Drilling toll handles?

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H

hanau

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thomasville, nc, USA.
Anyone have any recommendation on how they drill tool handles?

Trying to make a tool handle, but every time i mess up on the drilling.
I have a mini lathe so the handle and drill bit are to long when drilling.
Don't have a good way to stand it up on the drill press.
 
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I drilled mine on a drill press. Turn the table sideways and clamp the blank to it. That will hold it steady. If your drill press is too small see if u can rotate the top so the drill hangs over the base.

Dave
 
Two suggestions - both require that you have a scroll chuck.

Method one: can produce a handle as long as the between-center length of your lathe. First turn the handle blank between centers, to put a tenon on the end opposite the ferrule end. Then, remove the tailstock from your lathe, and mount the blank in your chuck. Center as best you can (you won't have the tailstock to help align the blank in the chuck). Then, hand-holding the jacobs chuck with the drill bit, drill the hole. I suggest drilling in steps starting with a fairly small bit because that would be easier to keep centered, and then increase bit sizes in small increments until you get to the final size you need. Use standard twist bits - not brad point, spade bits or forstner bits. Drilling the first hole will be the challenge, but it should center reasonably well. Subsequent drillings just expand the size of the hole, and standard twist bits will center in a smaller hole.

Method two: more work, but you can create a handle of any length you want. Turn the handle in sections, putting a tenon of each section that you then glue into a mortise glued into the end of the next section. Obviously, the sections can't be longer than the maximum length you can mount on your lathe when using a scroll chuck on the headstock and a jacobs chuck in the headstock. You would probably want to design the handle to either have a pronounced discontinuity (a bead or a cove) at the point where you join sections, or else to turn the diameters at the mating tenons/mortise ends as closely as possible, and then after gluing everything together, mount the finished handle in your scroll chuck and spin on your lathe without the tailstock while you sand those joints smooth.
 
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I have basically done the same thing as monophoto, but I do chuck my drill chuck and use a centering drill. I turn it rather slow at first, because the handle is not well centered and I loosley guide the handle to where it should be and then plunge the drill starter into the piece. I then repeat it a couple of time until I am at size.

The second way I have done it is drill the hole before I turn anything, and take a bolt and grind it to a beveled-chiseled point, chuck that in a drill chuck, put that in the head stock, drive it into the hole, use a revolving center in the tailstock, and turn it to completion that way.
Just my two cents...
Mike
 
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thanks all didn't think about holding the chuck with the drill bit.
Think I am going to build a steady rest hopefully so it will keep it center.

If that doesn't work I will tuning the drill press table.
 
A drill press vice might help too. I use one when I need a straight hole drilled but I use my lathe for drilling in pen blanks and other types of handles and bottle stoppers and things of that nature. Good luck Fay
 
When I took a class with a pro turner the procedure he showed us was to turn the handle between centers, including cutting the feral section. Then take the handle off of the lathe and install the press fit feral. Then put the correct size drill (for your application) into a Jacobs chuck and put that into the headstock spindle.

Hold your new tool handle by hand and bring it into the spinning drill bit in the headstock. You may be surprised at how accurate this is.

When I first saw him demonstrate the technique I didn't think the hole would be straight down the center but it turned out perfect. I've used this method many times and it always has worked for me.

Happy turning
Tom
 
What type of tool? How deep are you attempting to drill? I pretty much drill everything on the lathe these days (unless I'm drilling a hole in a flat object, then I use the drill press). I use a scroll chuck on the headstock, Jacobs chuck in the tailstock. You don't HAVE to go terribly deep for a tool handle. I usually drill the hole, epoxy in the metal rod (or whatever you are inserting), then pin or glue a collar in place, usually a cut piece of copper or steel pipe...
 
Holding the piece by hand and guiding it into the head or tail stock sounds wierd, but I have had good luck doing that, and it really isn't hard. I have never missed the mark, the key is having the drill bit very close to the handle, like a 1/8 or less, and be ready to plunge as soon as you turn the lathe on. Make sure you work your way to a bigger hole though...don't start at 1/2". That's why I use a centering drill, it is easy to get centered and leaves a 1/4 hole or so. Just like Hamturns, I saw it demonstrated and had my doubts too, but it works great....you can do it.
Mike
 
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moke said:
Holding the piece by hand and guiding it into the head or tail stock sounds wierd, but I have had good luck doing that, and it really isn't hard. I have never missed the mark, the key is having the drill bit very close to the handle, like a 1/8 or less, and be ready to plunge as soon as you turn the lathe on. Make sure you work your way to a bigger hole though...don't start at 1/2". That's why I use a centering drill, it is easy to get centered and leaves a 1/4 hole or so. Just like Hamturns, I saw it demonstrated and had my doubts too, but it works great....you can do it.
Mike
Click to expand...


I had 24 handles to make, I did mine this way, the exception was I made a V sled, that the tool handle laid in. The sled/guide was about 8 inches long but it helped to keep the handles centered and level. When finished all 24 handles look almost the same and the chisels were perfectly centered.
 
i used to have a mini lathe so had the same problem as you. Here's what I did with pretty good success:

Make sure the wood is square.
Then I stacked 2 12" wood clamps holding the wood.
I clamped the wood clamps to the drill press table.

Note that I have a floor drill press though. My main issue had been getting the drill press table perfectly level. I drill on the lathe now since I went to a Jet 1221vs.
 
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