Drilling blanks ONLY for those who could use the help

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mmayo

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Jan 12, 2013
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If your blanks have perfect holes read no further. Your method works for you and I'm happy about it.

If you are sometimes or often less than pleased with your drilling results read this.

I just finished drilling 80 pen tubes today using acrylic acetate, alumilite and inlace acrylester material. Except one inlace acrylester blank they all have nice entry and exit holes. They are centered on both ends. The photo shows some Sierra blanks on the exit hole side. Here's what I suggest.

Ditch your drill press for pen tubes forever. Sell your pen vise. Drill every pen tube on your lathe. Buy a chuck with pen jaws and a drill chuck. I bought and use a Baracuda G3 chuck and their pen jaws. The drill chuck was from Penn State many years ago. Both have drilled hundreds and hundreds of blanks.

Set your lathe for 500-1,000 rpm. Lately I have had better luck at 900-1000 than 500 rpms.

Be sure everything is tight and that the blank is perfectly seated.

Use Colt or Fisch pen drill bits. Your brad point and twist bits should be retired. I have four-five bits for each pen size and alternate in a careful way to let the bits cool. Yes that means 5 - 27/64 bits and 5 - 7 mm bits, but if you turn many it makes a huge difference. If you only make one pen at a time, buy one for every size tube you build.

Advance VERY slowly to enter the blank. This is a very important step. Think how slowly you exit and be even slower. I do not have time to drill special entry holes and my results do not suggest the need.

Once the entire drill width has entered the blank you can speed up a bit, but go slowly still.

Clear chips every 1/2".

All my bits have a mark to indicate the end of the tube. I check and re-mark them for each drilling session. I clear chips well 1/8" before the bit exits.

SLOW DOWN your travel at the exit. This is where blowout occurs. Watch the bit start to exit and be patient. Too fast or too many chips and bad things happen.

It works for me and I hope it helps you get consistent results.
 

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magpens

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VERY nice results !!!


I concur with your method ! . Except I do use twist bits and at lower speed. . But never brad point.
 

dogcatcher

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I have a 45 year old drill press that drills true holes as good as my lathe, the lathe is 46 years old. A lot of your post depends on the quality of the equipment one is using and the operator. Even with the best of equipment there can be operator errors.

On my drillpress table I have mounted a self centering lathe chuck, so that it is basically the same as a vertical lathe. But it is quite a bit faster since the quill returns on it's own and goes down with out having to turn the tailstock handle.
 

flyitfast

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San Antonio, TX 78247
Mark, I totally agree with you and the tools you suggest.
I would like to add something I use to insure accurate entry when drilling acrylic or wood. I got a set of starter drill bits from HF. These are normally used when drilling on metal lathe, but I have found they increase the accuracy for bits entering any material. I have found that they work especially well in wood to keep the drill bit from wandering in the grain when the drill bit is entering the end of the blank and they do help when drilling acrylic.
Just my $.02 worth...….
Gordon
 

Dehn0045

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Thanks for sharing your method Mark. I personally drill on the lathe as well, typically I turn round and use a collet chuck to hold the blank. As a very low volume hobbyist, my methods are slightly different. I will add that I have found success with waxing the drill bit and also cooling with denatured alcohol as needed. I have been able to save some pretty small pieces of material, I can't really explain why saving a $0.50 piece of wood is so satisfying...
 

mmayo

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Mark, I totally agree with you and the tools you suggest.
I would like to add something I use to insure accurate entry when drilling acrylic or wood. I got a set of starter drill bits from HF. These are normally used when drilling on metal lathe, but I have found they increase the accuracy for bits entering any material. I have found that they work especially well in wood to keep the drill bit from wandering in the grain when the drill bit is entering the end of the blank and they do help when drilling acrylic.
Just my $.02 worth...….
Gordon

My success is better with acrylic and I will take your advice for Woods that make drill bits wander. It happens when it wants to, the grain decides when I get a useless piece of wood. Acrylic obeys almost always with patience.
 

Woodchipper

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Mar 15, 2017
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Cleveland, TN
I have a Nova chuck with pen jaws. I tried drilling some blanks on the lathe but the pen jaws only work if the blank is perfectly square or perfectly round. I don't care to take time to turn them round and then drill the blank.
 

Dale Allen

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If you cannot hold a blank centered in line with the drill bit on a lathe setup, what chance do you have of holding it centered and in line with the bit on a DP?
 

MiteyF

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If you cannot hold a blank centered in line with the drill bit on a lathe setup, what chance do you have of holding it centered and in line with the bit on a DP?

It's called a sharp eye... or a ruler and center mark. And don't forget a square. If you're buying perfectly square blanks, the lathe may be the best choice. All of my blanks (mostly segmented) are made by me, and rarely perfectly square. The drill press has proved far superior for drilling blanks in my shop.
 

mmayo

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I turn screwdrivers that are rectangular and manage a centered hole almost always. For most pens I rip them square on the table saw. That second pass through the table saw after a 90 degree rotation gets it square. A feather board helps too.

If the next craft fair goes well I may finally have a quality drill press, still the "drill on lathe" seems to work well. I use my lathe to drill, flush, turn, flush again, sand, polish and press. One old mini Rikon is dedicated to buffing and CA application.
 

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sbwertz

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Phoenix, AZ
If your blanks have perfect holes read no further. Your method works for you and I'm happy about it.

If you are sometimes or often less than pleased with your drilling results read this.

I just finished drilling 80 pen tubes today using acrylic acetate, alumilite and inlace acrylester material. Except one inlace acrylester blank they all have nice entry and exit holes. They are centered on both ends. The photo shows some Sierra blanks on the exit hole side. Here's what I suggest.

Ditch your drill press for pen tubes forever. Sell your pen vise. Drill every pen tube on your lathe. Buy a chuck with pen jaws and a drill chuck. I bought and use a Baracuda G3 chuck and their pen jaws. The drill chuck was from Penn State many years ago. Both have drilled hundreds and hundreds of blanks.

Set your lathe for 500-1,000 rpm. Lately I have had better luck at 900-1000 than 500 rpms.

Be sure everything is tight and that the blank is perfectly seated.

Use Colt or Fisch pen drill bits. Your brad point and twist bits should be retired. I have four-five bits for each pen size and alternate in a careful way to let the bits cool. Yes that means 5 - 27/64 bits and 5 - 7 mm bits, but if you turn many it makes a huge difference. If you only make one pen at a time, buy one for every size tube you build.

Advance VERY slowly to enter the blank. This is a very important step. Think how slowly you exit and be even slower. I do not have time to drill special entry holes and my results do not suggest the need.

Once the entire drill width has entered the blank you can speed up a bit, but go slowly still.

Clear chips every 1/2".

All my bits have a mark to indicate the end of the tube. I check and re-mark them for each drilling session. I clear chips well 1/8" before the bit exits.

SLOW DOWN your travel at the exit. This is where blowout occurs. Watch the bit start to exit and be patient. Too fast or too many chips and bad things happen.

It works for me and I hope it helps you get consistent results.


I drill everything but slims on the lathe. Only thing I do different is I cut the blank a quarter inch longer and don't drill all the way through. Then I cut off the last quarter inch on the miter saw.

We do use a drill press at the blind center because we have volunteers who come in and prep blanks while we are teaching and the lathes are both in use.

I always drill handles on the lathe, though to be sure they are absolutely perpendicular. Nothing like a crooked handle to spoil your whole day.

At home, my new Steel City drill press with the 6" quill travel drills so much straighter than my old one. I prep dozens of slimlines at a time, using the drill press and pen vise. I have learned not to tighten the pen vise too tight, as it can torque things out of alignment.
 

Mortalis

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Aug 19, 2013
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Bardstown, Ky
For those that may not know, when someone mentions a "starter drill set" they are referring to what we in the industry of rotary cutting tools call combined drill and countersinks or "center drills". Keeping the hole in the center is all about drill geometry and the symmetry of that geometry. You can a brand new set of center drills and drill bits but if the geometry is off center they will not drill a straight hole. A dull or improperly relieved drill bit will cause heat and breakthrough.
 

Dale Allen

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Oct 27, 2012
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Massillon, OH
Mortalis, I agree 100%.
This is also why I can buy a 1/2" drill bit for $5 or upwards of $150, depending on what quality I am looking for.
 
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