Chuck for Lathe Drilling & Bowls

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IPD_Mrs

IPD_Mrs

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We are getting to the point where we need a better way to drill our blanks. The jig we use now just wont cut it and there is no reason to go into why. So we are looking at lathe drilling. The first question is which chuck should we look at? This will be for a Jet 1014VS and we will want to do some bowls down the road. The way we drill now allows us to put a 1/4" piece of scrap under the blank so that when we drill through we have little to no blow out at the bottom end of the blank. How is this achieved when drilling on the lathe? Also, we all get them, the non-square blanks, if the blank is say 3/4" x 7/8" can you center drill with the chuck or will you need to square the blank first for proper hold and centering? We have never even touched chuck before so this will totally new to us. Right now we are looking at the OneWay Talon and the Nova Midi.

Any insight you guys can provide would really help.

Mike & Linda
 
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Just started drilling on the lathe my self and this is the way I do it. Put the blank between centers and turn until it is round or near to it. I use a Barracuda 2 chuck, put it in the chuck and drill your hole to the depth you need then take it to the saw and cut to length. If you are making a pen that requires different size drill bits, drill the smaller one first, cut it off the drill the larger one.
That method eliminates blowouts as you are not drilling through the blank. I don't believe blow outs are as much of a problem on the lathe though as on the blanks I have drilled all the way through I have had no chipping at the end at all.

Amazon has a good deal on the Barracuda right now.
 
If money is not a major hold back, go for the best chuck you can like the Talon. That said I have the Barracuda2 and for the money, it's a great value but is not "perfect" for runout. Fine for most all wood work, but it's there all the same (checked with a dial indicator) The nice thing is that it comes with such a nice assortment of jaws for a wide aray of projects. My only complaing other than the mild run-out is I had a few times where I had to remove the gears that the key fits into and file off burs because it would "hang up" in spots while turning the jaws back down closed. One screw retains the gear and you just lightly smooth the gear, but it was a pain until I took it apart to do that.
 
Another way is to put the blank between centers and turn to 3/4" diameter, then put into your beall collet chuck system, and drill just past the length, cut off the first portion ( or part off) then finish the drilling the blanks.

Rob
 
I bought the TeknaTool SuperNova 2 from WC and I love it, I am just learning on it but was advised by a friend that this is a great tool and that it works well on larger lathes also. I believe that it is on sale right now for around $170.00. Good luck you guys.

Mike
 
OK so whether I use the Beall collets that I already have or go with a chuck, I will have to round the blank before I drill? Wouldn't a chuck cold it in center if it is square? And what about out of square?
 
I bought the TeknaTool SuperNova 2 from WC and I love it, I am just learning on it but was advised by a friend that this is a great tool and that it works well on larger lathes also. I believe that it is on sale right now for around $170.00. Good luck you guys.

Mike
 
When you turn between centers so that you can mount on a Beall collet, how deep do you set it in the collet? The 4 prong center I have is 1" so I turned the test blank I used at the tail and rounded about 3/4" to 3/4" round and placed in my Beall collet. It was able to move just a tad too much for my liking. The other thing is when I started to drill I slowed the lathe down to 1000rpms and it still drilled a little too hot. Any suggestions or directions anyone can give? Also will I have to round the blank if I use something like the talon chuck or can I put it in square? The scrap I was playing with was .820" x 1.110"
 
When you said you turned about 3/4" to 3/4" that may be some of your problem. The Bealle collet only tightens about 1/32" or about .03125" so you need to be just at 3/4" or no less than 23/32". One thing you can do tho, if you find you have turned a blank below 3/4" while it is still between centers is to put a layer of CA clue on the end where it will go in the collet chuck, and while CA is wet put a layer or two of gauze The polyester type used on bandages) and top with CA, When dry you can turn or sand it slightly to make sure it is round and down to the correct diameter for the collet. The CA will strengthen the end of the blank in the collet, and the CA and gauze will be turned off anyway when you start turning/shaping the pen. I read one post where someone bought some PVC pipe and drilled it out and then turned it down 3/4" OD and left the wall thickness very thin, just a few thusands of an inch. He turned a flange on one end so it would be easy to remove, then took a saw and cut a slit down the length of the PVC pipe. This was then placed over theblank, and inserted into the collet and the collet was tightened to hold the blank. I know this sounds like a lot of trouble, but if you make 2 or three of these sleeves and keep them handy, they can save a lot of time. I use calipers and try to get my blank ( at least on one end) as close to the correct size for my collet as I can. After you get the hang of it, you will find it takes less time than making sure your blank is exactly square. Also by preturning, you will minimize the blowouts that occur when turning due to soft or weak wood ( It has already blown out when turning round and before the drilling and glue in a brass tube). If you see punky areas in the wood, then you can drench with CA and know what you have to do when you start turning the pen. Also, on the lahe I drill at about 600 rpm and take little bites and pull the drill out after only 1/4" to 3/8" of drilling depth.

Rob
 
Rob,
Thank you for your detailed response at it will provide useful in some of the ideas I have. I did not make myself very clear on what I turned my blank down to. The tail end was turned down to 3/4" (used the calipers) but it was only about 5/8" long that was turned down. The rest of the blank was left square. That is why I was wondering about how long the secion I turn down should be. How deep into the collet should the blank go?

The next question concerns the lenght of the blank. Do you cut the blank in two parts and turn down the one end on each, then drill or do you drill the full blank as deep as you can, remove the blank, cut off the first section, remount the blank and drill the next section?

Mike
 
Mike sorry I didn't get back to you last night, but got busy. I turn the whole blank round to 3/4" OD as talked about in my earlier post. I then mount in my Bealle, setting as deep as necessary for a hold. I then drill with my tail stock, and, if my bit is somewhat short, I cut off the blank to the correct length, making sure I have drilled past the cut-off point, then finish drilling the blank. This way I have part of the drill hole in the undrilled blank as a starting or reference point for finish drilling. I first started by pre-cutting the blank to length and then turning each section, but found this method seems to save me a little time and is easier for me.
By the way, I have the Barracuda 2 chuck and am happy with it for small bowls, mushrooms, weed-pots, dibbles and other turnings. It has proven to work well for me. I have used it to drill out perfectly square blanks and it did good, but on segmented blanks, if it is off the least little bit, then the segments will show that it is not drilled centered. That is why I went to rounding the blanks between centers and using my Bealle for drilling. You can use the Supernova 2, the Barracuda and other chucks to drill blanks that are really square especially on whole or solid wood that is not segmented as it doesn't matter if the drilled whaole is a hair off center. Hope this helps

Rob
 
My process is to mount the blank in #1 jaws in my Talon chuck. if the blank is square, I use the corners as the point of contact with the jaws. If the blank is round, I just mount it as normal in the jaws. Then I mount the drill bit in a Jacob's chuck mounted in the tailstock. Using a bradpoint bit, it is a simple matter of drilling through the blank. Remember to turn down the speed as slow as it goes and to back the bit out every few turns. Another thing to remember is to add an 1/8" or so to the length of the blank for blowout because it can happen, especially with burls.

I have been doing this as long as I have been turning pens.

keithz
 
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