Shopsmith Forums

I just use a hand screw clamp to hold the wood when drilled.

Here is my high tech solution...

cdlowboy

I drill out my pen blanks by using the SS in the horizontal boring position and put a scrap piece of wood between my fence and the pen blank and then clamp the squared up blank to the table top and having already marked the center of the blank, align the drill bit to the center and drill it out. Also use 2 pieces of wood with a "V" grove cut in them to hold the round blanks in place. Simple and inexpensive.

rkh2 wrote:cdlowboy

I drill out my pen blanks by using the SS in the horizontal boring position and put a scrap piece of wood between my fence and the pen blank and then clamp the squared up blank to the table top and having already marked the center of the blank, align the drill bit to the center and drill it out. Also use 2 pieces of wood with a "V" grove cut in them to hold the round blanks in place. Simple and inexpensive.

I have to say that I have spent many hours in drill press mode using clamps and squaring up and using a level, etc. I also have the band saw on the other end that I use to cut the blanks down to size. I recently found myself switching back and forth due to some trial and error issues with my pen making and found I was wearing myself out! After reading this post about using the horizontal boring feature I tried it out and works beautifully! It also reduced the up and down of the drill press and allowed me to keep the SS in horizontal mode. Even better....I kept the power coupler connected to the bandsaw while drilling out a blank and found that eliminated another step of having to slide the headstock band and forth. So now...I can go much faster in the fabrication process and am very happy!!!

Thanks for this forum and creative folks that think about how to approach their projects. Also saved me big bucks and can avoid buying a pen drilling vice!

Dave

james.miller wrote:I think I remember a post for a jig for drilling pen blanks. It was a V-block that was used in the horizontal boring position. If anybody knows where it is please post the link.

I think this is what you are looking for

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/penturner ... /DrillJig/

Yahoo groups penturners/files/ jigs and tools.

hope that helps:D

gk777 wrote:I think this is what you are looking for

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/penturners/files/Jigs%20and%20Tools/Drill%20Jig/DrillJig/

Yahoo groups penturners/files/ jigs and tools.

hope that helps:D

Apparently, you have to be a member to view this page. At least it did knot work for me.

davem1066 wrote:I have to say that I have spent many hours in drill press mode using clamps and squaring up and using a level, etc. I also have the band saw on the other end that I use to cut the blanks down to size. I recently found myself switching back and forth due to some trial and error issues with my pen making and found I was wearing myself out! After reading this post about using the horizontal boring feature I tried it out and works beautifully! It also reduced the up and down of the drill press and allowed me to keep the SS in horizontal mode. Even better....I kept the power coupler connected to the bandsaw while drilling out a blank and found that eliminated another step of having to slide the headstock band and forth. So now...I can go much faster in the fabrication process and am very happy!!!

Thanks for this forum and creative folks that think about how to approach their projects. Also saved me big bucks and can avoid buying a pen drilling vice!

Dave

This is the mode I use when drilling out pen blanks. However I also use the drill vise, along with the brackets, to hold the blank on the main table. It truly is a time saver versus the drill press mode. You can also use the drill vise to press the necessary parts together thereby eliminating the need for a pen vise!

BPR

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