Tailstock slop with drill chuck

[TattooedTurner]

Has anybody experienced tailstock slop when using a drill chuck? When I insert the chuck it seems firm in the quill, but the quill itself will have a tiny bit of slop, completely ruining my penblank when I drill it. I don't seem to have any slop with my live centers, just the drill chuck, maybe because the weight and leverage of it. I just got this lathe around the beginning of Oct, I'm thinking I need to give Rikon a call.

 

[jttheclockman]

Tighten the steady screw on the side to just snug. Then when drilling hold the chuck with your left hand as you advance and retract. Works well.

 

[JimB]

Some drill chucks will have a longer Morse taper than your centers so you may need to extend the quill a bit further to get the drill chuck to seat properly.

 

[KenV]

A sharp centered drill bit will try hard to drill on center. Dull bits or those ground with the center offset (as in real cheap) have a hard time making a centered hole.

If the drill chuck has a lot of runout (slop) it will force a good bit to make an oversized hole.

Is the morse taper clean?

Did you use a center bit to make a starting point (or the tip of a lathe tool)?

 

[TattooedTurner]

Tighten the steady screw on the side to just snug. Then when drilling hold the chuck with your left hand as you advance and retract. Works well.

I did this and it helped a lot, but I think the hole could still be more accurate. Leaving the blank long & cutting off the excess on the side I entered from solves the issue, but leaving an extra 1/2" on every barrel is going to add up to many wasted pen blanks worth of wood & resin before long. I didn't have nearly this much slop on my cheap HF 10". If a spindle bearing wasn't bad on that one I'd still use it for drilling.

Some drill chucks will have a longer Morse taper than your centers so you may need to extend the quill a bit further to get the drill chuck to seat properly.

Thanks, but this definitely is not the problem. My chuck is inserted as far as it can go.

A sharp centered drill bit will try hard to drill on center. Dull bits or those ground with the center offset (as in real cheap) have a hard time making a centered hole.

If the drill chuck has a lot of runout (slop) it will force a good bit to make an oversized hole.

Is the morse taper clean?

Did you use a center bit to make a starting point (or the tip of a lathe tool)?

I used a center bit and drilled with smaller bits working my way up to the correct size. The bits are new and sharp and of good quality. I had to leave an extra 1/2" on the blanks then cut off the end I entered from.


I don't want to get a vise for my drill press then leave my pen jaws & drill chuck collecting dust but I think it might be my best option for now. I intend to get a fullsize lathe and I think my issue will be resolved with it, but that's not happening anytime soon. For all I know it might be the drill chuck. Wierd how none of my live centers have any slop when the quill is loose. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Skie_M]

Ok ... if none of the live centers have slop in the exact same tailstock, then it's definitely the drill chuck.

Chuck it in the spindle (headstock) and check for runout...


Do you live alone? Perhaps someone dropped the poor thing and picked it up to put it back and forgot to tell you?


Also ... last thing to check on that drill chuck before you toss it ...

VERY CLOSELY EXAMINE the morse taper. Does it have any BUMPS or SPURS sticking out that would interfere with the seating? This is termed "galling" ... when metals of differing strengths abrade each other, one or both are damaged in this way. The weaker metal is usually damaged quite a bit more. If so, carefully file or sand those away and you should be back in business.

 

[TattooedTurner]

I just tested the chuck in the spindle with no runout. However, I just put my 60 degree live center in the tailstock and got some play while it was loose, so it's not just the chuck. Not sure why it seemed like I didn't get any play before, maybe it's getting worse. All good with the quill fully tightened but I can't advance the chuck that way. Considering my cheap HF lathe doesn't have this kind of slop, I'll be giving Rikon a call. I'm also going to play with the display model at Woodcraft tomorrow to see if it's just my lathe before I call. Thanks for the advice on checking for runout.

 

[Paul in OKC]

check the inside of the taper. May have a burr, or sawdust, plus check the taper shank on the chuck for the same. You can use some very fine sandpaper and run it in the tail stock taper, lightly and work it around to clean it out.