Shopsmith Forums

Hi there-

My wife gave me a bowling pin she picked out of the trash where she works. The grand plan is to turn the pin into a table lamp. I have all the hardware to do this but I'm unsure how to drill the pin through the center. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

BPR

One option is to attach it to a lathe faceplate, then use the drill chuck in the tailstock to drill using a forstner bit. you will probably need to use an extension on the tailstock of somesort. I know woodcraft has some stuff that would work. Depending on your forstner bit, you could use standard drill extension...might not be as clean of a hole though. Its basically like boring a hole for a pepper shaker.

http://www.shopsmith.com/academy/drillpress/index.htm

Scroll down (about halfway) to the section titled "Drilling Holes Through Extra-Thick Stock"

What you will also need to do is use a standard 7/16" diameter bit (assuming you will be using 3/8" lamp pipe), and drill as far as you can. Switch to a 12" long bit and raise the table until the bit is near the bottom of the hole, then drill as far as the quill will allow. Flip the pin over, and repeat.

One way to drill the bowling pin would be to use the horizontal boring method. Assuming it's of the tenpin variety that's about 15" tall, you'll notice that it's already drilled about 3/8" diameter to a depth of about 2 1/4" in the bottom of the pin. So the bottom end already has its center marked. To locate the center on the top of the pin, mount the drill chuck on the headstock spindle with a 3/8" bit and install the lathe tailstock and center. Unplug the machine and slide the bottom of the pin onto the bit, eyeball the center on the top of the pin with the lathe center, and feed the pin into the tailstock center to mark the center of the pin.

I haven't tried this, but I'll assume that the saw table will fit under the pin so that you can make a pair of "V" blocks to support the pin for drilling. If you cut the "V" blocks from lengths of 2x4, you can clamp them to the table to hold the pin in alignment while drilling. And if you make each "V" block out two pieces of 2x4, cutting the "v" in half with the ends of each piece looking some like this "\" and this "/", you'll be able to slide the two back and forth for adjustment rather shim the "V" block to make minute adjustments.

You only need to drill a bit over three inches deep on the top of the pin for the lamp"s threaded rod, then drill the bottom using a 12" long spade bit of whatever diameter you like. Even if the holes are slightly misaligned, you'll still be able to run the electric cord through the pin. I'd start drilling the bottom using a short spade bit to better ensure the hole is aligned properly, then switch to the long bit of the same diameter. Starting with the long bit might get you way off course by the time you drill 12" into the pin. Since you'll be starting with a 3/8" hole in the bottom of the pin, you may need to start drilling the bottom with a forstner bit rather than a short spade bit.

ryanbp01 wrote:Hi there-

My wife gave me a bowling pin she picked out of the trash where she works. The grand plan is to turn the pin into a table lamp. I have all the hardware to do this but I'm unsure how to drill the pin through the center. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

BPR

How about something like this long auger? I've seen flexi-shaft augers at the big boxes for drilling through fire blocks and top plates when pulling wire. You wouldn't want one of those for this application.

In my humble opinion, the only to accurately drill a long hole (like in a lamp) is to use a "shell auger bit." It is designed to do just that function. If you want to do it on your Shopsmith, using the Horizontal Boring Method.

Here is the Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone description of the Horizontal Boring Method:
http://www.shopsmith.com/academy/horzbordowel/index.htm

and here is more information about a shell auger bit:
http://www.monsterwoodshop.com/sprialshellaugerbit.aspx

When you see the price of one of those shell auger bits, you may think twice about using one unless it's something you already own. In any event, the neck of one of those bowling tenpins is about 1 3/4" so the precision you'd get from a shell auger isn't really necessary in this instance.

In further thinking about drilling the bowling pin, there likely is a much simpler method, assuming that the Shopsmith table is square to the quill in drill press mode.

Clamp a scrap of 2x4 to the table in drill press mode and drill a hole through it using a 3/8" bit (that's the diameter of the hole in the bottom of the pin I have. If your's is different, use that size drill bit).

Install a piece of 3/8" dowel about 3 1/2" long into the hole and mount the bowling pin onto the dowel after adjusting the table and headstock so that the top of the pin can be drilled. The dowel will be aligned with the chuck and with the center of the top of the pin. While steadying the pin, drill a hole for the threaded lamp tube into the top of the pin. Drill this hole as deep as you can. Then use one of those 12" long 3/8" drill bits in a hand-held drill to drill from the bottom. (You can get a cheap set of long bits from Harbor Freight for about $10.) Because you already have a starter hole in the bottom of the pin you should be able to drill a very straight hole through the pin that meets the one you already drilled down from the top.

Again, the hole from the bottom doesn't have to be perfectly aligned as you just need to be able to pass the lamp cord through it. It is the hole in the top of the pin that needs to be drilled accurately so that the lamp socket and shade mount squarely.

Is it possible to accurately cut the pin in half? Then you could just rout or dado a groove down the center of both halves and glue them back together.

Might be easier than trying to drill a long hole.

John

I think bowling pins (the old fashion solid wood pins) were made of maple. At least that is what I seem to remember from days as a manual pin spotter (60 or so years ago). But my question: is it difficult to bore straight into the end grain of hard woods such as maple?