Looking for a drill press... how sig is 620 vs 500 speed?

[Quality Pen]

HI, I am trying to get started into pen making. I dont want to cheap out but budget is a concern. I saw some great vids from Exotic Blanks on youtube. He talked about using his drill press at 500 rpm to protect brittle blanks, as opposed to high speeds.

I was just curious, is 500 significantly better than 620? The reason I ask is because most drill presses (all so far) under 200 USD have all been a minimum of 620 rpm.

Thank you for the help.

 

[Dan26]

If all you plan to do is drill pen blanks with it, I recommend buying a 4-jaw chuck and a Jacobs chuck and drill on the lathe. You will be glad to have the chucks for other things too. But, a drill press is always good to have for other tasks.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

That speed difference shouldn't be major.

Quill travel is what matters!!!! Many / most benchtop drill presses won't let you drill through a longer blank.

Side note: drill on the lathe!

 

[Edgar]

If my budget only allowed a cheap (<$200) drill press, I would go the lathe drilling approach. IMHO, the cheap bench top drill presses just don't have the precision & control you need for pens. I do almost all of my drilling on a drill press, but I have a high quality floor-stand Craftsman drill press that's about 30 years old (from back when Craftsman made great tools).

 

[Lenny]

I can totally understand wanting a drill press ... I wouldn't want to be without one, but I agree that if you are only using it to drill pen blanks your money will be better spent on a collet chuck and full set of collets. They will add versatility to your pen making well beyond just drilling on the lathe, and for that they excell!
If you do buy a drill press, the quill travel is an important feature. Best of luck whatever you decide.

 

[wouldentu2?]

OK quill travel is important, but what is adequate quill travel for pens?

 

[The Penguin]

3" minimum...many benchtop models only have 2.5" stroke.

6" allows you to drill pens like the "Long Click" in one stroke.

 

[Quality Pen]

Great advice. I really am impressed with this forum so far!

So I am pretty confident that I will not need a drill press for anything. So that leaves me with wanting to go the collet route.

Two questions, is the product from PSI Dedicated Pen Blank Drilling Chuck at Penn State Industries a good option?

Is there something better that might be better quality or a better value (not necessarily cheaper but something that is simply a better value)?

 

[Lenny]

Many will tell you that it is, I haven't used it so I can't comment on it other than ....
It will allow you to drill blanks but for more usefulness, ....
consider a beal collet and purchasing a set of ER 32 collets off ebay. The whole package may run you slightly more than the drill press --- say $220 or so, but it is worth it!

 

[Lenny]

I prefer the metric collets as they cover the full range with no gaps.
Just one example of ebay...

Spring Collets ER32 18 Pcs in Set Metric New | eBay

 

[Jerry944t]

I have the PSI unit that you were referring. Best investment you can make. I don't have the workshop space for another tool so my lathe doers everything related to pen turning.

You'll find that the lathe, with the PSI chuck adjustable jaws, will give you a truer hole that the average cheapo drill press.

Many woodworkers have really excellent drill presses (expensive and large) but for pen turning I have never felt the need.

Make sure you set the lathe to turn it's slowest speed and don't let the drill bit clog. In other words don't try and drill a blank in one stroke. Clogging creates allot of heat which will destroy both your bit and can damage your blank.

 

[LeeR]

I prefer the metric collets as they cover the full range with no gaps.
Just one example of ebay...

Spring Collets ER32 18 Pcs in Set Metric New | eBay

Timely! I just got a Beall collet chuck over the holidays -- love it. This metric set of collets is really reasonable at $100.99 (and free shipping). I paid ~$63 shipped for an imperial 6 collet set from littlemachineshop.com. This same seller has an 18 pc. imperial set for $90.99.

Now, concerning drilling blanks:

PSI has gotten a few bad reviews for their pen drilling chuck. If you intend to do a variety of turning tasks, at some point you will probably want a scroll chuck. I have several Nova chucks (and about 8 or 9 jaw sets), and so I dedicated one chuck to pen drilling (although the jaws are easy to swap out). I am using the relatively new Pen Blank Jaws. (I bought mine several months ago when I saw an announcement from one of the woodworking companies.) Incredibly easy to use to drill blanks, built like a tank, and very precise. I have a Delta benchtop drill press and hated drilling blanks with it prior to drilling on the lathe. Besides being difficult to clamp the blank accurately, it just did not have enough quill travel. I'm in the market to get a floor model DP, but still would not use it to drill blanks after doing them on the lathe.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

My vote is for scroll chuck like nova g3 with pin jaws or pen blank jaws. Gives you more functionality as it can be used for all sorts of projects not just pen blank drilling.

I have a collet chuck as well but I have no interest in the extra step of turning every blank between centers to an exact size before drilling. I believe it's a good method - just for me I'll save time and use the nova. I put the square blank in, turn that end round and face the end and drill. After I glue in the tube I out the round side in the chuck and round and face the other side.

 

[frank123]

Sometimes you'll be surprised at what you can find on the used market for 200 or less.

I've seen a few top end professional quality drill presses sell at public surplus auction for around that range (but they're usually 220 volt and frequently three phase as well).

 

[Penultimate]

i use my Sieg mini-mill to drill blanks it has plenty of travel. It is more expensive than a drill press but more versatile.

 

[Soup]

The pen drilling chuck from Penn State is one of the most useful tools that I have. I have pen jaws that I used to use on a Nova midi, and it does the exact same thing, but I hate changing jaws. I started buying a new chuck for each set of jaws that I use, and ended up with the Penn State model as well.

 

[Boz]

I have the PSI pen chuck and it works great for square blanks. This and a keyless drill chuck for the other end and you are in business. I have a collet set but hardly ever use it. I turn very few round banks and never felt taking the time to round square blanks was not a productive use of time.

 

[Lenny]

One of the nice things, if you cast your own blanks using PVC pipe as your mold, is the blanks are already round.
If you stop and think about it, you are eventually going to round the blanks anyways.
Many like the fact that turning the blanks round (and closer to finish size) better reveals what the finished blank will look like. For me, this often makes a difference what set of components I will use it with, and therefore what size drill to use.
But the real advantage of a collet chuck is it's versatility far beyond just drilling blanks.

 

[Quality Pen]

One of the nice things, if you cast your own blanks using PVC pipe as your mold, is the blanks are already round.
If you stop and think about it, you are eventually going to round the blanks anyways.
Many like the fact that turning the blanks round (and closer to finish size) better reveals what the finished blank will look like. For me, this often makes a difference what set of components I will use it with, and therefore what size drill to use.
But the real advantage of a collet chuck is it's versatility far beyond just drilling blanks.

Im so clueless on this stuff. I still havent even wrapped my head around exactly what the collets and chucks do.

Mainly for me, I believe I will use my lathe to turn pens, keychain items like the secret compartments, and handles for things like pizza cutters or cake knives. Those few items I know I will make. Ideally, I dont want to have to go back and replace something, thus having redundant tools.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Im so clueless on this stuff. I still havent even wrapped my head around exactly what the collets and chucks do. Mainly for me, I believe I will use my lathe to turn pens, keychain items like the secret compartments, and handles for things like pizza cutters or cake knives. Those few items I know I will make. Ideally, I dont want to have to go back and replace something, thus having redundant tools.

Both are common turning tools and worth having.

Scroll chuck

Collet chuck

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Scroll chucks can take different jaws and are used for bowls and stuff as well. Jaws have a range and can grab anything in that range.

A collet chuck is more precise and you have to have a separate collet for each size you want and the sizes are much more exact.

 

[larryc]

I have a PSI pen chuck that I'll let you have for postage. It's got sprung jaws like the first one I had.

 

[shortz1lla]

Keep an eye on CL. I got mine, a 1979 C-man w/ over 4" ss, for $130. As to drilling speed, heat buildup is what makes the speed important. I use ATF on plastics and drill everything at over 800 rpm, never had a blank crack and I turn Ebony all the time.