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48" 3/8 drill bit

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Our local Harbor Freight has their 48" long 3/8" wood drill bits on sale this week for $7.99. I just wanted to share. The drill shaft is not real rigid, but I picked one up to chase out a tight ramrod hole in a pre-drill that I am currently working on.
 
The HF long bits I bought had no clearance below the flutes so they would bind up when drilling a ramrod hole. I had to grind clearance below the flutes to make a deep hole.
 
The HF long bits I bought had no clearance below the flutes so they would bind up when drilling a ramrod hole. I had to grind clearance below the flutes to make a deep hole.

I've had a number of long drill bits made up for me over the years. Not having flutes the full length can be an issue when using. But, just remember to withdraw frequently allow chips to clear. It can be time consuming to drill a long hole but that is a better trade-off than spending a couple hundred dollars on a professional flute (long) drill for one time use.
 
Bought a ‘three pack’ of HF 24” long drills a while back. Anything but straight. Could chase or enlarge a hole, but can’t see drilling a hole withe them. Not complaining, I got what I paid for.
 
The shaft is about maybe around 3/16" in diameter so it has a fair amount of flex. If I was using it to drill a new ramrod hole I would clamp a piece of straight tubing in the ramrod channel and run the drill shaft through it to reduce flex before attempting to drill the channel.
 
We use these running wires in hard to reach places but don't see them being very practical for precision drilling. I wouldn't trust it for that intended purpose in OP post.
 
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