Finally tried drilling on the lathe

[DurocShark]

I'm VERY impressed! I needed to drill a long hole for a Zen pen so thought I'd finally get to try my drill chuck. It was stupid easy and the hole was smooth, straight, and tight.

TCPro lathe, generic scroll chuck (came with the lathe, no markings), HF 1/2" drill chuck, Colt 10.5mm bit, homebrew PR blank. I didn't even true the blank first.

I then drilled the hole in a mahogany tool handle that was too long for my benchtop drill press. Perfect!

If you don't have one yet, get a drill chuck. A couple of the members here sell them. I got mine from HF, but I'm a bit of a fanboi.

 

[Rangertrek]

A convert

Glad you made the switch.
I converted to the lathe for drilling several months ago. Much better than my bench top drill press. I rarely use the drill press or my pen drill centering device anymore, only rarely for a pen.

I generally drill several blanks at a time and it is faster and better.

I don't usually true up or round the blanks. I have a method to line up the blank and bit that provides goods results. Sometimes get a slight misalignment.

 

[leehljp]

There are situations for both kinds of drilling but if the DP is not functioning correctly, the lathe is a super alternative in most all situations regardless.

It is not necessary to square up or round many kinds of blanks, but when doing certain kinds of segments, squaring for alignment or perfect centering for rounding - usually becomes an absolute necessity.

Great to hear your success!