Opinions on drilling blanks?

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muddyriverfarmer

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Hey everyone,

I recently purchased a used lathe and have the parts needed such as mandrels, tools, wood blanks, pen kits and such. My dilemma now lies in what are the best ways to drill the blanks when new to this and unfortunately with no drill press yet. That is the next item on my "to buy" list but is there any possible way to drill square without one? The blanks that I purchased are about 10-12" long so I have a few chances to get one right but is it even possible? Thanks for any help!

Jon Anderson
 
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You can drill blanks on the lathe with a pen blank drilling chuck [example], regular chuck with long jaws or a collet chuck [example]. You would also need a drill chuck [example] for your tail stock if you go this route.

Knowing what I know now, I would have started off this way and never have used the drill press. It's not bad, just on the lathe is much better IMO.

AK
 
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I had planned on buying a drill press, but after I used the lathe to drill I would not do it any other way. I use the inexpensive utilitly chuck from PSI. Eventually I plant to get the dedicated pen drilling chuck.

You won't be drilling 10 or 12 inches that much at all. Most ben blanks are cut to around 2 inches or less, then drilled.

Morton
 
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When I drill square stock on my lathe
1st I find the center using cnccutter's thumb square
2nd I use a 60 degree punch and mark the centers on each end with a nice dimple.
3rd chuck the drill bit into the head of the lathe and using the dimples push the wood into the drill bit using a live center. Remember to back out often and keep the bit cool when you are about 2/3s through rotate the blank and drill the rest of the way.

The theory is the point of the drill and the point of the center mounted in the tail should meet "head on". I learned this when I saw someone use this method to drill antler.
 
I just drill all my blanks with a hand drill in a shop vice. My hand drill has a level built into it so I make sure my blank is level in the vice and my drill is level. Yes! It isn't perfectly square but as long as it is close I don't have any problems. Oh, one other pointer, I always drill from the end that will be in the middle of the pen so the grain will line up when the pen is assembled.
 
I have drilled pen blanks using lathe and drill press. JMHO, prefer drill press because easier to clear chips faster. Have had drill bits wander using both lathe & drill press. A simple fix so do not see disadvantage to using either lathe or drill press for drilling.

Drill lot of lamp blanks on lathe using long drill bits. Even when flip blank and drill from other side have no problem.

Lathe is a big drill press, and there is a small learning curve to drilling on the lathe. With proper lathe accessories no big deal.
 
I started out using a small benchtop drillpress. I then thought I needed a bigger drill press. So I bought a Jet floor model drill press. Was happy with it. Then I saw the pen drilling chuck at PSI. Hated to spend the money but decided to try it. One of the best decisions that I've made. Now I don't have to measure my blanks to find the center or mark the center. Throw it in the chuck & just start drilling. Now my drill press sits collecting dust most of the time.
 
Before spending any money on the various chucks for drilling pen blanks consider getting a collet chuck. It will be more precise and way more versatile! Yes it will cost more initially but in the long run it will probably be cheaper.
 
Yes -- to all of the above. Use your drill press money to buy a decent bandsaw! Wish I had the experience of these forums before buying my 'rarely used' drill press.

Dan
 
I don't consider a $100 dedicated chuck to be the best purchase when a chuck can be purchased for close to the same that can also be used to hold bowl and box blanks, spindle blanks along with pen blanks. Getting multiple uses from one tool is much more economical that having several tols that only do one job. Drilling on the lathe is more accurate than drilling on a drill press and the drill press $$$ can be used for other tooling.

I would consider a collet chuck to be a good choice and the collet chuck can also be used to hold a mandrel, other tools, and pen parts. I had a a drawer in myu tool chest full of "bent" mandrels that magically became straight once I started using my collet chuck for holding mandrels.

Do a good turn daily!
Don
 
The latest issue of shop notes has a jig for drilling on the lathe. If you have a 4 jaw chuck I suggest doing this: There is a tutorial in the library on building these auxiliary jaws and it works very well and cost about $10.00 to make. The sharp corners should be rounded for obvious reasons (ouch).
 

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Lenny said:
Before spending any money on the various chucks for drilling pen blanks consider getting a collet chuck. It will be more precise and way more versatile! Yes it will cost more initially but in the long run it will probably be cheaper.
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This method assumes the pen blanks are round, or am I missing something?
 
As Mack points out, a collet chuck is GREAT if you use all round blanks.

A scroll chuck will take either round or square or poorly cut square (which I often find to be the ones I am turning).

Now, admittedly, you can round a blank before drilling, but it DOES add a step.

Just a FWIW!!!

Ed
 
ed4copies said:
As Mack points out, a collet chuck is GREAT if you use all round blanks.

A scroll chuck will take either round or square or poorly cut square (which I often find to be the ones I am turning).

Now, admittedly, you can round a blank before drilling, but it DOES add a step.
Click to expand...
I have gotten in the habit of turning my blanks round prior to drilling since George? (I think it was mentioned it) And I also use PSI's pen drilling chuck to hold my round blanks while drilling on the lathe.
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It's alignment of the blank axis with the drill bit axis that counts most. (drilling speed and such important but not as much IMO)

Lathe is easiest by far, drill press second easiest but requiring more skill and care in setting it up, and hand drilling the most difficult but still adequate if that is what you have available.


If you are going to drill by hand, buy something cheap like square wood or dowel in the appropriate size and practice first till you are confident you can do it. Blanks -even cheap ones- are usually expensive to learn on. Trust me on that.
 
I believe all our blanks get turned to round eventually :biggrin:

Yes, you would have to turn them round prior to drilling on the lathe with the use of a collet chuck. I have gotten so I like that step as it gives you a better idea what the blank is going to look like when finished.
 
Lenny said:
I believe all our blanks get turned to round eventually :biggrin:

Yes, you would have to turn them round prior to drilling on the lathe with the use of a collet chuck.
I have gotten so I like that step as it gives you a better idea what the blank is going to look like when finished.
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That is so true, especially with some acrylics!
Click to expand...
 
I think the thought of turning on the lathe is a great one and does offer the opportunity for greater accuracy. However if you plan on drilling more than just pen blanks, then a drill press is still a great way to go because you have a wealth of other items you can make accurately drilled holes in. So it depends on what you plan to do in shop as to what method you should choose.

This blank vice from Rockler does a good job on my (not the best but in budget at the time) Craftsman drill press. It holds square blanks, round blanks, odd shaped, etc. pretty well. Can also be used to press pen together, but I choose to use my wood-jawed vise for that task.



If you're only going to drill blanks, then the advice above for using the lathe to drill is a good one, but if you plan to do more than that, I think the drill press is valuable tool to have in the shop. Just depends on your needs.
 
I'm working on my 100 sierra pen order...can't imagine trying to do all that drilling on the lathe.

did them all on the drill press and never turned it off...just opened up the Huffman vise enough to change out the drilled blank for a fresh one and kept going.
 
I'm kind of leaning towards buying a press because I don't know that I can even get a jaw for my craftsman lathe I'm starting out with. It doesn't look like it would be very easy to crank into the wood either. I know I can always use a drill press for other uses as well so it won't be a complete waste of cash.

I've been looking at some presses and it makes me wonder, how long of a stroke am I gonna need to drill most blanks? I don't want to buy too small of one that wouldn't even make it through the blank.

Anyone have thoughts on how big of one I would need? I still may decide to go with drilling on the lathe in the future but I don't see getting hurt buying a press first which will be used for other shop projects!;)
 
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