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Boz

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
371
Location
St. Louis, MO.
Hello all. I bought my 80 year old father a lathe and a starter set from one of the catalogs for Christmas. Been having a great time learning and making pens. I deciced to try something other than slimline pens and pre-drilled blanks. Bought a pile of blanks and I have been having real trouble geting the blanks drilled. Bought a pen vice and it it worse than when I just clamp it in a machinist vice and line it up with a square. I have a drill press and have done the whole level and shim routine. Try and drill slowly and when I get it looking good put in a second blank and the hole is way out. From what I can see there is no repatability with these pen vices. Any advice would be helpfull as I have a pile of wood and right now I am just making scrap.
 
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Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
1,166
Location
Pomona, California, USA.
1) Welcome to the group! 2) The self-centering vises, for the most part, are relatively repeatable, even though most have their own quirks. The absolute best available is a PHDesigns vise, built by Paul Huffman, here on the forum. Its not inexpensive, and you'll wait upward of 8 months for it, but you can't do better. I understand that the new Woodcraft pen vise is also pretty good, but haven't seen it yet.
If you can't get your pen vise more accurate, you can always drill your blanks on the lathe.
 

MarkHix

Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2007
Messages
982
Location
Carrollton, Texas, USA.
Howdy! I don't use a vise (yet). Clamp, line up and drill. Yes I lose a few to operator error but if I go real careful, I can get the job done. I've seen some home made jigs posted here that look like they would do the job. You might find them in a search.
 

woodworker

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
112
Location
Southeast Florida, USA.
Welcome from South Florida!

With a pen vise,(you did not say which one) You really should not be having any problem. You can mark the center of the blank by scribing a line from corner to corner for starters, but usually you can just eyeball the center. Once you start down the center, if your drill press and the vice are true, you should exit the bottom pretty close to center. You probably know all that, but from rereading your problem, I have to wonder what size your blank is (3/4 X 3/4 should be really easy.) Too small a blank (< 1/2 X 1/2) can be too much for any vice.

And, how solid is your pen vise? Any loose hardware on the vise might need tightening. If you continue to have this problem, keep asking questions. There are some very knowledgeable people here.
 

broitblat

Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2006
Messages
3,226
Location
Bellevue, WA, USA.
Welcome, Boz.

I'm afraid I don't see enough from your description to offer any advice on drilling -- it sounds like it should work :(. Can you upload a picture of a blank held in your pen vice and clamped to the drill press table?

-Barry
 

Boz

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
371
Location
St. Louis, MO.
Thanks for all the positive response's and encouragement. I will take some images and post them soon. As for more detail. The vice is from PSI and I am drilling 3/4 blanks cut to 3 inches for a single tube CEO pen. The wood is some Maple scrap that I had left over from a bedroom set that I made a couple of years ago. Yes I make furniture as a hobby. That is why I am so frustrated drilling one small hole.
 

Boz

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
371
Location
St. Louis, MO.
Here are some images of my drilling set up. The vice is screwed to a 3/4 inch sheet of MDF and that is shimmed and clamped to the drill press table. I line up the center of the vice to the drill bit by dropping the bit and clamping the vice to the bit.
2008623163933_Pen%20Vice%20Cropped.jpg


Here are the tops of the blanks all centered.


2008623164246_Pen%20Blanks%20Tops.jpg


Here are the resultant bottoms. The one in the lower right is the best.


200862316442_Pen%20Blanks%20Bottom.jpg
 

woodworker

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
112
Location
Southeast Florida, USA.
Have you tried putting that vise flat on the drill press bed without the 3/4 inch board and all those clamps and shims?

Also, I would make sure the two black horizontal shafts are very tight. If you open the vise, the shafts protrude so that you can get a wrench on the flats, refering to the ends away from the handle.
 

Boz

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
371
Location
St. Louis, MO.
Well I am just as frustrated as ever. I took the vice off the board and set it on the press same result. Went out and got a different vice from Rockler same result. Switched to an other drill press no change. I am about to pack it it. Anybody out there in the St. Louis area that would like to help a newbe out e-mail me and maybe we can work something out.
 

rclotsch

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2008
Messages
7
Location
Vacaville, CA, USA.
Hi Boz. Welcome to the Forum! I can see from your photos that the bottom holes are not in the center of the blank, but it appears that they are close enough that you should be able to turn these blanks on your lathe with no problem. You have plenty of remaining wood on all sides of the hole so forget about trying to make perfect holes on the drill press and just start turning. I learned a while back that "Sometimes the enemy of good is better." You should be able to make great looking pens with the set up you have.
 

woodworker

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
112
Location
Southeast Florida, USA.
rclotsch is the voice of reason. I, also, felt all your holes were more than good enough for normal pen turning. You only need precision if you do fancy work like celtic knots, etc, that need perfect symetry. If you need that, don't use your pen vise and switch to a machinist vice like you mentioned in your original post. The pen vise is more for convenience and speed than it is for precision. In your before and after pictures, the before shots showed a couple of holes as off center as your after. Unless you take a dial caliper (or similar) and measure each blank... distance from each side to the hole... comparing the top to the bottom, it is hard to tell if you are consistently drilling at a slight angle. If your machinest vice produces accurate holes, then your drill press must be Okay. I hope I don't sound critical. I don't mean any criticism. Enjoy some pen turning. You may find this all works out. :)
 

TBone

Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2006
Messages
1,811
Location
Roanoke Rapids, NC, USA.
Boz,

Welcome from NC. Have you tried with a different drill bit? Having said that, the blanks in your pics are fine for the type of pens you're making. But keep searching and this crowd will help you get to the bottom of the problem.
 

barkisini

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2007
Messages
225
Location
Manistee, Michigan USA
Hi Boz, and Welcome!

I'm located on the Illinois side in Trenton. Don't get to the 'Lou much, but if there's ever any way I can help you, please let me know and I'll give it my best shot.

As already said, the blanks you've shown are fine for turning based on the kit you mentioned. As you do more, you'll learn what you can "get away with" and what you can't.

Again, welcome and, most important, have fun!

Regards,

John B.
a/k/a barkisini
 
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