Quill retraction

[wkuhn]

Recently while drilling 24 pen blanks on my lathe, I was wondering why no auto quill retraction? Maybe spring loaded like a drill press or maybe motorized. That's when the light bulb appeared above my head. I grabbed my trusty inner tube a cut a 1/2 in section off, put it around the hub of my quill handwheel and put the other end into my battery drill, voila a motorized quill retracter with zero mods to my lathe. My quill traveled smoothly enough so this worked like a charm. Clean and lube your quill and give it a try next time you are drilling pen blanks. Keep in mind I did pull the tail stock and bit out of the blank before retracting.

Wayne Kuhn
Columbia, MD

 

[StephenM]

Isn't holding the drill with the correct tension and pulling the trigger more effort than turning a wheel?

 

[mikespenturningz]

I think that is a great idea!

 

[wkuhn]

Isn't holding the drill with the correct tension and pulling the trigger more effort than turning a wheel?

Absolutely not. The fine threads on the quill make retracting it 2+ inches is a pain. Holding the drill with tension is really quite easy. All I can say is try it.

 

[sbell111]

Don't you have to set up the drill/band combo every time?

It kind of seems like the solution is more complicated than the problem, but I'm glad that it's working for you.