Drilling on the lathe question.

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DennisM

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Apr 30, 2009
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Hello all,

Just picked up a new lathe and stuff yesterday, (pics forthcoming) Its a jet 1014. Also got with it a midi chuck, and the drill chuck for the tailstock.

Now, I was under the impression this is all I would need to drill on the lathe, but when I put a blank in the chuck, it spins WAY out of round, lots of wobble. Is there a certain way to put it in the chuck? I have tried with the corners inbetween the jaws, have tried it all the way in, and tried it with the corners touching the four jaws. Same result?

I really hope I do not need to buy anything else, I went with this used lathe simply because it also had the midi chuck and the jacobs chuck, otherwise I would have just bought the rikon again and waited to get started...
 
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DennisM said:
Hello all,

Just picked up a new lathe and stuff yesterday, (pics forthcoming) Its a jet 1014. Also got with it a midi chuck, and the drill chuck for the tailstock.

Now, I was under the impression this is all I would need to drill on the lathe, but when I put a blank in the chuck, it spins WAY out of round, lots of wobble. Is there a certain way to put it in the chuck? I have tried with the corners inbetween the jaws, have tried it all the way in, and tried it with the corners touching the four jaws. Same result?

I really hope I do not need to buy anything else, I went with this used lathe simply because it also had the midi chuck and the jacobs chuck, otherwise I would have just bought the rikon again and waited to get started...
Click to expand...

You either need the pin jaws for your chuck or a collet chuck to drill small pen blanks. The regular jaws on most chucks only grip down to 1 1/2" ROUND. You will never get accurate holes trying to use the center of the 4 jaw.
 
Hey, we missed you yesterday!!!

Coulda looked at that and solved your problems BEFORE you got it home!!

(Not sure what is happening from your description)
 
Not only do you need the blank to be straight. you have to be able to hold it in the jaws straight. A lot of the jaws will bite down even if the blank is not sticking straight out of the head stock. try aligning the spot you want the drill to start at with the drill bit as you tighten the jaws down. hope that makes since. It might give you better results with what you have for now.

A collet chuck will grip a rod and align it to center as it does so. other types of chucks or even jaws will do so to various degrees of accuracy. but if the blank itself is not straight and square all of that is useless. this is why some people advocate turning the blank to round and then drililng. you pre shaped ans straightened the outside.
 
You would need something like this to try and hold a pen blank straight in a scroll chuck for drilling without pin jaws. Not sure if it works. Never heard anything about it one way or the other.

http://www.bealltool.com/products/turning/chuckpuck.php

chuckpuck.jpg
 
Those chuck pucks are stepped square holers and work reasonably well for driving square stock -- similar to the old tapered drives that lace spindle turners use.

They do require pressure from the tailstock end to keep the wood in the recess.

It is an excellent way to fast mount small squares for rounding at the tailstock end -- and with a short tenon and square shoulder, you can move to a collet chuck. (or just a long tenon with a ER or R8 Collet Chuck)

Still works for lace bobbin and chop stick blanks.
 
Ok, thanks for the replies. Always more to learn! I will start by turning the blanks round then put in the chuck, then back to looking for a usable benchtop DP. (anyone need a spare computer?)
 
DennisM said:
Ok, thanks for the replies. Always more to learn! I will start by turning the blanks round then put in the chuck, then back to looking for a usable benchtop DP. (anyone need a spare computer?)
Click to expand...

This is still not going to help you unless you have a set of pin jaws that will grip down to 3/4" of an inch or less. I hate to tell you, but you either need the pin jaws or a collet chuck for drilling on the lathe. I haven't found anything else that will work. The only other option would be to hold the blank with a set of pliers against a live center in the tailstock and put the drill chuck in the headstock. This is how I drill antler, but it doesn't always work well and is still a bit dangerous.
 
Disclaimer: I haven't done this personally yet

Easiest procedure I've seen on lather drilling yet. It is from an IAP member and he also posted a YouTube video but can't find it now.

1. Use a drill chuck mounted at your headstock, mount drill bit.
2. Put an indention on the blank ends where you want the hole to enter and exit (use a pointed knife or something).
3. Mount either a dead center, live center, or spur drive (doen't matter which) at your tailstock.
4. Mark your lathe ways where the tailstock should stop. (this involves moving the tailstock toward the headstock/drill bit). Make sure the drill bit and the dead/live center won't hit each other.
5. Hold the blank (no matter what shape) with pliers (avoid using vise grip!!!).
6. Slide the tailstock so that the blank is between the drill bit and the dead/live center and make sure they are in the indent you made in step 2.
7. Turn on the lathe and slowly slide the tailstock forward.
8. You may have to move it back and forth to remove shavings (depends on what you are drilling).
9. Make sure you stop at your mark.

Again, I haven't done this method myself but will be using it if I ever drill with my lathe.

The blank will not spin so it doesn't matter what the shape is. Just make sure the bit won't come out of any sides. This can happen if you have curved blank like antlers.

Hope this helps.
 
Re: not using a vise grip... two reasons,

1. Vise grip can put too much pressure and break the drilled blank.
2. Imagine having a catch and the blank gets stuck with the bit and it start spinning with an attached vise grip.:eek::eek::eek: With regular pliers, you can just let go then power the lathe off.
 
Just a few other things to check to make sure they are working correctly.....

Does the chuck run true without a blank in it? I had an insert that was machined poorly and the chuck was not running true. Worth a check.

You could make the drilling work with the chuck if you insert the blank in the center of the chuck. This would use the center of the jaws to grip the blank vice the normal jaw gripping location. By doing this you can insert the blank deep into the chuck. This means you don't have a long extention out the end of the chuck.

I have drilled several square blanks this way before I purchased my collet chuck. Now I round blanks on my router table and use my collet chuck.
 
You can get started with what you have.
I drill square blanks with a scroll chuck all the time.

The blank needs to be squared, though .. otherwise it can only be gripped
on one axis.. you want two to be stable. If the blank is the same size
on all four sides, and one end is squared you should be able to drill it
out pretty well.

I put the blank between the jaws (doesn't matter which jaws, they aren't
really doing anything anyway) at 45 degrees. Look for the spaces IN BETWEEN
the jaws, and put the corners of your blank in those spaces. Tighten the
jaws.
You'll only be gripping the very end of the blank, and only the base of the
jaws are gripping. The blank needs to be square, otherwise it will only
touch on two sides instead of four, and that makes it more difficult to
center and the blank can start flopping from one side to the other.
(toward the sides that aren't touching anything)

Is this the best way to drill? No. But will it work? Yes.
 
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