Tearout with a pen vise

[tomwojeck]

I just got the Woodcraft pen vise from Santa today and was trying to figure out what (or if it's even necesary) to do to avoid tearout. When I did it with just a clamp, I put a scrap of plywood under it. The new vise I have has a solid bottom. I don't think I would want to run my drill bit into the bottom, but at the same time, there's not much room for a scrap.

Thanks for your help.

 

[low_48]

Tom
I use the same vise all the time. I keep the pen blank up off the base and may only have a little break out when I drill acrylics.
I always cut the blanks about 3/16" long and that lets me mill off any breakout after the tubes are glued in. I never thought of a backing board. I guess you could let an undersize board lay on the threaded rods. I think I'll try that!

Rich

 

[tomwojeck]

Rich,

I never considered that if I left enough blank, any tearout wouldn't matter. Guess I was up too late putting my kids' loot together last night!

Merry Christmas!

 

[Travlr7]

I have one of the Pen Vises and have never put anything under where I'm drilling. I make sure that the wood is held TIGHT and I go slowly, making sure I clear out the drill as I drill. I haven't drilled everything out there used to make pens, but I have drilled about twenty different woods and Corian. I make my blanks 1/8" longer than the tube, which would allow for a little tearout without ruining the blank.

Hope this helps,

Bruce

 

[wayneis]

Tom you don't say what kind of drill press you have but can't you lower the table? What kind of travel distance do you have? I always use a backer board under the blank I'm drilling, but I do a lot of burl woods and acrylics.

Wayne

 

[Scottydont]

I use the Woodcraft vise as well. My motto is use the sharpest drill bit you can get, clean the flutes often. If it feels like you are having to exert too much pressure it probably is. Most often it is from dull bits. Don't be afraid to try different bits. I happen to use brad points but I have been known to use a standard straight bit that is freshly sharpened on a challenging blank. I also make backer board strips from MDF. Some woods are more prone to chipout no matter what you do. A couple of things I do with those are: 1) Soak the the exit side of the blank with thin CA glue and hit it with a shot of accelerator before drilling to reinforce the blank. 2) The other is to cut the blanks about 1/8"-1/4" too long and trim the blank after drilling.

 

[Gregory Huey]

I'm with the majority here, I use this vice-like it better than the one I got from PSI. I also leave my blanks a little long and just clamp them up off of the bottom of the vice. If you do need a backer and you were drilling a 3/4 square blank. Then simply put a 1/2" or 5/8" short say 1" long blank under the blank your drilling.

 

[Guest]

IIRC the vice is aluminum,shouldn't bother the bit

 

[Bev Polmanteer]

My vise has a wood bottom also. When I position the table I make it low enough so that the bit will not quite touch the bottom of the vise.
Then clamp the blank tight into the vise. Now sometimes I have to drill down a ways into the blank and then stop and thread the blank up onto the bit a little way and then retighten and continue drilling to get all the way through the longer blanks. I hope this helps!

 

[Tom McMillan]

I have a PSI vise I don't use. I got a nice handmade vise from a fellow who was at one time at Yahoo penturners---he was selling them on EBAY so I got one of his, and it has a little 1 x 3 inch slot at the bottom for a backer board (can be easily renewed) so I can drill through---I've always drilled all the way through and haven't really had problems with tearout.

 

[jkirkb94]

I love my vice! I think it was a Woodcraft also. There has been one or two blanks (I think acrylester) that I had to put a wood piece under the blank to prevent bad tearout. Acylester is the most difficult material I have used yet. But it is beautiful stuff! Cut the blanks a little long no matter what you use and this helps if you do have tearout. Kirk[8D]

 

[tomwojeck]

Originally posted by wayneis
<br />Tom you don't say what kind of drill press you have but can't you lower the table? What kind of travel distance do you have? I always use a backer board under the blank I'm drilling, but I do a lot of burl woods and acrylics.

Wayne

I have a little Ryobi benchtop drill press. It only has about 2 1/4" travel. I had always used backers until now, but I'll just add a little length to the blank to account for any tearout.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Tom, I'm not sure that what kind of vise you use is the issue or problem. I use a machinists cross-sliding one so that I can eaisly position the center of the blank with the drill bit tip. I use slow speed and brad point bits and back out to clear chips frequently. Forcing and/or rushing is a guarantee for disaster. I also make duck calls and have to bore 3/4" into end grain of hardwoods with that and it is much more prone to failure than the small 7 mm holes for pens. Slow speeds and frequently clearing chips seem to be the mantra for success.

Originally posted by tomwojeck
<br />I just got the Woodcraft pen vise from Santa today and was trying to figure out what (or if it's even necesary) to do to avoid tearout. When I did it with just a clamp, I put a scrap of plywood under it. The new vise I have has a solid bottom. I don't think I would want to run my drill bit into the bottom, but at the same time, there's not much room for a scrap.

Thanks for your help.

 

[tomwojeck]

Originally posted by Rifleman
<br />
Tom, I'm not sure that what kind of vise you use is the issue or problem. I use a machinists cross-sliding one so that I can eaisly position the center of the blank with the drill bit tip. I use slow speed and brad point bits and back out to clear chips frequently. Forcing and/or rushing is a guarantee for disaster. I also make duck calls and have to bore 3/4" into end grain of hardwoods with that and it is much more prone to failure than the small 7 mm holes for pens. Slow speeds and frequently clearing chips seem to be the mantra for success.

Actually, the vise wasn't giving me any trouble, I was just inquiring before I tried it for the first time. I've used it a bunch today, and it worked great. I just took my time drilling and tearout wasn't even an issue.

 

[Guest]

I've never backed up a blank for drilling,blew one out,crushed velvet acrylic.
My fault,too fast,glued it back together,good as new.