Did I finally find the limits of the HF mini lathe?

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jbg230

Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2016
Messages
95
Location
Kansas City
Since I'm relatively new a this, I've relied mostly on Harbor Freight and Grizzly for the larger tools. Everything has been working great and I've been proud of the pens I've been making. I just started some various segmenting methods, but the offset barrel hole I drilled in my first segmented blank reminded me of the holes from my HF benchtop drill press I recently sold. I "upgraded" to a Porter Cable floor drill press and am now blaming the offset holes on my brad point drill bits that the Woodcraft sales people insisted I should get.
I decided to listen to the "real experts" here at IAP and set my sights to drill on the lathe. I purchased a 3/4" fairly heavy drill chuck for my MT1 lathe. I was scared of the weight, but I tested it out and there was no strain or slow down of the lathe with the chuck mounted. The lathe seemed to work just as it had been.
I finally completed the system with the large PSI pen blank drilling chuck.

Everything lined up perfect, but only when I kept the tail stock positioned perfect. When not locked down, the tail stock has play in it, from side to side and from front to back. Of course I thought that only my Harbor Freight lathe is the only lathe that does this. Is there any wiggle in the tail stocks in the $5000 lathes? When I kept the tail stock flat and centered, it was dead on, but it was easy to lose the positioning as I was moving the bit in and out.
I'm wondering if the better lathes have tail stocks that can lock down just slightly so you don't need to keep a hand on it; just turn the handle to advance the drill bit.

Anyway, I was drilling very dense Honduras Rosewood and was conscientious about going slow and backing out and drilling gain every inch or so. But I did get over anxious towards the end and increased the lathe speed, but got through without a problem.

Then I had a bad experience. As I was backing out for the final time, the blank blew apart and the 3/4" drill chuck flew out of the socket, bit and all. After realizing how lucky I was not getting hit and swearing to myself that I wouldn't tell my wife, I assessed what happened. I realized I hadn't cleaned the morse taper, nor the socket. I also know I should have been patient and kept the lathe speed to its minimum the whole time. But I still don't know if it was a blank blow out or if the tail stock in this mini lathe is just not strong enough to handle a heavy drill chuck. Turns out that the darn hole was perfectly centered! So I don't want to give up.
Yeah I bent my 3/8" brad point, but it's probably for the better. I'm going to be safer and I'll have learned a lot about drilling with a lathe. I just want to come to terms with whether I have been foolish trying to do something this lathe was not meant to do or if I just needed better technique. Maybe both!
 

Skie_M

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Joined
Aug 7, 2015
Messages
2,737
Location
Lawton, Ok
Hmm ... I use the same lathe (exactly) but the biggest drill chuck I own is a 1/2" one.

1 ... when drilling, drill at the slowest speed that still keeps that blank turning.

2 ... drill with the bit STATIONARY in the tailstock, and the blank spinning in the headstock.

3 ... before advancing the drill bit, make certain that the blank has been center drilled (just a hole in the rotating center of the blank to help guide your bit).

4 ... make certain the tailstock is locked down centered on the blank ... many lathes (even higher dollar ones) can have a little play in the tailstock. Sometimes it requires pushing the tailstock away as you lock it down, or pulling it towards you before locking it down (mine does). Just make certain that your bit is lined up exactly on that center drill hole before you lock it down and commit to the drilling process.

5 ... advance the drill 1/4" to 1/2" at a time, backing out to clear chips (most times, I drill in 32ths increments, backing the bit off slightly every time, and clearing my chips every half inch or so, when dealing with very dense woods). We have a "knob" on the end of our tailstocks where other people have a handwheel (which I feel would be better, but we have what we have).

6 ... if drilling into brittle acrylics or hardwoods that have issues with checking (cracks, which I suspect may have been a possible reason for your problem), use a blank that is oversized and drill to proper depth, then cut to length.

7 ... keep one hand on the drill chuck while drilling to mitigate vibration and keep the chuck from pulling out of the taper as you back out (this is probably what happened to you, and during the fallout some stuff flew into the taper).




.... yeah, make sure before you start any of this stuff, always check and clean your tapers to ensure that you have a good seating ... just in case, but since your drilling got all the way to the end before your mishap, it's likely your taper was clean.



(edit) Oh ... and buy a Drill Doctor! Keep your bits razor sharp! A decent jobber bit will do just as well as any brad point bit - even better vs acrylics! A good sharp bit drills cooler, faster, with less drift ... make sure you get a model that can be used to split your drill bit points as well!
 
Last edited:

thewishman

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Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
8,181
Location
Reynoldsburg, Ohio, USA.
That sounds really scary! It also sounds like you were doing things pretty well until the end.

I drill at 800 - 1200 rpms, and as long as the chips are coming out well, I keep drilling. When I back out the drill chuck, I keep a hand on it. I like to make sure my hole has every chance to go straight, so I use a center and then use bits with a 118 degree tip.
 
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