Drill Depth

[skyfireblaze]

Hello! First post here ...
I'm brand new to turning having picked up my first lathe (2nd hand Jet 1014) a month or so ago but have yet to try to use it. I've been reading through the forum here and trying to learn as I go.

I've been reading about drilling on the lathe. I don't have a drill press, so drilling blanks with the lathe is certainly where I'll start. I'm wondering how deep/long can you drill on your lathe? Is there a limit to how long your blank can be and still be properly supported in a collet chuck or spigot jaws? I think all the videos/tutorials I've seen here show the blank cut in half first so you're only drilling a 2-1/2" section at a time. What are the risks to drilling a whole 5" long blank?

Which would work better for holding a 5" blank while drilling, a collet or 4-jaw chuck?

In addition to the few pens I'd like to start with, I'd like to drill out some blanks with 3/8" or even 1/2" bits for some other projects, such as building fishing rods.

Thanks.
Jon

 

[Dan_F]

John---I do my drilling with a collet chuck on the lathe. It comes in useful for a lot of other things too. I cut blanks to size before drilling. You do need to get the blanks pretty evenly turned before hand to eliminate wobble. Drilling in a collet will eliminate exit blow out on most blanks, but some of the more brittle materials like some PR or Truestone blanks you still need to stop before drilling completely through. It is important to have the end of the blank supported by the collet. It can protrude forward a good deal, but the longer it is, the greater the tendency to wobble if there is any error in seating, as the distance it protrudes magnifies the error. I will sometimes use a file or sandpaper block to correct any unevenness in the turned blank to prevent wobble.

I mostly do large fountain pens, drilling 1/2" hole is no problem. ER 32 collets only go up to just over 3/4", but you could always cut a tenon on a piece larger than 3/4" diameter, and use that to seat in the collet.

Dan

 

[IPD_Mr]

I agree with the collet chuck for drilling. Pretty easy to get the blank round and within tolerance to fit tight in the collet. The other great thing about the collet is it will help hold together segmented blanks when drilling them. Much less chance of blow out.

 

[skyfireblaze]

Thanks guys!

 

[KenV]

Collet Chucks

I have been quite pleased with the CUSA collet chuck and the Beall collet chuck.

you can do lots of things -- like cut brass tubing while holding it in the collets

 

[lorbay]

Hello! First post here ...
I'm brand new to turning having picked up my first lathe (2nd hand Jet 1014) a month or so ago but have yet to try to use it. I've been reading through the forum here and trying to learn as I go.

I've been reading about drilling on the lathe. I don't have a drill press, so drilling blanks with the lathe is certainly where I'll start. I'm wondering how deep/long can you drill on your lathe? Is there a limit to how long your blank can be and still be properly supported in a collet chuck or spigot jaws? I think all the videos/tutorials I've seen here show the blank cut in half first so you're only drilling a 2-1/2" section at a time. What are the risks to drilling a whole 5" long blank?

Which would work better for holding a 5" blank while drilling, a collet or 4-jaw chuck?

In addition to the few pens I'd like to start with, I'd like to drill out some blanks with 3/8" or even 1/2" bits for some other projects, such as building fishing rods.

Thanks.
Jon

The length of the lathe will determine how far you can drill. I have drilled up to 48" on my lathe, through the tail stock of course.

Lin.

 

[nava1uni]

How far you can drill also depends on the length of the drill bit. You will need a chuck to hold the drill bit in the tail stock end. You can also get larger drill bits with morse tapers to fit into the tail stock. I buy them on E-Bay and sharpen them with my Drill Doctor and they work great.