Want To Use Lathe To Drill Holes

[StephenM]

So I want to make a couple of Celtic Knot pens for my nephew and his new wife. My drill press (Delta) won't drill a perfectly parallel hole so I want to use the lathe.

Being a basic newbie to the lathe, what do I need to hold the pen blank? (I already have a Jacobs chuck for the bit.) I have a Rikon mini lathe and don't want to spend a fortune on something) Also, do I want to put the Jacobs chuck in the head stock so the bit is turning or do I want the blank turning?

Thanks.

 

[bensoelberg]

Until I got my collet chuck, I used the pin jaws that came with my Nova G3 4 jaw chuck. Jacobs chuck in the tailstock.

 

[JimB]

You put the jacobs chuck with drill bit in the tailstock.

 

[fireangels]

I have the same rikon lathe...I put the jacobs chuck in the tail stock and the blank in my nova chuck and let the blank spin...have had no problems dead center of the blank every time

 

[Lenny]

Since you said you are pretty new to this I am going to assume that just maybe you don't have a Nova (or other brand) chuck .... ???

If you don't .... and I know you said you don't want to spend a fortune ..:tongue::biggrin: (somewhere in the back there are a bunch of people giggling and thinking "man, did he pick the wrong hobby).... there are some other options....

1. The already mentioned Nova chuck (or the many other brands) preferably with the pin jaws. This is a great option IF you eventually want to do bowl turning.

2. Perhaps a better option as far as pen turning specific .... a collet chuck. Look at the PSI or CSUSA model ... right around $80 and comes with enough collets to get you started. I know you don't want to spend the money but you will be glad you did!

3. The Pen Blank chuck ... or something like that ... from PSI. A little cheaper option ... you will be able to drill pen blanks with it but someday you will wish you had just used the money towards buying option 1 or 2.

 

[JasonJ]

I have the pen blank chuck that PSI sells and it does a good job. A little limited to just pens though due to the max travel of the jaws. If you are wanting to do a lot of work that requires dead center drilling it'll be a good investment, and not as expensive as a Nova chuck or similar, although those are more versatile.

One more note...the pen blank chuck is a little easier than the collet chuck because you don't need to round the blank prior to drilling. The blank doesn't even have to be square to use the pen chuck.

 

[StephenM]

Since you said you are pretty new to this I am going to assume that just maybe you don't have a Nova (or other brand) chuck .... ???

If you don't .... and I know you said you don't want to spend a fortune ..:tongue::biggrin: (somewhere in the back there are a bunch of people giggling and thinking "man, did he pick the wrong hobby).... there are some other options....

Sold my saltwater reef to buy the lathe. Talk about an expensive hobby...

1. The already mentioned Nova chuck (or the many other brands) preferably with the pin jaws. This is a great option IF you eventually want to do bowl turning.

2. Perhaps a better option as far as pen turning specific .... a collet chuck. Look at the PSI or CSUSA model ... right around $80 and comes with enough collets to get you started. I know you don't want to spend the money but you will be glad you did!

3. The Pen Blank chuck ... or something like that ... from PSI. A little cheaper option ... you will be able to drill pen blanks with it but someday you will wish you had just used the money towards buying option 1 or 2.

I've been doing woodworking long enough to know that it's best just to cry once. I'll probably just suck it up then and buy a Nova. Do I have to have the pin jaws or will the out of the box Nova (with a 1" x 8tpi insert) work well enough? I don't want to say I won't be doing bowl turning someday because for 25 years I swore that I'd never own a lathe...:biggrin:

 

[Parson]

Stephen, I had a 150 gallon reef tank for many years. Just sold it for a pittance of what I had in it.

Wood River makes a nice budget chuck with replaceable jaws. I bought the chuck and pin jaws at WoodCraft. Might be cheaper than a Nova.

... certainly cheaper than a chiller or even replacement MH lamps for your old tank!

(not funny, I know...)

 

[Displaced Canadian]

I just started drilling on a lathe and I bought the small PSI chuck and the pen drilling jaws. The set up works very well You could probably hold a blank with the longest set of jaws but I like the security of the 2" long pen jaws. When you drill on a lathe it takes longer to drill than with a drill press. Even it you drill on a lathe you can still drill too big a hole into the wrong side of a Jeff Powell blank DAMHIKT.

 

[76winger]

One thing I keep wondering about when I see people talking about their drill press is a couple questions about the drill press itself before just going the route of drilling on the lathe:

1. For one, do you have one the cheap flimsy little tabletop models that aren't worth the metal they're made from or do you have a much better and beefier floor standing model (Some tabletops can be big & beefy too, but you don't see many of them these days)? My own drill is of the later but it's still a cheaper Craftsman model, yet I don't seem experience near as much drill drift as what I see discussed in many threads in these forums. I can't say never, but it does seem to be a very rare occasion.
2. Second, I wonder if those who have problems have ever checked to ensure the table is square to the a mounted drill bit. This is easy enough to check any combination square or machinists square. Be sure to check side to side and front to back... There's usually a means under the table to loosen it and make at least side to side adjustments if not both ways. Even a new drill needs to have this checked and most likely set. This one might even get you drilling straighter with no extra cost, so it's worth checking!
3. What style of drill bits are being used and are properly sharpened? Brad point and bullet point bits tend to drill straighter through would than standard tipped bits, although they're also more challenging to sharpen when the time comes. I also believe this trait of less wandering would be true whether you use a drill press or lathe for the drilling.
4. What are you using to hold the blank while drilling it? And is tightly secured so it won't move around? And does it hold the blank perfectly parallel to the drill bit?
5. Are you easing the drill up and down as you drill through the material or just plowing though till you break through the other end? The former action keeps the hole clearer, reduces heat buildup and usually ends up with a straighter hole to boot!
6. And finally are all the sides of the blank parallel with each other along the sides and square at the ends?

Now some of those may be more obvious than others. But I just wanted to run down this list because I always see recommendations that go straight to drilling with the lathe and very few mentions of checking out and tuning up the equipment you already have. It's always cheaper to make sure what you have is working properly before branching off and buying new stuff to try and solve your problem.

I also find it handier to be able to use each tool for its purpose and not have to reconfigure all the time. It's one of the reasons I invested in a dedicated drill press instead of switching my Shopsmith back and forth between drill mode and whatever else I'm using it for on the project at hand.

Those are some of my thoughts, and their worth every penny you paid for them! :tongue::biggrin::wink:

 

[76winger]

Stephen, I had a 150 gallon reef tank for many years. Just sold it for a pittance of what I had in it.

Wood River makes a nice budget chuck with replaceable jaws. I bought the chuck and pin jaws at WoodCraft. Might be cheaper than a Nova.

... certainly cheaper than a chiller or even replacement MH lamps for your old tank!

(not funny, I know...)

Oh yeah, I like aquariums too. I still maintain a 75 gallon freshwater Discus tank.

 

[StephenM]

One thing I keep wondering about when I see people talking about their drill press is a couple questions about the drill press itself before just going the route of drilling on the lathe:

1. For one, do you have one the cheap flimsy little tabletop models that aren't worth the metal they're made from or do you have a much better and beefier floor standing model (Some tabletops can be big & beefy too, but you don't see many of them these days)? My own drill is of the later but it's still a cheaper Craftsman model, yet I don't seem experience near as much drill drift as what I see discussed in many threads in these forums. I can't say never, but it does seem to be a very rare occasion.

1. 12" Delta Bench Top Model 25 years old or so - cast iron (one of the first power tools I bought)

   [*] Second, I wonder if those who have problems have ever checked to ensure the table is square to the a mounted drill bit. This is easy enough to check any combination square or machinists square. Be sure to check side to side and front to back... There's usually a means under the table to loosen it and make at least side to side adjustments if not both ways. Even a new drill needs to have this checked and most likely set. This one might even get you drilling straighter with no extra cost, so it's worth checking!

   Yep, checked and adjusted everything before I started doing this.

   [*] What style of drill bits are being used and are properly sharpened? Brad point and bullet point bits tend to drill straighter through would than standard tipped bits, although they're also more challenging to sharpen when the time comes. I also believe this trait of less wandering would be true whether you use a drill press or lathe for the drilling.

   Bullet tips - happens even when they're brand new .

   [*] What are you using to hold the blank while drilling it? And is tightly secured so it won't move around? And does it hold the blank perfectly parallel to the drill bit?

   I've tried a number of different clamps, jigs etc. but they go in the X at the top and never seem to come out the X on the bottom

   [*]Are you easing the drill up and down as you drill through the material or just plowing though till you break through the other end? The former action keeps the hole clearer, reduces heat buildup and usually ends up with a straighter hole to boot!

   Yep - drill and clear, drill and clear, drill and clear.

   [*]And finally are all the sides of the blank parallel with each other along the sides and square at the ends?

   Yep - did lots of practice blanks when I started out and made sure everything was square/parallel on all 6 sides. I've tried drilling half way through, flipping and drilling again but the holes don't meet perfectly so the tubes don't slide in. Could be runout that I've never noticed because I never had to be that picky with it. Would runout cause that or just make larger holes? Regardless, the bit is parallel to the table no matter where I place the square. Also did a lot of mortising with it so that may have done something to the precision. It's good enough for doing Euros but it's going to cause problems with Knots from what I understand.

Now some of those may be more obvious than others. But I just wanted to run down this list because I always see recommendations that go straight to drilling with the lathe and very few mentions of checking out and tuning up the equipment you already have. It's always cheaper to make sure what you have is working properly before branching off and buying new stuff to try and solve your problem.

I also find it handier to be able to use each tool for its purpose and not have to reconfigure all the time. It's one of the reasons I invested in a dedicated drill press instead of switching my Shopsmith back and forth between drill mode and whatever else I'm using it for on the project at hand.

Those are some of my thoughts, and their worth every penny you paid for them! :tongue::biggrin::wink:

I completely agree. I'll still use the drill press for the standard Euro but need more precision for the Knots. Drilling on the lathe will probably be cheaper in the long run than getting a new drill press as I can use the arbor for bowls, etc. so it spreads the cost.

(Still have a 65 gallon South American Biotope - actually just Jack Dempseys now as they grew up and ate everything else :wink