Drilling blanks on the lathe

[PMisiaszek]

I finally assembled the necessary equipment to drill blanks on the lathe. With the help of the tutorial in the library and several folks on this forum, today I drilled several blanks of different woods and dimensions. Although I have a complete woodshop with a good drill press and blank drilling vise, I've never been completely satsified with my results drilling blanks. What started as a centered hole often wasn't centered at the other end. My test blanks drilled on the lathe are all perfect. I wish when I was starting to turn pens, drilling on the lathe would have been one of my first lessons.

 

[wb7whi]

I agree. I have not used my drill press for sometime now and every blank I have drilled on the lathe has been true. I do make one consession though as a log of my blanks are not square so I turn the blank to round first and use the accessory jaws on my chuck.
The girlfriend is putting her shop together and in a package deal she got a used, but in good shape, drill press. I suggested she sell it and use the money for a MT2 jacobs chuck.

 

[ldb2000]

My drill press has become my dedicated buffing station . It has not seen a drill bit in over 3 years :biggrin:
For anyone who is just starting out or outfitting a new shop , I would advise getting the equipment to drill on the lathe . A Dead center and live center for turning square stock round and a Collet chuck with at least a 3/4" collet to hold the round blank while drilling . A scroll chuck works well also but is more expensive then a collet chuck . Using those components will cost less then a decent drill press and will give much better accuracy .

 

[Smitty37]

tell me this

When you drill on the the lathe what moves...the drill bit or the wood? I've never seen this done.

 

[ldb2000]

The blank is held in the headstock and the drill bit is held in the tailstock . The wood moves .

 

[Mr Vic]

Unless you Mount the drill in the head stock with a 60 deg live center and hold the antler with a pair of vice grips.....best way to get a hole through the center of antler...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAEEaF8z2jM

 

[dexter0606]

Mr Vic
When I turn an antler pen I always drill on the lathe but never holding the piece with vise grips. It doesn't sound real safe and I think it gives a greater chance of an out of round hole.
I cut the piece of antler to length, hold the brass tube on top of the antler and eyeball the best drill path. then I mark a reference line at both ends of the piece. Take it to my drill press, clamp it the vise and center drill both ends. Then I turn it round enough for the scroll chuck to hold and drill through.
Just the way I do it

 

[Monty]

Jeff- Did you watch the video? You are not using the vise grips to center the antler, just to keep it from spinning. You use the tailstock to center, hold and push the antler onto the bit. This method works great.

 

[Billhoward]

I have always use the lathe to drill! It's just easy for me to do so. I have not drilled antler yet so that I will have see when I get to it.

 

[wb7whi]

You want to drill antler on the lathe the easiest way is to first turn it round between centers then put it in a chuck or collet chuck. This way you will not have to guess about the drill bit path and also get a preview of what the antler will be like when turned to final.

Also, there is not enough material on the tips (tins?) of the antler for a pen but you could get a couple centerbands out of it before making the rest into a neckless.

Just a thought.

 

[dexter0606]

Monty
I've seen the video, just don't think that holding a piece by hand against a drill bit is the best method.

 

[Mr Vic]

I tried holding it by hand...several went fine and then one tore up the palm of some good leather gloves. I now use the vice grips lightly clamped down (could use pliers or channel locks) and they rest againest the lathe bed to prevent rotation. As for being the best method? It works for me and may or may not work well for others...Kinda of like a CA finish...

 

[jskeen]

I find that by spinning a piece of antler (or irregular wood or whatever) between centers and looking down at it, I can see the shadow of the minimum size SOLID cylinder that will turn from that piece, USING THOSE CENTERS. By moving the centers around, you can maximize the size of this cylinder. Then you can turn one end round enough to fit in your chuck and use the live center to center the dimple while you tighten the chuck to hold the blank. Then swap the live center for the jacobs chuck and drill bit and go for it.

 

[Smitty37]

Thank you

The blank is held in the headstock and the drill bit is held in the tailstock . The wood moves .

Thank you kindly.....

 

[Smitty37]

Antler

You want to drill antler on the lathe the easiest way is to first turn it round between centers then put it in a chuck or collet chuck. This way you will not have to guess about the drill bit path and also get a preview of what the antler will be like when turned to final.

Also, there is not enough material on the tips (tins?) of the antler for a pen but you could get a couple centerbands out of it before making the rest into a neckless.

Just a thought.

I wonder about turning antler....I've only done one and the problem to me seems to be that after it's turned the only way for anyone to know it is antler is to tell them. It just didn't look like antler to me after it was turned. Am I alone in thinking that the only way to have a pen that actually looks like antler is to find the right section of antler and not turn it at all....

 

[RAdams]

you have to get a piece with some nice texture. When you drill it, with vice grips and the tailstock, the idea is to be a little out of perfect. You want the bark to be in a low spot, so it doesnt turn away.Then anyone who would be interested in an antler pen will immediately look at it and know what it is.

 

[PaulSF]

The blank is held in the headstock and the drill bit is held in the tailstock . The wood moves .

What's going on when the spinning wood makes the drill bit turn, too? I thought I had the proper drill chuck, but maybe I goofed up (again)? Is there a particular drill chuck you folks recommend?

 

[ldb2000]

You need a chuck with the correct MT tail shaft for your lathe . Even with that you still have to hold the chuck with one hand while advancing it with the other . Holding it will keep it from spinning and if it should somehow come loose it won't go flying across the shop . DAMHIKT

 

[PaulSF]

Thanks Butch. I did two blanks before with no problem, but this one gave me trouble. I'll try again Monday when I get back in the store.

 

[Tree Frog]

For what it's worth, this is how I've solved my drilling issue. When I started on pens (that would be before I was hooked) I had more than a few split blanks using my drill press and a regular vise. I changed to using my lathe with the Vicmarc chuck and Long Nose jaws, after reading about this technique here in the forum.

About 250 slimlines later, I've only split one blank and it was a weird trustone sample I was given. I use a Dewalt Extreme 2 drill which has a bullet nose, very similar to a centering drill used on a metal lathe. The chuck comes from JohnyCNC, and is excellent. I haven't had it spin in the taper, but I do seat it with considerable force and make sure the taper surfaces are very clean. The long nose jaws are perfect for square and round blanks, but other shapes need a bit of juggling to get them in the centre. If I've cut the blank too far off square, or is out of the side of a log, I turn it to a cylinder between centres before drilling. This method gets me the centre exactly where I want it to be.
The only issue I have with this setup is that my tailstock travel isn't long enough to drill a blank in one pass. I have to back the tailstock shaft fully back after half drilling, then move the tailstock forward so the drill is part buried in the blank and continue drilling. But I'm backing the drill out the hole often to reduce heat buildup, so moving the tailstock during one of "backouts" isn't much of an issue at all. I'm real happy with this setup.