Major Failure

[BeeAMaker]

Don't like drilling my blanks on a Drill Press. I see a lot of people here like to use the Lathe so I got me a Drill chuck to give it a try.

Slowed the Lathe down to about 500 rpm, Clamped my blank into the lathe chuck, put my drill bit in the drill chuck and put it in the Tail stock and went to town.

All started out good. Then the Drill chuck started to spin. I had to back out and re-set the drill chuck. Go about half way and the blank (acrylic) and bit started to squeal. I backed out, cleared the bit, all good, slowly went back in. More squealing and again the drill chuck started to spin in the tail stock.

I shut down and started to back out - tail stock won't budge. I release the jaws on my head stock and sure enough, the Acrylic blank in "welded" to the drill bit. After several attempts to free the bit, I finally resorted to shattering the blank just to get it off the bit. The words I was saying to it certainly didn't help.

I think I got a bit over excited LOL, it was drilling so nice and I didn't back out often enough to clear the bit. (things like this is why I almost always buy 2 blanks) Chucked up my "back up" blank and gave it another run. Backing out more often and slowing down to about 400 rpm, The second time went much smoother.

Only thing I can think of that I did wrong was not backing out often enough. I'm glad it it was an inexpensive blank.

 

[jttheclockman]

Lubrication my friend. Clearing the blank. Making sure the drill chuck is secure before starting. People use water some use Pam cooking spray. Some people use a dry lubricant such as

https://ll-us-i5.wal.co/asr/cdb91af....jpeg?odnHeight=450&odnWidth=450&odnBg=FFFFFF

 

[CREID]

Ok, drill slower. I can't really say how slow I go, because I don't even look at the readout. I just go slow, real slow. When you get down to it. Even at real slow speeds it doesn't take long to drill a blank. Advance the quill slowly too and retract and clean out often. Welding to the blank tells me that too much heat was build up (dull bit, drilling too fast, not backing out and clearing shavings). When drilling on the lathe I Always hold onto the Jacobs chuck, this I consider a must to prevent spinning and also so when you back out it doesn't fall out of the tail stock.
Hope this helps.

 

[AWLogue]

I drill acrylics at 1200 RPM with plenty of water as a coolant. I back the bit out when shavings come out dry. I haven't had a problem with the blank grabbing the bit since I started doing so.

 

[BeeAMaker]

Lubrication my friend. Clearing the blank. Making sure the drill chuck is secure before starting. People use water some use Pam cooking spray. Some people use a dry lubricant such as

https://ll-us-i5.wal.co/asr/cdb91af....jpeg?odnHeight=450&odnWidth=450&odnBg=FFFFFF

I thought about that, but didn't know if lubricant would effect gluing the brass tube in. I guess I could clean it out with some Denatured Alcohol.

I did some wood too, that was no problem at all. Time for some better You tube videos!

 

[jttheclockman]

Lubrication my friend. Clearing the blank. Making sure the drill chuck is secure before starting. People use water some use Pam cooking spray. Some people use a dry lubricant such as

https://ll-us-i5.wal.co/asr/cdb91af....jpeg?odnHeight=450&odnWidth=450&odnBg=FFFFFF

I thought about that, but didn't know if lubricant would effect gluing the brass tube in. I guess I could clean it out with some Denatured Alcohol.

I did some wood too, that was no problem at all. Time for some better You tube videos!

When in doubt clean it out or clean it off. Can never hurt to clean.

 

[magpens]

Some acrylics are more difficult to drill than others. . I find that the AA acrylics are worst.

The dry lube is a good idea.

I find it is also important to hold the Jacobs chuck with my left hand while I am advancing the tailstock with my right. . And back out often.

 

[flyitfast]

I've been able to get a stuck drill out of acrylic by putting it into the freezer for several hours. I guess the cold shrinks the metal some and with some effort it has usually come out. Also, compressed air has worked to cool the blank and drill.
Good Luck.
Gordon

 

[TimS124]

What caused the dislike of driving the blanks on your drill press?

 

[Magicbob]

I lay a wad of paper towels on the bed, and use a squirt bottle of water to keep things wet. Slow feed, faster speed works for me.

 

[BeeAMaker]

What caused the dislike of driving the blanks on your drill press?

Main reason is the press has a slight wobble. It is also a hassle to set up the press each time. It is used throughout the day for other things in my shop. The crank to raise/lower the bed is messed up too and it is hard to move it. The belts are hard to move around as the sliding rails no longer slide smooth. It needs some love and care.

I was considering getting a dedicated 8" press to put on the end of my Lathe bench. Menard's sells a WEN for $79.00. However the span is only 2" so I would need to stop and raise the bed half way through.

Another reason is for the experience, never done it before so it was something to learn.

One of these days I 'll invest in a new press. :embarrassed:

 

[BeeAMaker]

I find it is also important to hold the Jacobs chuck with my left hand while I am advancing the tailstock with my right. . And back out often.

I actually started out holding the chuck, but then a vision of a spinning chuck shredding my fingers poped into my head and thought that might not be a good idea.

Thanks for all the tips everyone! I like the dry lube Idea, not crazy about getting water all over, but I might try that too if I can contain it.

 

[smik]

Need to make one of these for the wood lathes. Popular Mechanics article from the 60's has a similar design gives details in making one.

https://books.google.com/books?id=P...AL#v=onepage&q=lever action tailstock&f=false

 

[TonyL]

That happened to me once when I drilled too fast (rpms) and too deep without backing-it-out often enough - the blanks fused to the 7mm bit (making a long stylus for my mom). I always use this lubricant (below) before each pass, but I have not found it to allow me to drill as I described above - eventually the lubrication wears off and things heat-up. That what happened to me. I can't say why you had your experience. Depending on the material, I drill less than 1,000 rpms and no more than a half-inch at a time - very often less. There are dozens of ways to approach this. Everyone eventually finds what works best for them and what they like to turn. You will figure it out. Happy turnings!
https://www.amazon.com/Bostik-Dri-Cote-Aerosol-10-75-oz/dp/B0000223UC

 

[BeeAMaker]

Drilled a bunch of plastics last night. I tried a few different things. I think it is just time and experience, got to where i was drilling them fairly effortlessly. Got to learn what to listen for and the "feel" of the drill. Holding the chuck does help, thanks!

Alumilite blanks drill VERY nice, can't wait to turn that one.