Hi everyone! Can I drill my pen blanks with my lathe since my drill press won't drill the blanks all the way thru? I'm just starting out and having a great time turning different things. This forum is awesome too with a lot of info. Thanks, Tim
I only drill on the lathe. Much more accurate than any drill press. You will need a chuck to hold the brill bit. You will need one with the correct taper to fit on your tail stock. The first one I bought used a key to tighten the chuck. That was a bit of a pain so I traded up to a keyless one much better. Then you need a vice that fits on the head stock. I have one for square blanks and a collet set for round ones. The concept is the blank turns and the drill bit does not. You advance the drill bit forward into the spinning blank using the quill on the tail stock. Every 1/4 inch or so pull the bit back out to get all the shavings out. Some here on this forum have not done this and have had the drill bit bind up in the blank. Turn the blank at a low to medium speed. Too fast and you may get a heat build up that may damage the blank. Once you have the correct tools drilling blanks on your lathe is as easy as pie.
so.. with the collet chuck method - I assume you need to round down the blank first so it fits the collet? Seems like this would require an extra step and swap out of lathe tools unless you have a dedicated lathe for this? Lots of ways to tackle turning a pen!