Drilling Blanks

[Dana Fish]

Since I'm just starting out I don't have a drill press and have been trying to drill out my blanks with a cordless drill. Is there some sort of jig or consistent method to drilling out these blanks without a drill press?

I really want to try turning a piece of acrylic but given that most of the blanks are only 3/4 x3/4 I'm concerned that I won't be able to hit my centers. I will be drilling with a 27/64 drill bit.

Thanks for your time,
Dana

 

[jttheclockman]

Try drilling on the lathe. Will require some tools you don't have. Look in the library for articles on this type drilling or do a search function and you will find alot of this topic. A drill can be used but it would require some thinking outside the box to build a jig to hold the drill motor a true 90 degrees to the blank and a method to advance the blank on that same plane. Can it be done?? Absolutely but you don't see it often if at all.

 

[aggromere]

I would imagine drilling blanks with a cordless hand drill is as close to impossible as you can get. The only satisfactory way I know of drilling blanks is on the lathe (other than a drill press). Others may be able to shed more light on the subject, but I think you could equip your lathe with a chuck for the headstock to hold the blank and a drill chuch for the tailstock to hold the drill bit. I think there are a lot of variations in how people do it.

 

[Russianwolf]

1) Where are you (you may be able to find someone close by that will let you come over and use their tools to drill the blanks)

2) what do you have (not just turning tools but other tools as well)

Assuming you have a lathe, you could make a couple jigs that ride in the ways. One would hold the drill and the other the blank. fix one in position with clamps and slide the other along the ways. It would work, but would be limited to how accurate you can make the jigs.

Just one idea.

 

[David M]

only thing i could think of is if you had away to hold the blank , not just in your hand ( ie vise ) . if you pre drilled it with a smaller bit so that when you drill with the correct size it would follow the hole so it would cut down on run out . try it with a blank that is a littel long so you could cut off a littel on both ends before truing it up

 

[Dana Fish]

I live in Southern Maine and although my father has a drill press he live over 2 hours away. I will definitely utilize it when I visit but that isn't too often.

I don't have a chuck on my lathe as it is an original craftsman from the late 1940's. I have a small vise which is what I used to drill out my first few blanks, although I used a 1 inch blank which gave me plenty of room for error.

I was thinking of trying to make a jig that would the blank in place and then have something like a miter groove that I could attached a drill to. This might keep things more in line and allow a smoother hole in the end. I like the idea of predrilling the hole with a small drill bit, this may help prevent the bit from jumping around on the small blank.

 

[bobjackson]

They make a small holder for your hand drill that will turn it into a drill press.

 

[designer]

How about something like this to start with?

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PK-DGMULTI.html

It looks like it will work with a small clamp to hold it in position

 

[jttheclockman]

You can always buy one of these. http://www.garrettwade.com/precision-drill-guide/p/91G01.05/

 

[designer]

since you have a hand drill, here is another option. I am sure others sell something like this too.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00953169000P?prdNo=5

 

[LeeR]

Check out Harbor Freight. They always put benchtop drill presses on sale. I've seen one model as low as $39.95 at our local HF.

I typically would recommend against any major tool from HF, but some of their tools are fine, especially if you do not want to spend much (i.e. it may do what you want until you decide to buy a higher quality name brand tool).

I have a Delta 12" drill press, and it is pretty robust. You are not likely to find something like it for $39.95 at HF, but read the reviews. I've seen plenty of HF tool reviews in other woodworking forums.

 

[nativewooder]

Or, you could put all your blanks in a box and send them to me and I will be happy to drill them out for you in whatever size you prefer! (I'm sure someone would be willing to do this who lives a lot closer than Florida!):wink:

 

[renowb]

I'm in Texas and will drill them for you too.

 

[Dana Fish]

Check out Harbor Freight. They always put benchtop drill presses on sale. I've seen one model as low as $39.95 at our local HF.

The cheap price currently on sale for $69.99 and then $9.99 for shipping. Anyone have a 20% coupon???

 

[ed4copies]

OK, follow me here.

Turn your blank between centers until it fits in the hole in your headstock (Morse Taper #2?) But leave it large at one end so it does NOT go all the way in.

Now you will need a Jacob's chuck (drill head) that fits in your tailstock (also Morse Taper 2??). You can get these at Harbor Freight for under $15. Install drill bit and put blank into headstock hole and drill. Don't drill all the way through, then cut off the end to expose the hole.

(Mark your drill bit for the needed depth)

Hope this helps---you will use the Jacobs chuck often. Some day you can get a scroll chuck to replace the "slide it in the headstock hole" technique.

 

[KenV]

Dana -- I used to have one of those olde craftsman lathes -- some came with just the threaded headstock and some had a morse taper in the head stock. The threading was 3/4 by 16 threads per inch. That is a pretty standard older thread. there is still some gear around that works with it, and with a few nuts you can have make your own face plates/glue blocks. The tail stocks were also variable. I saw a few that did not have a morse taper -- a threaded wheel advanced a dead center. Some of them had a MT1 tailstock.



SO -- share with us the model number on the lathe and we can fugure out (most likely) what your old lathe has --


I am thinking you can make glue blocks with 3/4 by 16 nylock nuts -- you will melt the nylon ring out with a torch to soften it and a pry instrument then epoxy the nut with the nylock end to the headstock into a small block of wood -- Bonnie Klein uses square chunks of 2 by 4 --- and drill a hold with a standard spade bit just smaller in size than the size of a pen blank. Use a chisel to cut the corners out -- and you have a holder for drilling on the lathe.

Once we know your lathe configuration, we can figure how to rig a drill chuck onto the tail stock to hold the drill bit. The lathe turns the blank, and the drill will center on it and drill the hole you need.

That is how a lot of stuff was done about 60 years ago -

 

[seamus7227]

You know, some of the suggestions are great in regards to the portable drill holders, but I think if Dana were to spend the money on those, then it would be a more wise decision to buy the small drill press from harbor freight for around 60 bucks.

 

[Dana Fish]

The model I have is 5/8 non threaded. I have played around with the idea of buying the needed items to convert it into having a 3 or 4 jaw chuck but the other problem is the the tail stock in fixed (there is no way of adding a live center). I'm trying to work with what I have until I get enough practice and then take the jump to a Mini Jet or Shop Fox mini lathe.

Here is a thread of my lathe finding and my rebuild. They also have a lot of great advise but putting the extra $$$ into this project was not something I wanted to do. Everyday dollar saved would be another dollar toward a new lathe.

http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=25821&hl=lathe

Enjoy

 

[Dana Fish]

This is what I have as a mandrel which actually works great.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKM-CL.html

 

[Wood Butcher]

I think it's possible.

Drill an appropriate sized hole as straight as you can, using a block of wood or two to align it, through a small piece of 2x4. Glue or nail 3/4" strips around the hole to provide a "receiver" for the pen blank. Now if you drill through the hole into the blank it should be straight enough to get it to the lathe for turning. That's probably as clear as mud but I believe it is possible.
WB

 

[Mr Vic]

If the headstock is 5/8" and has a flat then you can use a Shopsmith adapter. i purcahse one that has the 5/8" ID with a sety screw to a 1"OD to fit most any chuck. I have a Barracuda 2 which is great

Follow this link for a manual unless you have one already: http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=1467

 

[drGeek]

Dana,
check this out:
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/L5818.html
This spindle adapter will fit directly on your 5/8 headstock spindle and give you the common 1x8tpi headstock threads used by many 4 jaw chucks, etc!
Good Luck, and excellent rebuild job!!!!

 

[KenV]

That is an old timer -- 5/8 smooth shaft is the shopsmith standard so anything that will fasten to a shopsmith will fasten to your lathe headstock.

Neat story on the rod building forum -- Loved it!!!!

Best suggestion at this point for a live center is to use the unimat style from Little Machine shop for less than $20 -- you would need to drill out the quill to 10 mm (little over 3/8 inch) for 1/2 inch more or less to mount it.

that makes a drill chuck tough -- my bonnie klein uses the taig tailstock which is threaded 3/8 by 24 and uses a custom live center built on a single bearing and threaded onto the 3/8 by 24 tailstock.

 

[Mr Vic]

What's the diameter of the tail stock? The jacobs chuck on the Shopsmith is also 5/8". Looking at the manual you should get some feed out of it to start the drill.

On my jet I'll start the drilling with the tail stock wheel then retract the bit, stop the lathe, loosen the tail stock and slide the bit back into the hole. I restart the lathe and push the tail stock to advance the bit. I stop before full penetration and finsh with the hand weel slowly to avoid blowout...

No guarentee on it being the safest method...