Drilling pen blanks

[jimthej]

[quote="tom_k/mo"]I just wanted to add a pic of my new Barracuda2 Chuck in action. What a great way to drill a pen blank, centered every time, automatically.

Sorry for all the sawdust.

This is one place you never have to say "Sorry" for sawdust!

[mbcabinetmaker]

Inspired by Toms post, I went to the shop this morning to try a similar setup. I have to say I much prefer this method and now have a lightly used pen drilling jig on CL.



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No it isn't shinny and gold.






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This is the way I rough up my tubes. I use 80 grit.


Mark

[tom_k/mo]

Mark, I'm glad you thought it worked well too. Looking at the photo of roughing up the outer surface on the tubes, looks as if you're chucking the mandrel in the drill chuck. Is that the same setup you use for turning pens or do you use the PSI mandrel made for the SS?

BTW, I was watching a YouTube video on pen turning the other night, and the man on the video said that scotch-brite or sandpaper might not get all the oil/contaminants off the outside of the tubes and he recommended giving the tubes a bath in Coca Cola for about 10 minutes, while you're cutting and drilling the blanks. While there may be an advantage in the acids of the cola removing tarnish/oils on the tubes, I still think that roughing up the surface as you're doing (or I have by hand), would help give the glue a better surface to attach to.

[mbcabinetmaker]

Tom

I have an adjustable mandrel for my big lathe that I no longer use. I just took the mandrel out and chucked it in the drill chuck. I have the SS mandrel that I use for actual turning. I'll try the coke thing and might add a bit of Jack Daniels.

Mark

[mikelst]

Tom

I have an adjustable mandrel for my big lathe that I no longer use. I just took the mandrel out and chucked it in the drill chuck. I have the SS mandrel that I use for actual turning. I'll try the coke thing and might add a bit of Jack Daniels.

Mark

Ahhh a man after my own heart.

Although I like my JD neat with the coke as a chaser.

Mike

[ryanbp01]

Anyone have any good ideas on the best way to drill out pen blanks? SS drill press or horizontal configuration? Jigs anyone has come up with to hold the blanks firmly in place ? I've tried a couple of things but still getting some unwanted movement of the blank.
As always, your help is appreciated !

bob

I like using the drill vise with a couple of T-brackets to hold it in place on the table in horizontal boring mode. But before tightening the vise in place I move the headstock with the drill chuck installed over to the table as close as possible and extend the quill the necessary length to place the bit into the vise to align the vise to the bit. Using a center finder, I draw a line across the blank from all 4 corners to find the center point of the blank. Then, when I put to blank in the vise, its just a matter of raising or lowering the table to where the center of the blank and the bit line up. This process hasn't failed me yet. Also, I would highly recommend a book, "Pen Turning" by Dick Sing for more tips.
BPR

[fjimp]

One day in the next two weeks, Two young boys who are visiting their Grandparents who are our neighbors are planning to spend a few hours turning pens in my shop. While I am teaching them I will take a few pictures of the jigs I use for cutting, drilling, setting the tubes and squaring the ends of the blanks. Given these young fellows sizes I will use mysmaller Jet lathe for turning. I learned last year with my granddaughter the smaller lathe works better for kids. Thus I won't take many if any pictures of that portion of the process. Hopefully those pictures can help us all continue to learn from each other and better explain the process I described earlier. fjimp