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I was an Orthopedic Surgeon and one thing we used in multiple applications was cannulated drill bits. You only get one chance to get a screw in the right place in fracture surgery so we would drill a small guide wire at the angle desired and take a film and if not right you could redirect it and then drill over it with the proper sized drill for the screw which was also cannulated.

I have found some applications for this concept in lutherie where a fairly large hole has to be drilled at exactly the right angle.

To my surprise I found some relatively inexpensive drill bits on eBay. I use a 10mm one for the holes for my 3/8” carbon tube headstock support struts where the holes have to be angled in two planes. I am sure more applications will turn up.


1E90A479-C187-4B9B-91DF-908DA4409698 by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

F021B19B-A447-4ABE-8EC4-EB503290A6CC by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

228AE394-FA2A-4AC4-B027-8673679320C7 by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Yep, that idea makes sense. All you need now is the portable x-ray image intensifier and you will have the perfect set-up. But then you probably don’t want to be wearing a lead apron around the workshop like you used to do all day in the OR?

What I really want is a crew to set up the procedure, hand me my tools, and cleanup afterwards

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Funny story: I was coming home from the hospital a couple of years ago after visiting my wife, and I saw a long and narrow drill bit laying on the ground in the parking lot. I had to pick it up and I have been using it for various tasks in my shop. It is the perfect size to drill into the headstock to insert a heat-stick when resetting a neck. However, it does not have a hole in it. Now I know where it came from.

I've looked at these in the past, but then I realized that these were accurate within .001" and my usual way was bang on.

Looks like a good tool for boring woodwinds. Where can those be found?

Do a search on eBay for "cannulated drill bits". You will be surprised at the results and in some cases the prices. It seems there is quite a back alley market for surgical tools

The 10mm one I have that takes a 3/32" guide pin is one used for drilling the attachment tunnels in the tibia and femur in ACL reconstructions. I would guess a hospital would pay at least $2-300 for one. I got it on eBay for around $35.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.