holes drilled horizontally

[Maplemonkey]

Sent my son out to tap one section on his own, he drilled and tapped all of the holes almost perfectly horizontal instead of a slight downward angle. Will this have a poor effect on the amount of sap that the tree will give up?

[BristolHills]

Should be fine, where are you ?? Im in Bristol, tapping this weekend, approx. 50 taps.

[jmayerl]

That's good.....he knows the correct way to tap. All tap holes should be drilled at a 90. There is NO need for a upward
Angle as that will only give a oblonged hole that can leak. When a tree is running it is under upwards of 10 psi at the tap hole, believe me the sap will come out

[Maplemonkey]

we are in Steuben County, still no sap but it should be coming soon!

[TunbridgeDave]

It depends whether you are on vac or not. It's more important to drill holes 90 degrees to the surface on vac so they stay round and are less likely to leak. With gravity I still think you want that downward slope and an oval hole doesn't matter as much.

[maple flats]

Drilled straight is best, but as long as you go in and back out without any wobble I fail to see how you get an oval hole. It may look oval looking from an angle different than the bit went in, but a bit only drills a round hole if the angle remains constant, and a hole drilled at 90 degrees to the surface only remains round the same way, do not wobble the bit.

[John Mc]

Am I missing something here? The hole itself is still round, even if you drill it at an angle. It's just the intersection of the hole with the surface of the tree that is oval. I'm brand new to this, so not trying to argue, just trying to understand. The only way I can see it mattering is if what's important for a leak-free fit is how the part of the tap that stays outside the tree "matches" the tree surface (i.e. if there is some sort of collar on the tap). I thought the important thing was how the body of the tap fit into the hole, which is not affected by whether the hole is drilled at a slight angle.

[johnallin]

John Mc. You are not missing anything - Dave is correct; a drill bit will produce a round hole no matter the angle of penetration. Providing the body of the tap is the same dia (not tapered) where it's in contact with the outer surface - whether table top or tree - you will have a tight fit.

Woodworkers often install wood plugs in furniture that are drilled at an angle, it's called pocket hole joinery. Then end result is an often attractive oblong shaped plug in a contrasting - darker or lighter - wood. Sure hope the sap starts running soon...the natives are getting restless.

10952

[maple marc]

There is a potential problem with a bucket spile drilled horizontally: the drips may not drop off at the end. They may run back to the wall of the bucket and drip out of the hole in the bucket. This is a function of the spile design. Some have a better "drip edge" than others. A down angle can prevent this.