - Cheers :)
Clickspring are you going too be starting a new project :) i love your videos
Carbide versiones of these drills are also very useful for drilling hardened steels, like ball bearings for example. The pack hardening technique was really cool, especially the clay case.
cast holes are highly imprecise and rough-surfaced and would need to be finished (by drilling, broaching or, if you feel masochistic, filing). Making and operating a broach would be much more difficult in my eyes than a simple drill and both still require precise round stock to begin with.
BTW: could these slender rods be manufactured by taking round stock and grinding it between two stones until the desired diameter is reached?
Clickspring dude I could listen to you all day long. Love all your vids. Your skills are so inspiring!
Hellsong89 Are you asking if a brass drill can cut high carbon steel? Pfffft
I remembered watching this months ago, and it saved me yesterday! I was making a marking jig which had 1/8" stainless steel pins sliding through a block of aluminum. unfortunately they were a few thousandths oversized and a standard 1/8" drill bit was too small to fit the pins. so I took some extra stock and made one of these with it, and it worked perfectly!
As someone who works in the world of through-coolant insert drills, I'm always amazed at how simple it is to make effective cutting tools.
Thanks for this method. I have successfully made a 1mm drill bit from a section of paper clip. I added carbon using your method as well for hardening. After that I put a 3 mm brass rod in a rotary tool and used the drill to make a hole for itself to mount in. It drills brass well.
The thing I love most about this particular series is that you've given me a glimpse of how all our technology came about. I've often wondered how we went from rocks on the ground to guys in their shop machining to within tenths of a thou. These basic but remarkably accurate tools start to make it clear.
Cavemen were scraping granite to a couple thou of flatness before we even left the caves.
Nice! When I was at college, our Fabrication & Welding instructor showed us how to make these from broken HSS twist drills. There was lots of careful grinding involved, but even today I view a snapped bit as an opportunity to resurrect the stump as something useful.
Thanks, Chris; and thanks, too, to Mr Haythornthwaite! 🙂
Same from my old metal shop teacher. Now every spotting drill I own is homemade.
I used to grind spade drills with the same geometry as the one shown out of old carbide tool shanks and I used them to drill out broken taps. Many were amazed.
Drills of this type, up to very large sizes, are shown in every book about metal working written before 1900 that I have ever seen or read. I've made this type of drill myself many times, and was taught how to make them by two retired turners at occasions widely separated in time. I also saw a lot of them, in small wooden taper holders for a treadle lathe, in a preserved 19th century brass foundry that isn't open to the public. They also exist in many museum collections here, mainly in larger sizes. The bigger ones are almost never turned, just forged, filed and stoned. That's how I was taught to make them too, regardless of size.These drills are great.
Hundreds of years of metallurgy and tool development in a seven-minute video. Fantastic.
Between you and Primitive Technology I think I’m ready for the apocalypse
Primitive Technology: How to make a lathe.
Primitive Technology: How to make a Bessemer process steel foundry
Primitive Technology: How to refine silicon
Primitive Technology: How to do ultraviolet lithography
Primitive Technology: How to make an iPhone
It is not primitive.
Also some "sapien ancestors" men had bigger brains than yours..
Now. now. Don't leave out Joerg Sprave and his would be (history altering) repeating long bow.
lkkjhtemmexv Primitive Technology is a CZcams channel.
They are both from Australia too. In fact both from North Queensland I believe. Go maroons!
I just noticed something that was also shown in another of your videos with breaking the rod - the shape of the break. I realized I have seen that before, except that it was a 2" diameter steering spindle for an Allis Chalmers 170 diesel tractor.
In school I cut and milled some mild steel into a set of parallels, case hardened them and then surface ground them to very tight tolerance and enjoyed sticking them to each other. Thanks for listening
When you snapped the one piece of case hardened steel it looked like the marstensite had penetrated all the way through. Very impressive. I have often wondered about how ancient bladesmiths controlled the depth and location of carburizing of their blades. Great YT!
In many old watchmaking texts, hardening of the tiny versions is suggested to be done by heating them to cherry read, and plunging them into a tallow candle or a piece of beeswax, thus tempering them at the same time. This, I've never tried. I always use water or vegetable oil, followed by gentle tempering and again cooling in liquid, to stop the point from overheating.
For drilling thin sheet metal, these drill bits are king! With no flutes you have very little chance of "helicoptering" of the metal.
When drilling thin metal and the drill bit cuts/breaks through, there is a tendency for the spiral on drill bits to catch the metal, lifting it out of the vise and spinning it in the air like a twirling ginsu knife, this is literally called helicoptering. This is a serious danger to both professional and hobbyist metal workers when drilling holes. Softer metals such as aluminum and copper are more likely to have this problem than harder metals such as steel, but it can still happen in sheet metals of all kinds. After making and using one of Chris's drill bits, I can say that the drill bits don't break through thin metal like twist drills do and the likely of the metal catching on the drill bit is almost non existent. Thank you Chris for sharing this! I owe ya one!
Another benefit of this style of bit is that it doesn't grab and pull itself into the workpiece when drilling softer materials like brass and aluminium. It's especially good when drilling polycarbonate as that can often shatter when using a twist drill.
Votre chaine youtube et toutes les connaissances qui s’y trouve m’ont donner envie d’apprendre l’anglais, votre savoir est mon pouvoir !
Beautifully simple. Thanks!
Cheers mate :)
Hi, As an apprentice back in 1960 I was taught to make spade drills. We used silver steel rod which is easily hardened, the end of the rod was heated and hammered to a tapered flat which made a drill larger than the rod, the rod was then put in a lathe and spatulated end turned to size. The rod was then hardened and tempered before putting an edge on it. We even had Archimedean drills with wooden end chucks, the end of the drills being filed to a 4 side point to hammer them into the centre hole of the wood. I enjoy your videos, thank you. Take care Tony.
Sadly, there are plenty of youtube videos telling you that this sort of thing couldn't be done until quite recently and all those ancient artifacts were created using lasers and ultra-sonics, taught by aliens.
I truly wish I was joking, but I am not.
I like the ones that look at art from centuries ago and say "those clearly don't look like humans, obviously they were modeled after alien visitors!", as if creativity was invented 50 years ago.
We are not talking about your average drill holes. We are talking about structures that our modern technology can not replicate. They had to have had massive circular diamond coated blades and the engines to power them let alone means to transport and fit them. The surfaces on some of them are melted which doesn't suggest any cutting method we are aware of.
@@ReasonAboveEverything Look up friction drilling.
@@moonrazk That's too sensible and too responsible.
Ridiculous myths are so much more attractive than boring old reality.
We still use spade drills pretty often in the machine shop where I work. Often times we grind them in such a way that they will form multiple inside dimensions in one pass for efficiency. Awesome video :) Thanks for posting :)
I know i should learn that. Just completed my first year CNC milling, and our soviet-heritage universal drills are often too beaten up, to get the right size. One custom-made insert drill is just ridiculosly pricey. Like for non-standard tip angle... I'd like to know more if poss.👍
@@dannydetonator We typically use round HSS blanks for grinding spade drills. I use the surface grinder to form the flat sides first. I like to use the O.D. grinder to form the diameter(s) and the shoulders if it has them. When forming the relief angles for the cutting edges, I've been using the grinder to get it most of the way there and then using a honing stone to finish it by hand. That's mainly because I'm always worried about going too far with the grinder and ruining it. Having to start all over sucks :( An optical comparator or a micro-vu can be used to measure the parts of the drill that can't be measured with a micrometer. When you're grinding the flat sides, leave more material than you think you need. You can always go back later and remove some more. Ideally, you want the flats to be an equal distance from the centerline of the drill to within a couple thousandths of an inch. If the flats are too far off center, when you start grinding the diameters, the tool geometry will come out all wrong. Ask me how I know ;) We use these spade drills a lot on the old Brown & Sharpe screw machines, Davenport screw machines, and the swiss-style CNC lathes. If you don't have access to an O.D. grinder and a surface grinder, you may be able to machine a spade drill out of tool steel and then heat treat it. A tool & die maker would be better qualified than me to give advice about working with tool steel. I could keep going, but I think I've already rambled more than I originally meant to. Hope this helps :D
Okay, I thought I was done rambling ;) If you're going to use the tool for cutting brass, I recommend using a honing stone to make the cutting edges just slightly dull. It sounds counter intuitive, but when cutting brass if the tool is "too sharp" it will chatter and create a terrible looking surface finish. May have to go over the cutting edges with a honing stone a few times until the chattering goes away completely.
Those mellow tones of Chris's voice plus the videography of the content makes for one hell of a history lesson.
Historical engineering has never been so expertly delivered.
Terrific to have you watching mate :)
Incredible!!!
Indeed! Getting some ideas Alec?
Oh god! Alec you're here! Now I can die happy c':
Have you seen his fly wheel casting? Maybe you could try and use some of the same methods
Thank you mate :)
I'm a machinist at a facility that manufactures actuators for all the big names in aircraft (wing flaps and bomb loaders and such), and we use indexible spade drills for roughing IDs when we can. Saves us the effort of having to set up a spot drill.
Nicely Done. Hand Making Tool Is a Good Thing too Know. Thanks for the upload. Well Done Mate.
Couldn't click fast enough.
Edit since watching. lol:
I actually watched the old man make one of these drill bits in a pinch for a quick wood project many years ago. At the time, I thought he was a magician (I was only a lil kid). Thanks for sharing and reminding me of something I had forgotten!
I guess you could say I sprang into action to click on this video
Haha yeah man! I opened up CZcams 1 second before the notification. Thankfully I was on the early rotation at work so my lunch break was at 11. :P
All of these are incredible I'm Bing watching this tonight
Wow! I had no idea making an effective DIY custom drill bit was possible! EXCELLENT
Always a pleasure when another Clickspring video appears!
Beautiful little drill
Clickspring should get a spot on Google Preferred
They also work exceptionally well in spring steel as well, for things like drilling holes in hand saw plates.
I use drill bits of this style made out of tungsten carbide to drill through hardened steel. Thy are amazing
Watching feels like glimpsing the knowledge that was kept secret for thousands of years.
I watched your videos and I think they are one of the best I've seen on YT. I came here because of "This old Tony" and checking your internetsite I couldn't believe that you are a amateur. I think you're a pro and not because of the skills but also because how you make those videos. thanks from The Netherlands.
Thank You Chris, The content has wonderful teaching content Respect!
I used to make this style of bit from a flat head screwdriver when I was young and my dad wouldn't let me use his good drill bits.
Made spade drills from broken carbide tools with left hand cutting angles to remove broken bolts and studs
I’ve watched this video many times, but recently needed to drill through a 150mm (6 inch) soft-wood gate post. I don’t have a drill long enough to go right through, but started from one side as far as I could using 8.5mm drill, then followed it up with a length of 4mm mild steel, cut copying your pattern here. Not hardened (I don’t have that ability at the moment), but just soft mild steel. It worked a treat! I could then follow the hole through from the other side of the post. Nine holes drilled, and a large gate was hung on decent hinges, all done with thanks to this channel. Cheers! Les in UK
Awesome mate, so pleased :)
Am I the only one that looses all hope in life until these videos are posted? Keep up the good work.
Thank you mate :)
The project is looking pretty good so far. Great job Chris!
I've never been more excited to see a new video in my feed. Thanks for putting together another video!
Excellent as always.
the tempering was thoroughly impressive
I make this sort of drill from time to time when I need a special size. I never harden them because I usually only need them for one or two holes and I’m usually working with wood. They are so easy to make and sharpen it doesn’t matter if they dull.
I realize this is long after the fact, but I use spade bits nearly daily in my woodworking. So they are still widely used and effective :)
Holy shit! You're alive!
Great to see back Please don't leave it so long next time as all your vids are a real pleasure to watch Pete (UK)
Never gets old watching your videos. Been going back a few times to review how you performed various steps. Thankfully we don't need to go through the carborizing steps anymore and can start with high carbon steel. The history lesson is great. The cheers.
I actually use this type of drill bit all the time in my work, building wooden boats. They excel at drilling long pilot holes that I use to guide augers which tend to wander off course. I generally make mine out of welding rod or bicycle spokes.
I imagine that some very serviceable countersinks can be made this way. Looking forward to trying this myself Chris.
Hello, nice video!
a small detail disturbs me, when you break the steel rods, the grain is much too big. it looks like sand. for better mechanical characteristics, it would be necessary to make a normalization process, in order to make the grain invisible to the naked eye.
Sorry for my english, i'm french!
Very fine craftsmanship in this video, nice work!
Your videos are second to none. Fantastic workmanship and interesting topics!
I really love your videos. I had limited faith but no doubt it cuts. Got me out of a bind and im sure it will again. Thanks mate.
interestingly, I have some modern carbide spade drills because carbide is fragile and the spade drill is more sturdy than a twist drill, I never thought about them having been a predecessor to twist drills, but it makes sense.
Glowing clay looks awesome!
Simple, elegant, nicely done. Thanks for the video.
Beautifully shot, edited and presented as usual. Keep up the great work !
I always learn something new from your channel.
Been looking forward to this! love this series
Excellent! Perfect! That is
I've been waiting sooooooooo long for more of your videos. Very excellent!
Two videos in one day that's definitely worth the wait
Im in love with this series :D
Good to see you back Chris - this drill is most impressive and very nicely made.
Cheers mate :)
Absolute Gold..
Absolutely peerless. Love your videos and they are very inspirational, thank you.
@2:14 the mill scale can be also removed with vinegar.
Another version of this is a half drill where a straight flute is formed by cutting half the diameter away. I make them out of small finish nails to drill pilot holes for tiny wood screws. The cool thing about these is that you can make it tapered or some other shape, and it only takes a minute to make one with a file!
FINALY! Fantastic work.
Well done! So well done! As always, I'm impressed by your skill and dedication to flawless beauty.
It has been l0ng 2 months waiting for this video. Thanq
Awesome video, nice to see this type of drill bit and how you made it. Thanks for sharing
You post, I watch. Great video!!
Where the hell have you been? Don't do that anymore. I hope everything is all right with you, thank you for putting out a couple more vids.
Nicely done. Thanks for the video.
this felt like a radio lab podcast
New video? Instant like. LOVE your work.
The oldest advertisement for a twist drill I've seen (in the US) is from a catalog dated 1861, and they're described as being cast.
I really like the ancient way you made that things, making files add carbon to the rods, making drill bits and clocks, I really like you work.
It's been forever! Glad to get a new vid
Good to see you back.
I have used this method with carbide rod to drill out broken taps. My sizes include 3/32- 1/8 - 3/16 -and 1/4 inch carbide spade drills. Very effective.
" Left handed " in a reverse rotation pistol drill , worked for me !
Such a delight to see your work each time it appears (even tho infrequently) in my sub box.
nicely done! so satisfying!
Ставлю лайк не смотря. Знаю что видео будет интересным.
Awesome video!
I used this principal (to an extent) in the mid 80's when I did not have a drill long enough to go through the timber beam I had to drill. I had a 1/8" (3.175 mm) dia stainless radio antenna, Hammered the end roughly flat and then filed the cutting edges as per your video. Stainless was work hardened enough to drill hardwood, then I used this hole as A guide to drill from the other side. End result hole through and job done. Cheers from John.
Awsome! After watching the d bit video i impressed my boss when a small hole was needed that was an odd size! Thanks
Thank you Chris! Nice tight grain on the heat treat and was impressed with the depth you got from it on the lathe. Liked the "Fractured" intro too. Those kinds of details make your work so special in my book.
Thank you mate - I was really pleased with that grain too :)
Давно уже видео не было. С возвращением =)
Great job. Jim
as always....EXCELLENT !!!
Now that was helpful! Thank you!
Oh my god. Best day of the week by FAR
this was extremely amazing ❤
Awesome video.
YES!!!!!!!!!!! A NEW VIDEO.... I was getting depressed.... LOL. On a side note, other then the cost to make your own (complete set of metric & imperial of No. & letter & fractional) and the cost of several drill rod diameters (I think you Aussie's call it "silver steel"). most the drill bits I ended up either turn the diameter down to the respective desired sizes and on the smaller diameters, cylindrical ground to acquire the large spectrum to complete a full set. One might ask why do such a thing, vs buying a set of drill rod blanks in their own case even? I had a 40% off coupon, and wanted to add to my surplus to have on hand for latter projects. My point is, (no pun intended) one of the things my grandfather taught me was these can drill extremely deep and if started off centered, drill extremely straight as well, kinda like the special type of gun drill bits. Also worth noting, the finish of the I.D.'s walls of a finished drilled hole, comes out on size at such a very high percentage, that pending the project, running a reamer in not even required. I made a long set and a typical length, and a made little stubby's ones, actually, I have not finished the stubby ones, as the regular length ones are just fine, for the Spot drilling. Allot of time, allot of money, but, some of the best tools to have when farting around with high accurate detailed requirements... I wish I had a laser engraver to burn the sizes into the shanks, that would be a great touch to finish'em off.
Wow two vids at once. Lovely work.