Drilling blanks on drill press.

[Woodchipper]

I had posted a thread on problems that I was having. I tried the lathe but wan't happy with the results plus the time it takes to set up the chuck, etc. I have a HF vise that I secured to the DP table. The table isn't exactly level so I shimmed it up. However, Exotic Blanks has several good videos- one is about drilling. Ed orients the blank to the drill bit, eliminating anything that would cause the blank to be out of kilter. I started doing this and have seen great results. I use a center marker on both ends of the blank to check for accuracy. This is just for curiosity's sake. The photo will show the setup. I keep it all the time that I'm doing pens. It's easy to remove the vise if I'm doing something else.
Edit- Note the pen mill on the drill press. Yep, does double duty for drilling and squaring by changing the bit or pen mill.

 

[scotirish]

I also drill with the drill press and not on the lathe. My limited experience has shown me that if an exceptional amount of the blank is not supported by the vice it will wobble :frown::frown: when drilled, this is especially true with blanks with a lot of grin.
Just my 2 cents worth. :biggrin::biggrin:
Keep turning safely and have fun along the way!
Ron

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

99% of my drilling is on the drill press just like that. If I'm working with a very thin blank or for some other reason it's warranted I'll drill on the lathe but otherwise I prefer the speed of the drill press. Yesterday I drilled 21 single tube and 7 double tube pens just using my little square to verify I clamped straight. Much much faster on the drill press and no drama to speak of

 

[leehljp]

The DP is faster of course. That goes without saying. However, for delicate blanks and segmented blanks, accuracy and control are higher values.

The lathe should be able to drill to within .001 in wood, or if not, something is not right. If your lathe is not producing accurate cuts, look to see why and fix it.

 

[WriteON]

The blank will wobble slightly with lathe drilling until it is rounded. That is normal. Correct me if I'm wrong.
However I'm buying a DP this week just to have and hold.

 

[dogcatcher]

I prefer to drill on the drill press. I had an extra chuck that did not fit my lathe, so I drilled a hole in a piece of 2x12 and mounted the chuck on it. I then squared the chuck up with my drill chuck. A lot faster and just as accurate as on the lathe. For production work it is great, but having to mount and square it up for 1 or 2 pens, the lathe is faster. A dedicated drill press would be ideal, but I can't justify that.