Help with drilling on a lathe

[NittanyLion]

Hello everyone, I need some advice. I would like to be set up for drilling blanks on my lathe. I have a Jacobs for the tail, but no collet or pen blank chuck. I do have this:

H6265 4 Jaw Wood Chuck 1" x 8 TPI

Very nice chuck for small bowls, boxes, etc......

Is their a way to drill blanks with this chuck, or some other manner without purchasing a dedicated blank drilling chuck? I cut most of my own blanks, so I do have the ability to go a little larger on the blanks. I've thought about fabricating something for my 4 jaw to insert between the jaws and blank to make up for the difference between blank size and minimum on the chuck....is this possible?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[jmbaker79]

I drill with a similar 4 jaw chuck using pin jaws.. As long as they are straight the work pretty well...There should be a set available for your chuck.

 

[Deadhead]

On the link you provided there is a set of pin jaws at the bottom of the page; if you cut your own blanks that could be an option for you.

 

[NittanyLion]

Justin,

I was going to ask that.....can I use these or ar they just for expansion inside a recess:

H6268 1" Pin Jaws For 4 Jaw Chuck

Thanks for your help!

 

[jmbaker79]

Yeah thats the ticket....And yeah you will have to cut them down to rough size....and if the blanks aren't exactly square, or real close, you may have to round them between centers etc...You will just have to play with it. Not the most exact, such as a collet chuck, but it will do the job 90% of the time....

 

[jttheclockman]

If you are seriously going to be drilling on a lathe and doing this for some time I highly suggest the dedicated pen chuck from PSI. It is money well worth spent. Use it for round square or anything in between. Take a look.

 

[mikespenturningz]

Get that pin jaw set that is exactly what I use but mine is a nova g3 but same idea. I love mine and use it all the time for other things too. You cannot go wrong for the 22 bucks that it costs.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Justin,

I was going to ask that.....can I use these or ar they just for expansion inside a recess:

H6268 1" Pin Jaws For 4 Jaw Chuck

Thanks for your help!

I have the nova g3 with pin jaws that I use to drill all of my blanks. These look very similar to what I use. They should be fine to grip the blank.

I may eventually get the psi pen blank chuck mentioned as well, but the pin jaws may be useful for other things too.

Side note of stupid mistakes - I always keep my hand on the Jacobs chuck as I'm winding it back out after having the chuck decide it would rather come off the MT2 shaft than out of the blank once early on. Thank God for safety gear and lessons learned.

 

[mikespenturningz]

I snapped a 10.5 mm drill in 2 places when that happened to me. It is nasty business now I keep my hand on that when I am withdrawing the drill. It wasn't pretty. Anytime you are withdrawing the drill do it slowly and if the chuck comes loose don't remove it any further just slide the tailstock back up. Happy yours turned out ok also Dan.

Mike

Justin,

I was going to ask that.....can I use these or ar they just for expansion inside a recess:

H6268 1" Pin Jaws For 4 Jaw Chuck

Thanks for your help!

I have the nova g3 with pin jaws that I use to drill all of my blanks. These look very similar to what I use. They should be fine to grip the blank.

I may eventually get the psi pen blank chuck mentioned as well, but the pin jaws may be useful for other things too.

Side note of stupid mistakes - I always keep my hand on the Jacobs chuck as I'm winding it back out after having the chuck decide it would rather come off the MT2 shaft than out of the blank once early on. Thank God for safety gear and lessons learned.

 

[NittanyLion]

Thanks guys......guess it's a road trip to Grizzly up in Williamsport on Saturday......that's ok cause I'll take the mountain road and the chainsaw!

 

[butchf18a]

As others have suggested/recommended the PSI chuck is a worthwhile investment. I primarily drill using one of my drill presses, care in set up, take your time, sharp bits, all keys to success. Ditto on lathe drilling. It makes little difference what tools a person may choose, I believe in the KISS principle. Regardless, improper set up, dull bits, getting in a rush is clear recipe for failure.

A friend, a highly respected pen designer, and turner added that lubricating your bit will go long way towards ensuring success on both drill press and lathe. His recommendation is PAM, yep the stuff your mother sprayed on her frying pan. I've also had success with water combined with a little dish soap, in a spray bottle, Dawn works for me.

Photo is PSI chuck with piece of Italian celluloid. At only .651" diam, this material costs too much to waste, and melts at very low temp. Don't ask what temp, i don't know and its not important. The lesson is set up, sharp bits, lubrication, patience.

 

[butchf18a]

My ipad will only post one pic per reply. This is the pen from that piece of celluloid.

 

[jttheclockman]

Yes that is the chuck. I can not say enough good things about that chuck. It was a great invention for us in the pen world. I used to use the pin jaws on my chuck but found they never close properly around square or out of square blanks. Highly recomend it and when something is well made it takes that part of the job and makes it easier. Less you have to worry about.

 

[Justturnin]

I made these to use in my 4 jaw. They work great. Took about 1 hour to do it all.

Auxiliary Pen Blank Jaws

 

[NittanyLion]

John T, how does the PSI chuck handle out of square blanks? I considered one of these a while back, but I was not sure how it would handle these blanks......I cut 99% of my blanks, and they are not square. I do not buy blanks.

Chris B.,
That's a great idea. I happen to have both aluminum angle and rare earth magnets at home. Think I will give that a try.

 

[jttheclockman]

John T, how does the PSI chuck handle out of square blanks? I considered one of these a while back, but I was not sure how it would handle these blanks......I cut 99% of my blanks, and they are not square. I do not buy blanks.

Chris B.,
That's a great idea. I happen to have both aluminum angle and rare earth magnets at home. Think I will give that a try.

You are holding the blank on 2 corners. When the drill bits hit it it will go directly to the center. The jaws open evenly. Whatever 2 corners of the blank you chose to insert that is the relation to the center you will get.


Here is the link. See how it grabs the corners. They have a larger version now too for doing bottle stoppers and other things. I wish I had that one.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/CSCPENCHK.html

 

[walshjp17]

I use the PSI Pen Drilling Jaws and am very happy with them. For wood, I let the drill bit find center. I insert the blank into the jaws, bring the bit up close to the blank, turn on the lathe (about 700 to 750 RPMs) and then slowly advance the bit into the blank. It hits dead center 99% of the time.

For acrylics and other materials, I use a drill bit starter to drill a small hole in the center to make sure the drill doesn't slip on the plastic (or PVC, or ....).

 

[BSea]

Side note of stupid mistakes - I always keep my hand on the Jacobs chuck as I'm winding it back out after having the chuck decide it would rather come off the MT2 shaft than out of the blank once early on. Thank God for safety gear and lessons learned.

I snapped a 10.5 mm drill in 2 places when that happened to me. It is nasty business now I keep my hand on that when I am withdrawing the drill. It wasn't pretty. Anytime you are withdrawing the drill do it slowly and if the chuck comes loose don't remove it any further just slide the tailstock back up. Happy yours turned out ok also Dan.

Mike

Many of us have made that mistake once . . . . . . . . . once. (Think Johnny Dangerously):wink: When I did it, it broke the blank, the bit, and the drill chuck flew off knocking over my container of MM & soapy water. Fortunately the only thing hurt was my pride. But cleaning soapy water off a concrete floor is not all that easy.

 

[airborne_r6]

I use pin jaws to drill on the lathe.

I have started mounting all of my blanks between centers and turning them round before doing any thing else. This makes sure that the center is where I want it, makes it easy for the pin jaws to grab and gives me a better idea of what the blank looks like inside before I lay out the pen and cut the blank to size.

 

[mikespenturningz]

Turning between centers also lets you change where the center is. For instance say looking down a segmented blank you notice that the center is a little bit off. You can just choose your center and then when you take those corners off and mount it int the chuck to drill it you are in the center as far as the segments are concerned. I have changed the center of a blank many times!

 

[Kretzky]

Justin,

I was going to ask that.....can I use these or ar they just for expansion inside a recess:

H6268 1" Pin Jaws For 4 Jaw Chuck

Thanks for your help!

That's just what I use, no problems at all. Different manufacturer but almost identical. Who knows it may even be the same manufacturer just a different retailer!

 

[Dale Allen]

I do as Wayne and turn them round first. I also make sure the blank is the same diameter all along the length. Then when I put it in my pin jaws I use my dial indicator to adjust it to the point where it is rotating with no wobble. Then I gently put a starting indent on the end to guide the drill bit to the exact center.
I had considered a set of the jaws for turning the blanks when square but if the blank is curved at all it will run off center while you are trying to drill the end.
My methods seems to work great for me.

 

[pauly99]

Side note of stupid mistakes - I always keep my hand on the Jacobs chuck as I'm winding it back out after having the chuck decide it would rather come off the MT2 shaft than out of the blank once early on. Thank God for safety gear and lessons learned.

I snapped a 10.5 mm drill in 2 places when that happened to me. It is nasty business now I keep my hand on that when I am withdrawing the drill. It wasn't pretty. Anytime you are withdrawing the drill do it slowly and if the chuck comes loose don't remove it any further just slide the tailstock back up. Happy yours turned out ok also Dan.

Mike

Many of us have made that mistake once . . . . . . . . . once. (Think Johnny Dangerously):wink: When I did it, it broke the blank, the bit, and the drill chuck flew off knocking over my container of MM & soapy water. Fortunately the only thing hurt was my pride. But cleaning soapy water off a concrete floor is not all that easy.

And I've mentioned it before but as a new turner, I didn't hold on to the drill chuck and it went flying across the room and nearly through the windshield on my wife's car. That was maybe a $250 mistake.