apdoo@alice.UUCP (Alan Weiss) (03/26/85)
For the line eater....... In case any of you are wondering, there really is a standard way to drill square holes, at least in wood. It is done on a drill press (or similar equipment) with a thing called a mortising bit and mortise chisel. The way it works is this: a mortising chisel is a tube with square cross section and very sharp ends. The mortising bit fits very closely into the center of the tube and looks pretty much like a standard drill bit. When in use, the bit gets out most of the material being drilled, and the chisel cleans out a square hole. As you might imagine the entire setup must be forced in with a good deal of pressure, but it really really works. In fact, by drilling a series of square holes which overlap you can get a rectangular hole, and this is (I believe) the primary use of the gizmo. (Rectangular holes are used in mortise and tenon joints.)