Drilling on the lathe

[John Smith]

I want to start drilling on my lathe. Do I need pen jaws for my chuck, or will the long spigot jaws work just as well?

 

[jsolie]

Do you spigot jaws allow a good grip on the blank?

I've successfully drilled with the #1 jaws on my old SuperNova chuck. I wasn't too pleased with the grip as the jaws aren't all that long, but it worked.

I've since acquired some dedicate pen drilling jaws but haven't had a chance to try them out yet. They are calling me, however, the boxes I'm building are calling louder. Or maybe that's my wife saying "Those boxes need to be finished."

 

[NittanyLion]

On the Grizzly or Vicmark, you cab drill with standard jaws. Just turn round and use the back lip on the jaws to grip the blank. I prefer my collet chuck though.

 

[toddlajoie]

Never tried the standard jaws, but the Nova Pen Plus Jaws are WELL worth the investment...

 

[Argo13]

I drill with the nova pen plus jaws. Before that I used the spigot jaws with good results but the pen plus jaws give much more support because the are longer and the grip on the blank is more secure.

You could definitely start with the jaws you have and see.

 

[Dick Mahany]

I use the Oneway spigot jaws on my chuck and they work great. For round or square blanks, I chuck on the sides. If the blanks are rectangular, I just chuck across one of the diagonals and leave two jaws floating.

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

I got some dedicated jaws for my Barracuda 2. They work OK but I've found I get best results with a very square blank which spins true. If I'm trying to drill a warped or twisted wood blank, it just won't work properly. So I have to true up blanks first (which can be an issue). I get just as good results with my drill press and blank holding jig.

 

[Quality Pen]

I drill with the nova pen plus jaws. Before that I used the spigot jaws with good results but the pen plus jaws give much more support because the are longer and the grip on the blank is more secure.

You could definitely start with the jaws you have and see.

those are what I used... the nova came up over and over in my search. rather than try to save a few bucks I spent it on quality and I am very happy with it. nova chuck plus those pen jaws work really well for me once I learned how to properly drill on the lathe.

 

[Phillip Kelley]

To each....

I have a Barracuda 2 with mulitple Jaws & always use the smaller set to drill my blanks on. I find that the holes are more accurate that way (centered & concentric with the brass tube). I try to make sure that my blanks are square to begin with; & that aids in the accuracy & drilling process considerably because you can get even pressure on the 4 contact surfaces. Even if you have a segmented blank & it isn't quite square or straight you can tighten gently & drill slowly to make sure that the blanks dont blow apart. Extra glue, re-inforcing the sides with epoxy, or even attaching popsicle sticks to the sides will help with that problem...Caution! Some lathes, my old Jet included, may not hold the Jacobs chuck securely, so from a safety stand point, be sure & hold on to the chuck as you back the bit out of the blank. Recently there was a post that showed how to add a set screw to the quill of the tailstock to solve this problem. this is something that I am going to do to add that extra degree of safety to my drilling process... The only item that I have had to drill with a hand drill has been a crooked piece of antler, but that is an exception... To each his own...You have got to find what works best for you..