Use Drilling vise when drilling on lathe?

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Dan Masshardt

Dan Masshardt

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So I drill on the lathe and I'm very happy with the method.

But I won a Huffman vise in a bash

Does anyone who drills on the lathe also use a drill press for some blanks?

Trying to think through it.
 
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I would think it would be terribly unballanced on the lathe....:biggrin:

but to answer your question, once I started drilling on the lathe, my drill press is lonely.. I mainly only use it for the barrel trimmer now...
 
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It would depend on the situation. I just started drilling in the lathe, so far I like it. However I'm going to let the situation decide; If i'm drilling a wood blank that is warped I'll use the drill press, if I have a blank that is straight I would use the lathe. Hope that helps you out.
 
I use my Huffman vise (which I also won years ago ) :biggrin: to centre drill all my non-round blanks. Then they go to the lathe to be turned between centres. Only then do they get drilled ( on the lathe )
 
I haven't done any antler but I could see a vise being useful for a curved antler piece. Maybe segmented? I haven't used my vise since I started drilling on the lathe but I have a pretty inexpensive vise as well. May be good to hold onto....maybe a good trade item but it's hard to get rid of nice tools even when you don't use them :smile:
 
In all seriousness I think that it is better to drill segmented on the lathe. When I do a segmented one I center it on each end and then turn it round before drilling. Then I can drill really straight through. When I drill segmented on the drill press it is slightly off. I can pretty much count on the lathe being straight.
 
I only use the drill press to drill
my blanks.....I have a vise that
centers the blank after the first set up
 
While I agree drilling on the lathe will give you excellent results, you can achieve the same results with the Paul Huffman vise once set up. Most have only one lathe and you have to set up the lathe for drilling each time you drill and then take it apart to turn. If you set up the vise and most of your drilling on your press is pen related you simply leave it set up so now you've saved the steps of set-up and tear down. I have not moved my vise in 4 years as I only use my press to drill blanks and 99 % of my blanks are man made materials. .
 
I drill by both methods. I find the drill press/ H. vise to be a little faster vs the lathe method. So for any blank where there is no worries about blow out, etc., I go to the drill press. Also, when a offset from centerline is desired, it can easily be done using the vise(shim in the vise or move the vise). The remainder are done on lathe. I really like having both options.
 
Like you, once I started drilling on the lathe, I never went back. I use my drill press to trim, and to drill brass/alum sheets for simple segmenting operations only.

Oh, and to drill the odd hole on misc projects every now and again...:biggrin:

Edit: Just looked up the vise to see what it is. Looks pretty cool, but I use my press enough that I wouldn't want to set it up each time. Might be worth it to pick up another bench drill press and dedicate to the vise though, if you were set on using it. But for me, I have no reason to change my method of drilling on the lathe.
 
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I will do it both ways. Mostly I use my Shop Smith drill press with a higher end centering vice. The reason I do this, is that the Shop Smith has a double tube system that the motor slides on, and is much more ridgid than a single tube drill press would be. Also I am to lazy to go to the other side of the shop to set up one of my other lathes. As was mentioned before, the vice comes in handy for drilling curved antlers and also for drilling blanks at odd angles to get the best grain pattern. I would hang unto it, it will come in handy for some applications that can't be done on a lathe. I do use my lathe to drill complex segmented blanks that need to be dead center. Jim S
 
gimpy said:
I only use the drill press to drill
my blanks.....I have a vise that
centers the blank after the first set up
Click to expand...

Only if the blanks are square!!! If they are a rectangle, do not have parallel sides, or have a slight taper, one set of corners, measured point to point, will be longer than the other, thus changing your center point. You should always mark your centers and check the drill point when switching from blank to blank, unless you know they are perfectly square. Jim S
 
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Dan Masshardt said:
What about segmented blanks?

Anybody prefer to drill them on drill press?
Click to expand...

I was just thinking about this and realized that in my case, around 95% of all my segmented pens are / were segmented on the lathe.
This makes it idiot proof when it comes to drilling down the exact middle:biggrin:
The blank is made in the lathe and then drilled while it's still in the chuck.
The centre of the blank is the reference for both the segmenting and the drilling.

Most of my segmented blanks have big sticky-out bits whilst they're being made and this is the best way ( for me, anyway ) to control them. Any of my Pool Cue pens or scalloped pens are good examples, if you can remember them. :wink:
 
I use a hoffman vise except when I have a blank that has very little room for error. Note that I have started doing a center drill first before I drill and the drill wanders a alot less (unless you use brad points which I have pretty much stopped using). It is the great for bottle stoppers and it is much fast than the lathe if which makes a difference if you have alot to drill or have to keep changing bits. It is also easier to control the depth if you are not going all the way through on the drill press and back off the drill to clear chips. Than of course you can leave your drill press set up with the vise all the time like I do and your blanks are drilled in 3-4 minutes and the lathe can also stay set up with your mandrel so that is ready to go as well. I would say that is a great prize. It is also easier to control the depth if you are not going all the way through on the drill press. For all those reason I drill 90% of my blanks on the drill press.
 
For basic blank drilling, I use the drill press and a vise. Only go to the lathe for blanks that need to be drilled dead center or especially fragile blanks. I find drilling on the drill press to be faster, so that is my first choice. Also, my lathes usually have something set up on them. If I use the drill press then I don't have to wait for a lathe to free up to get the next pen or stopper ready to go.
 
I have been drilling on the lathe for several years now and have sold my drill press as I no longer have a need for it. If anyone wants a Huffman drilling vise I am putting one in the classifieds.
 
Drill on the lathe most of the time. Use my Huffman vise for the pen mill squaring and will now use it to center drill my blanks prior to using the lathe (thanks Skiprat)! My vise stays set up on my drill press all the time.
 
Hi Dan: I use both. I found that when using a drill press, I tend to get a bit restless and really had to learn patience when drilling. Wood blanks are more forgiving and I find the increased speed of drilling them on the drill press makes it my preferred choice for that type of blank. Acrylics need to be kept cool, and I found that I do not have the urge to rush through the process when drilling on a lathe. I don't know if that's just me, or if others have experienced this.

I got a drill press before lathe drilling became popular. If I was just starting today, I am not sure if I would purchase a drill press, although I much prefer barrel trimming on a drill press over other setups.

Finally, unless space is critical, you can't have enough tools to do the things you want to do. I would never sell my drill press, as it comes in handy for so many other projects. In the same way, a vice takes up little space, but might be invaluable at some point.

I hope this helps.
 
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