Drilling blanks

[cpmech425]

I am still drilling on my drill press and having a little trouble getting the exit hole exactly on center. I use brad point bits and jobber twist bits. I see bits made for pen making and would like to know if they are worth the asking price? Would I be better off to buy a chuck for my lathe and drill them on the lathe? Thanks Brian

 

[mecompco]

I don't think the type of bit really matters. I switched to drilling on the lathe after my first few pens and have never looked back. Perhaps it's not quite as fast, but the results IMHO are much better.

You can still get some slightly off-center holes in wood if the bit follows the grain as it will from time to time. Acrylics blanks should be dead-on every time.

Regards,
Michael

 

[socdad]

What kind of blank vise are you using? I found my results improved greatly when I upgraded to a Paul Huffman vise.

 

[farmer]

Off center

DEWALT 29pc Titanium Pilot-Point Drill Bit Set DW1369 New | eBay

 

[tomtedesco]

I drill all my blanks on the lathe. I was having trouble using the drill press and changed over to the lathe about 18 months ago.

 

[cpmech425]

I am using a shop made vise right now. Might have to invest in a blank chuck for my lathe. Brian

 

[magpens]

Try drilling on your lathe ... you won't look back ... you might have to invest in a lathe chuck ... it will be worth its weight in gold !!!

 

[campzeke]

I drill on my drill press and have no problem at all. I use a machinist V block similar to this that my son made several years ago in school. I also MAKE SURE the table is perpendicular to the quill or bit. A fairly easy way to check this is to make a cheep wire gauge. Do this by placing a piece of stiff wire about 12~14" long and tighten it in your chuck. Drop down 2~3" below the chuck and bend the wire 90 degrees to one side. From there move out 2~3" and make another 90 degrees bend back down. The goal hear is to have the tip of the wire touch the top of the table all the way around when you turn the chuck BY HAND. If the wire touches on one side and not the other, your table will need to be adjusted to compensate for the difference. Make the necessary adjustment and check again. Another problem with an inexpensive bench top drill press (Harbor Freight and similar) is the table will deflect front to back when you apply pressure on the quill. If that is the case you need to find a way to stop that movement or upgrade to a better drill press.

For me, I have a Delta floor model drill press and use the method described above to set up the table. I clamp the blank in a V block and have no problems at all. I know a lot of folks here drill on the lathe but I use what works for me.

 

[cpmech425]

I have a floor model Delta drill press. Maybe a better vice would help. I will have to look at a chuck and see if it's in the budget. Brian

 

[campzeke]

I went back and re-read your original post. You said you are having a problem getting your hole "exactly" in the center of the blank. If that is the only problem, don't worry about it. As long as you have enough material around the hole to turn the blank round, everything should be OK. If it is centered on the entry end and noticeably off center on the exit end, then something is out of alignment and probably pretty easy to fix.

 

[mredburn]

Drilling on the lathe is the best method to me. Its all I use. However You can take one of the large wooden block hand clamps and cut a square out of the jaws. Lay the cuts out 45 degrees to the jaws so your cutting a V into each jaw. That should help keep your blank perpendicular to the drill bit if your table is set up right.
If your drilling wood, the grain can pull a drill bit off center as you drill. If one side is slightly duller than the other it can drill off center. IF you drill bit is sharpened off center it will pull it off center as well.
If you can see light glinting off the edge of the drill bit or the edge of the flute its dull.

 

[nicholsm4]

Rick - how do you hold down the v-blocks?

 

[Kloss]

I did the opposite. Started drilling on the lathe, moved on the drill press. It is quicker and once you have everything tuned up it is precise as much as drilling on the lathe; although there is a lot to tune up.
Be sure your drill bit is straight. The cheap ones tend to bend when drilling at higher speed than 800/1000 rpm. because the heat.
Be sure your drill press chuck is spinning straight and perpendicular to the drill press table.
Your pen vise needs to be solid and be sure doesn't have ANY movement when holding the pen blank.

 

[BKelley]

Hi Brian,
I normally use my drill press to drill my blanks. My drill press is 40 year old Rockwell 15" variable speed #15-655. I use it with a Woodcraft #151256W self centering pen vise and use Colt brand pen drills. If the blanks are perfectly square or perfectly round my hole will be pretty darn close to centered. Of course, exact center is not nesscessary as you will turn any eccentric portion off once you start turning. If my project requires dead on accuracy, I use my lathe drilling slightly under size and then use proper size reamer. Hope this helps.

Ben

 

[Scissortail Pens]

Hi Brian,
I normally use my drill press to drill my blanks. My drill press is 40 year old Rockwell 15" variable speed #15-655. I use it with a Woodcraft #151256W self centering pen vise and use Colt brand pen drills. If the blanks are perfectly square or perfectly round my hole will be pretty darn close to centered. Of course, exact center is not nesscessary as you will turn any eccentric portion off once you start turning. If my project requires dead on accuracy, I use my lathe drilling slightly under size and then use proper size reamer. Hope this helps.

Ben

That's the one thing I've found the drill press to be truly useful for. There's many times that I have discovered so far that I don't want to drill dead center. There are many times when dealing with wood that you may want to drill off center so that you can incorporate the grain that you want within the pen. Other than that, you can't beat drilling on the lathe for dead center and it sure comes in handy when you don't have lot of wiggle room. Both certainly have their places when drilling pen blanks.

 

[cpmech425]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Brian

 

[TurtleTom]

Never underestimate the value of a sharpened drill bit, and oh yeah, the lathe is quicker and more accurate, after all, it's what lathes were invented for.