Measurements?

[Woodlvr]

So I am trying to drill my blanks straight on my drill press ( dumb I know).
I have leveled and relevelled my PH vise and no matter what I do my eyeball can tell my drilling isn't straight. So I am measuring the sides (after drilling and without tubes installed) and my measurements differ by .015 from top to bottom am I being too OCD trying to not have out of round blanks? Or could it be my dumb Ridgid drill press? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[JimB]

Maybe I'm missing something here but it doesn't matter if you are drilling straight or not. What matters is if you are then squaring your ends perfectly to the glued in tube and getting it properly mounted (no glue in the tube etc).

Now, if you are talking about special blanks like segmented ones where you need to be dead center for the design to be correct, that is a different story.

 

[Draconias]

Be sure to level the drill press table. Find a nice long piece of round straight stock and chuck it in the drill press, and use your square to check it for square left to right and front to back. No vise will be square if the table under it is not square to the bit.
Hope this helps,
Ron

 

[Atherton Pens]

Depending on the type and condition of your bit, you may be getting some "drift" when drilling. The bit may be following the grain. Try going slower and cleaning the bit by withdrawing at about 1/4" intervals. Also, you may want to drill at fairly slow rpm; about 700- 800 again this will allow the bit to track truer.

 

[Woodlvr]

Jim thanks for reminding me about that. According to my Wixey my drill bit is 90* to the table. Thanks Ron and Gary I will recheck the table and slow my speed down. I made some square 3/4" pine blanks to check this so I don't waste any more blanks.

 

[xxShadowxx]

perfect holes don't always matter

example half of my pens are bad drilling, the only part i need aligned is the end of holes at centerband or such, so patterns line up

if you only use 1 tube (bullet pens or mixing woods) then doesnt matter

 

[Rangertrek]

Mike, I quit using my bench top drill press for blanks because of "slop" in the drill chuck.
It had a little wobble and could not get a good hole. Just something else to check.
If all else fails, consider drilling on the lathe.

 

[Woodlvr]

I just have not had the time to learn to drill on the lathe but I will now. I have some young men and scouts that are going to make pens for servicemen and I would like them to be the best that I can possibly do to have the blanks true for them to turn. Time to turn it up a notch.

 

[ed4copies]

Mike,

You know the hole can be crooked as heck and the blanks will be fine, as long as they are "faced square to the hole"? (And when you face them, put some thin CA on the ends--makes it less likely they will "blow up" at the ends on the lathe.)

 

[joek30296]

Are you locking the table to the column? I also have a Ridgid drill press and noticed sometime ago that things I drilled weren't square to the drill bit. After a lot of trial and error, I finally realized that locking the table to the column would square things up....by about .015.

Joe

 

[rherrell]

.015" out in 2"?.....That's about as straight as you're gonna get!

I agree with Jim and Ed, the important thing is to face the blank square with the TUBE.