Tools needed for lathe drilling

BuckeyeDennis · Post by **BuckeyeDennis** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 5:45 pm

whitehat1994 wrote:[ATTACH]26370[/ATTACH]
These are what I thought might work for lathe pen blank drilling

Here's a thread about this exact topic, which discusses a device that looks similar to the pic you posted. It also contains a link to yet another thread with a shop-made pen-drilling jig.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:01 pm

BuckeyeDennis wrote:Here's a thread about this exact topic, which discusses a device that looks similar to the pic you posted. It also contains a link to yet another thread with a shop-made pen-drilling jig.

Also if ya scroll down to the VERY BOTTOM of a thread. You may find related threads.

ibskot · Post by **ibskot** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:23 pm

beeg wrote:Also if ya scroll down to the VERY BOTTOM of a thread. You may find related threads.

Well ain't that a cool trick. Thanks.

reible · Post by **reible** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:47 pm

My current method makes use of the following parts.

A Nova G3 chuck
Set of "pen jaws"
The shopsmith MT2 (tail stock) to 5/8" adapter
A shopsmith drill chuck
A drill bit of the size needed (Fisch 7mm in this case)

[ATTACH]26371[/ATTACH]

Next we have the jaws mounted, and the drill chuck mounted on the adapter.

[ATTACH]26372[/ATTACH]

This is what the blank looks like when mounted in the jaws.

[ATTACH]26373[/ATTACH]

When mounted and ready to drill it looks like this:

[ATTACH]26374[/ATTACH]

My pen turning has evolved, this is now my favorite way to drill the blanks and that was from the first time I used it until current day. No desire to go to any other method because this works so well.

Of course you need to align the tail stock before using etc etc. Since I do groups of pens, say 10 to 12 at a time I do all the drilling of the 20 to 24 pieces (two piece pens) at a time. By locating the headstock position so that allows the blanks to be removed and added without messing with the drill or the headstock location saves a lot of time.

Ed

S Brian · Post by **S Brian** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:30 pm

If you want to do any turning besides pens, you could invest in a Nova G3 scroll chuck, with the appropriate adapter for the 5'8" diameter shaft and buy their pen drilling jaws. SS occasionally has the chuck on sale or you can buy it at Amazon for $140 (http://www.amazon.com/WOODLATHE-CHUCK-W ... a+g3+chuck) plus $39 for the pen jaws. The chuck that Whitehat1994 shows is sold by Penn State Industries for $80, but it can only be used to drill pen blanks.

S Brian · Post by **S Brian** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:35 pm

Oops - I posted without looking at page 2 and wrote basically what Reible showed in his pictures.

whitehat1994 · Post by **whitehat1994** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 12:47 pm

Excellent replies! Thank you all!

whitehat1994 · Post by **whitehat1994** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 12:49 pm

So the Nova Chuck uses a set screw to attach to the headstock?

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 12:57 pm

whitehat1994 wrote:So the Nova Chuck uses a set screw to attach to the headstock?

The Nova chuck has a body which can be used on a lot of lathes, this is done by using an adapter. So when you buy the chuck you need to buy a shopsmith adapter (not a 5/8" adapter as it will have a straight set screw where as the shopsmith version will have the set screw at an angle to match the shopsmith shaft). That set screw is how it attaches.

Ed

drl · Post by **drl** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 5:19 pm

What you posted at 3:49 yesterday is the setup I use and have found to be the best at getting centered holes in a pen blank for me. I just finished a run of 27 pens using the above methold with great results. I have found that 7 mm bits can wander in hardwood blanks with crazy grain running through them. Use sharp bits, higher speed, feed slow, and clear the chips often.

Regards,
Dwight