Blank drilling setup

[MatthewZS]

Just so I know I havn't overlooked something..... what is the cheapest method for drilling blanks and nothing else? A small basic drill press? A collet chuck and drill chuck? Drill chuck and dedicated Blank drilling chuck? Is there some other little dooddad (or collection of doodads), gizmo, lathe accessory, etc...... that will do this for me?

Thanks.

 

[chrisk]

Hi Matthew,
I have a drill press + vice and drilled all my blanks this way before knowing the IAP.

Now I use the setting below:
First of all a Oneway chuck... :
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/s...__2_Profiled_Jaws___oneway_chuck_2_jaws?Args=

... completed with those smooth spigot jaws (Ref: 130-3601):
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Chucks___Oneway___Oneway_Spigot_Jaws___oneway_spigot?Args=

As for the cost, it's related to precision, easiness, etc. I found that when I drill my blanks on the lathe I forget about the splitting issues so common with the drill press. Also, with the Oneway chuck I can drill square blanks which is impossible with a collet chuck.
Last but not least, with the Oneway chuck + spigot jaws you can turn a lot of projects, like bottle stoppers from square blanks.

 

[MatthewZS]

I appreciate that for the future, but let me rephrase. I have no budget for a bit..... I can muster 50 or so bucks..... maybe as much as 85 if I am REALLY in a mood for Ramen noodles. I WANT precision, but right now I JUST want to be able to make pens again, imprecise or not.

 

[Drstrangefart]

I appreciate that for the future, but let me rephrase. I have no budget for a bit..... I can muster 50 or so bucks..... maybe as much as 85 if I am REALLY in a mood for Ramen noodles. I WANT precision, but right now I JUST want to be able to make pens again, imprecise or not.

Just find a drill press with at LEAST a 2 inch drop. You can make a perfectly good clamp for your blanks for like 3 bucks. Just take a couple of boards, 2x4 works, drill through them on either end. Run a long bolt through there with a butterfly nut to operate the clamping part. Drill a hole whatever size works for you dead center, centered on the seam between the boards. I'm sure someone here can offer a better walk-through on how to make one. With a 2 inch drop, you'll drill halfway through a blank, stop, lift the piece, slide a board or something under it, and finish drilling the hole. It's accurate enough for all the work I do at home. Just put the money into the best drill press you can afford. The drill press will also serve as a pen press if you can put something flat and non-damaging in the chuck.

 

[chrisk]

Sorry Matthew I didn't understand you. According to what I've read on the forum I know about this affordable PSI collet chuck:
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCDOWEL.html

Also I found out this option while browsing:
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/CSCPENCHK.html

As for a drill press, I don't know about US prices and cannot help further. But I'm sure another member will.
Wish you the best for 2011.

 

[G1Pens]

I just got started in this hobby and wanted to keep costs down as much as possible. I opted for the PSI dedicated blank chuck and a drill chuck. It was cheaper than a drill press and rig to hold the blanks.

One thing that kept me away from the drill press was that I could not find an inexpensive drill press with quill travel of over 2 inches. The ones I would have bought were $50 to $100 more than the "cheap" ones.

Overall I am very happy with my setup. I have had no problems. You do have to swap out chucks more this way, but I just do all my drilling for the day and then make the swap to the mandrel and live center. Not a problem.

 

[aggromere]

When I began making pens I purchased a large bench top drill press for about $150.00, a pen blank vise and other items. Fortunately for me, the drill press broke and I purchased what i needed to drill on the lathe. In my opinion, drilling on the lathe is easier and produces better results, at least for me.

Either route you take will require more than the money you have alloted, unless you get lucky and find a good used drill press on craigslist.

To drill on the lathe will require a drill chuck for your tail stock (probably could find one for 30 or 40 dollars, and a chuck of some kind to hold you blank on the head stock. Those can get quite pricey, unless you can find a used one that someone is willing to part with cheap.

The suggestion of one of the PSI pen chucks and a drill chuck probably would be the best and least expensive way to go, but you are still talking about a little over $100.00.

You might want to explore what types of pre-drilled and cast on tubes blanks are available from members here and opt for making only pens from them, since you would not need to drill. That will limit the kits you can make as well as the materials you will use, but it would be a good way to make pens without the expense associated with drilling.

 

[Drstrangefart]

+1 for looking for a used drill press on Craigslist. With all due respect to all the other opinions that are just as valid as mine, if you can drill your own blanks, worlds of opportunity open up to make blanks out of whatever you feel like. I have a couple of white lawn chairs in back of the house I'm planning on making a pen out of soon. I also use lots of found wood that would otherwise be impossible to make a pen out of.

 

[soligen]

If you can swing some way to hold the blank in the lathe, then you can get a tailstock 1/2" drill chuck for the tailstock (MT2) for about $7 to hold the bits.

Best way to hold the chuck is either rounded with a collet chuck or a scroll chuck(round or square), but the PSI collet chuck (great chuck at a good price) is probably more like $80. With tax and shipping it would likley be about $100 for both chucks, but then you have an excellent setup. I use this exact setup and would never go back to the drill press. Also the collet chuck has much other usefullness in pen turning.

If you cant swing the collet chuck (or even a scroll chuck), here the cheapesst way. I actually did this before I got my collet chuck, but accuracy will not be there. DOnt use blanks with the setup below that require accurate drilling.

Get a second Harbor freight MT2 chuck, and a bolt to use as a draw bar. You can then use one in each end of the lathe. You will need to turn the blank down to 1/2" on one end to chuck it. I recomend leaving the other end fatter becasue, as I said, accuracy is not there. WIth a 20% off coupon for one of the chucks, you can get this setup for about $15, leaving you some room to buy bits. HF has a bit set up to 1/2 by 64ths for I think under $20 (I use this for all drilling except 7 & 8 MM). This aught to leave you enough of your $50 left to get a couple pen kits, or a metric (7mm maybe) bit.

I hope this helps.

PS. you wont want to stay with the 2 drill chuck setup for any longer than you have to. Sell a couple pens and get the collet chuck as soon as you can. You wont regret it. When you do, you will have 2 tail chucks .. Not a bad thing for convienience

 

[soligen]

Another thought. Is there someone near by who you could visit for drilling? Prep a bunch of blanks and visit them for drilling .... In person visits are a good thing. I have childhood memories of my uncle visiting us to use my dad's surface planer. I think I got to see him a little more becasue of that.

 

[soligen]

In the first line of my first post, I didn't mention that the $7 chuck is at Harbor Freight (damn memory, I thougt I had lol)

 

[MatthewZS]

I've actually got blanks and kits already, and I have had my eye on the HF 8 dollar chucks for some time.... not just one but several eventually. I recently moved and am going to be very poor for a month or so but I still want to turn pens. I had most all of the setup I needed, bits, mandrels, etc..... but the drill press had to be left where I was due to size/space constraints.

For the time being the two drill chucks idea appeals because they can BOTH later be pressed into service, so no money is wasted.

I've been sort of keeping an eye on craigslist for a drill press, AND I've been watching our forums for a used chuck of some sort that would suffice.

i'll come together eventually I just wanted to make sure there wasn't some obscure wonder gizmo that had slipped my attention like the "Ronco Pocket Pen Driller" or something.... Just set it and forget it!

Anyhow, I appreciate the input Thank you!

 

[soligen]

"Ronco Pocket Pen Driller"

Hmmmm... Do I smell invention in the air? Take a pocket laser pointer, then hook it up to several car batteies and laser drill the hole. Not sure on effectivenetss, but something "interesting" might happen. Protective gear recomended.:devil::devil::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[MatthewZS]

"Ronco Pocket Pen Driller"

Hmmmm... Do I smell invention in the air? Take a pocket laser pointer, then hook it up to several car batteies and laser drill the hole. Not sure on effectivenetss, but something "interesting" might happen. Protective gear recomended.:devil::devil::biggrin::biggrin:

Just make sure to cover your eyes when in use.... or at LEAST cover the one eye you want to keep.