What NOT to do with your Drill Chuck!

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MartinPens

MartinPens

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Medford, Oregon, USA
I got in a hurry one day - a customer wanted to meet for coffee and see some acrylic blanks to choose from. I wanted to round them out so he could get a sense of what they would look like rounded. Instead of putting them between centers and rounding them out I just threw them on the Drill Chuck, clamped them down on the end and rounded about 3/4 of each blank.

Well, some of the work I do requires precise drilling to line up the grain or "lines" perfectly and doing this with the Drill Chuck did really messed it up. The jaws now have a lot of play in them and when I insert a blank for drilling all the way in on the jaws, it's really only tightly grabbed by the jaws closest to the headstock. I can wiggle the blank out near the end of the jaws.

This is a $75 chuck. I know it makes common sense to me now, but it didn't seem to matter to me when I was in a hurry. It will still work for a general kit pen, but I had to order a new one for use with precision projects. Uhhg!:mad:

Don't do what you see in the photo! Hope this saves someone else $75

Martin
 

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Well, ok then! Glad I haven't tried that yet...can't say that it hasn't crossed my mind though.
 
I thought this was going to be one of those, "I-chucked-my-drill-chuck-across-the-shop-and-it's-stuck-in-a-wall" topics....whew!

No way of being able to get the 'sloppy' out?





Scott (expensive lesson) B
 
I don't think so. I think I definitely bent something. I ordered and received a new one and it's tight! No play. So I definitely screwed it up. They are made for drilling, not for turning!

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That is a lot of money but doing the precision work that you do it is worth it I'm sure. If I could make a pen as classy as yours I would look at one of those chucks. May I ask who sells them? I have my little stash of pen blanks that I do NOT want to drill on a drill press so I am trying to learn how to drill on my lathe. Thanks for the tips.
 
Well Martin look at the bright side. $75 is pretty cheap compared to what an injury could have cost you. So lesson learned, you are still turning and now have another DAMHIKT to your repertoire.
 
I have a cheap HF drill press and it only has 2" quill travel, which is not good for drilling blanks. I have done it, but PITA. I bought a PSI dedicated pen blank chuck like the one pictured. I get great results even in blanks I cut from boards or spindles and even a broken splitting maul handle. Slower than a drill press, but worth it if like me you have a low end drill press.
 
dgerwin11 said:
I have a cheap HF drill press and it only has 2" quill travel, which is not good for drilling blanks. I have done it, but PITA. I bought a PSI dedicated pen blank chuck like the one pictured. I get great results even in blanks I cut from boards or spindles and even a broken splitting maul handle. Slower than a drill press, but worth it if like me you have a low end drill press.
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I think I have the same drill press. I use it for all of my blank drilling. I can even drill out an entire one-piece Slimline barrel on it. In all fairness, it was really a pain to get enough practice on it to make it a good tool. Now I can eyeball to almost perfect dead center on most of my blanks.
 
Linarestribe said:
At times on a drill press there seems to be some wondering of the drill. Do you find less wondering with this setup?

Jorge
Click to expand...

There is little to no wandering. Preceding the drilling with some sort of starter hole is needed. Again - for general kit turning there might not be much of a gain, but when you get into some segmented work and work that involves recessing with two different bit widths, this is a good option. I do most of my work standing right in front of the lathe and I don't walk around a lot. All my tools and everything I need to do to is right there at the lathe from start to finish for the most part. Convenient.

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I have the same problem with my PSI chuck. HOWEVER, I have to take the blame. Something about RTDM! :mad: I just started out using the chuck and didn't put the blank all the way in (kinda like your picture). It appears to have bent the jaws. i still use it, with the blank all the way in and the jaws seem to hold it adequately if I really crank the jaws tight and the hole is drilled accurately. But I'm sure they are weaker than they should be. As long as they hold when I bottom out the blanks I'll keep using it. The chuck is a great idea and still beats drilling on a drill press. +1 on drilling a starter hole, too. HF has good cheap starter bits. Give it a chance if it still grips.
gordon
 
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I prefer to turn my blanks to 3/4" diameter and use my collet chuck to hold them. I cut them to length, drill one end a little over half way and then reverse it to drill the other half. No blowouts and never a problem with the bit wandering, and the cost of the collet is about the same as the "specialized" chuck that has limited uses, while the collet chuck has multiple uses.
 
MartinPens said:
but when you get into some segmented work and work that involves recessing with two different bit widths, this is a good option.

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Click to expand...

That's a good point. I've been wanting to do some closed end stuff and some need the recess for the spring.

Jorge
 
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