Drill Bit Question

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JBCustomPens

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Hi Guys,

Last night, I drilled a 35/64" hole into a 7/8 square blank. I'm wondering if I will have enough room for turning? At one end, it seems slightly off center. They are desert ironwood blanks from Rodney, and they are great looking. If it comes down to it, I have backup blanks to use. Thanks.:)
 
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Wheaties

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Put the bushing on the end and you will know right away. I can say that I have successfully done it... barely.
 

Texatdurango

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Hi Guys,

Last night, I drilled a 35/64" hole into a 7/8 square blank. I'm wondering if I will have enough room for turning? At one end, it seems slightly off center. They are desert ironwood blanks from Johnny, and they are great looking. If it comes down to it, I have backup blanks to use. Thanks.:)

I make the Craft Supply emperor kit and it requires a 37/64" bit and I routinely use 3/4" blanks so you shouldn't be concerned with a 7/8" blank. The upside is that you don't have a lot of turning to do! :)
 

mick

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That's way more than you NEED. You CAN hide a flat spot with the clip DAMHIKT!! (MANY times)

:eek: Who would do such a thing!
I once did that and was actually prepared to tell anyone buying the pen that the clip functioned better when I turned the pen with a flat spot under it!
 

Texatdurango

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George,

Are you using 3/4 square or round blanks? And also do you drill on the lathe? I'd love to be able to drill a little bit more accurately...

All of the acrylic and all the truestone blanks and most of the wood blanks I use start out 3/4" square. I turn them down so they fit in a 3/4" collet then drill on the lathe.

I did a little tutorial of sorts a few weeks ago, http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54760 you might pick up some tidbits from it as the first several steps talk about drilling on the lathe. The photo in step 7 shows a blank in a 3/4" collet and there is still plenty of wood around the hole. A side benefit of drilling this method is that when I start turning a glued together blank and tube I have smooth sailing as far as turning with little chance of catching a corner and blowing up the blank! :)

When I was drilling on the drill press I was always leary of drilling large holes in blanks because I blwe up my fair share of them but now don't give it much thought and attribute my confidence in the lathe drilling setup.
 

ed4copies

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Tex,

Not ONLY lathe drilling, but drilling with the collet. You have excellent support and uniform pressure against the blank. It is far less likely to shatter that way. When we drill on a drill press (or even using the scroll chuck) there is pressure on 2 or 4 points, allowing the blank to "blow up" where there is nothing contacting the blank. The collet chuck contacts all 360 degrees.
 

Texatdurango

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Tex,

Not ONLY lathe drilling, but drilling with the collet. You have excellent support and uniform pressure against the blank. It is far less likely to shatter that way. When we drill on a drill press (or even using the scroll chuck) there is pressure on 2 or 4 points, allowing the blank to "blow up" where there is nothing contacting the blank. The collet chuck contacts all 360 degrees.
True, good point....... when I said drilling on the lathe, I should have said drilling on the lathe USING a collet! The common debate lately seems to be "why use a collet chuck when your good ole Barracuda chuck will do just fine with the spigot jaws". To me, the difference is daylight and dark. I honestly can't remember blowing up a blank drilling one held in a collet. Many times I will drill half way, loosen the collet, turn the blank around and continue from the other side just to keep the 360 degree support of the collet and to keep the end from blowing out.
 

Daniel

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Are special drill bits needed to drill on the lathe?
Mickey, No but that still does not give you an excuse to not get confused. there is still a mind boggling assortment of bits to choose from. Many penturners will recommend brad point, including myself. But brad point bits are specifically mentioned as a poor choice for drilling end grain. Truth is I am seldom actually drilling end grain since it does not count for any burls of acrylics. Bullet point is a very good solution to the brad points weak points. Then of course you can just go with the plain Jane jobber length twist bit which is what I use. Always have and never had enough reason to change. Notice I did not say never had a reason, just not often enough to justify the cost.
 

Daniel

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Gregg, Here is my experience. I have three 3/4 inch blanks that I need to drill 37/64 holes through. Now consider I have two to practice with that cost about $20 each. they are pratice for when I try and do the $80 really nice one. Trust me I did not just skip on out to the shop to try this. I did a mountain of homework and had an even higher mountain of drilling this way and that under my belt before I even attempted it. My one and only answer, and still is my one and only answer to getting this done was a collet chuck drilling on my metal lathe. The metal lathe simply becasue it is the most prcise lathe in my shop. collet chuck because i still see no other way to hold the wood and simply not have it tear apart. I posted a thread a while back basically telling the story as it happened. I still have that last little shave of a hole to make, bit expect the collet chuck to work just fine. I am able to remove the blanks fromt he lathe return them to there box and even months later put them back on the lathe exactly the way I had them before. in this case since I turned the blanks round once the hole is drilled there will actually be very little turning needed for the final shape. Things I have considered would be disasterous for this is any run out at all or even chatter while drilling. My concerns have had to go beyond just hitting dead center. with the collet chuck the blank is encased in a nice hefty chunk of steel. makes it a bit hard to blow out that way.
 
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True, good point....... when I said drilling on the lathe, I should have said drilling on the lathe USING a collet! The common debate lately seems to be "why use a collet chuck when your good ole Barracuda chuck will do just fine with the spigot jaws". To me, the difference is daylight and dark. I honestly can't remember blowing up a blank drilling one held in a collet. Many times I will drill half way, loosen the collet, turn the blank around and continue from the other side just to keep the 360 degree support of the collet and to keep the end from blowing out.

This looks like a good excuse for me to spend the money and get a good collet system... I've been using the "Barracuda" approach since I learned to drill on the lathe and have about 99% success, but the 1% failure will invariable be the ONE blank I don't want to lose...
 
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