Lathe as a Drill, what speed? + a dangerous learning experience.

[Chris Huybregts]

Hey guys,
Well, one week with the lathe and wow, I've learned a ton! And wow, I've learned a lot of what not to do! (for example, when testing the sharpness of your freshly ground skew, be sure to dunk it in water first to cool it off...ouch!) I'm definitely looking forward to the CTWA meeting next week to get some pointers :)

Anyway, to my real question, what speed do you guys set the lathe to when using it as a drill press?

Today I had a nice wakeup call. One of the pen blanks I was drilling wasn't perfectly square so the 25mm chuck that was holding it only really gripped it on 2 sides. The Wood vibrated, i kind of was shocked so withdrew the tailstock (I know... should have instantly turned off the lathe) which caused the wood to bite down on the bit, which grabbed the Jacob's chuck and threw it against the wall and it also broke the bit.

So, what I learned was, probably should drill at the lowest setting (500rpm on my jet 1014i), When things go wrong, always turn off the lathe, and finally, a full face shield is a worth while investment!

In a way, it's embarrassing to share a story like this as I "should" be smarter than that, I think for me it's the "new hobby honeymoon" phase that is causing me to not think everything 100% through. After that incident though... wow, yeah, I will definitely be focusing more on the whole process/contingency plans as oppose to just getting it done.

Chris

[Rick Huelsbeck]

I'd of messed up my perty face if it weren't for mine on many occasions :D:D:D:D

[Steve Schlumpf]

Glad you weren't hurt! Agree with Rick - be sure to wear your faceshield! Stuff happens even when you have done everything right!

[Brodie Brickey]

1) Face Shield
2) when you use a jacobs chuck the MT connector fits in the tailstock. Then use the hand wheel to advance the tailstock. This allows the MT on the jacobs chuck to seat completely. It sounds like you started to back out the chuck only to find out the MT was also unseating.

[Gordon Thompson]

I was watching podcast #26 from this page (pen turning)

http://www.woodworkingonline.com/category/podcast/page/2

and he used a lathe for drilling one of his blanks. he put the chuck and bit in the headstock. tapped a spur center into the blank, and put that into the tailstock.

used his hand to hold the blank while drilling.....

[Jim Underwood]

What speed?

He said slow speed. But tell me this; what happens if the blank splits?:eek:

It won't matter if it's 50 RPM or 500 RPM, your fingers are still into the drill bit as it's spinning.....

I'm not fond of this idea.

The other thing is that if you have a chuck in the headstock, you probably should have one with a drawbolt to keep it in the headstock - as you found out.

[Mark Hubl]

There is also a vid on the WOOD site that the author/presenter uses the headstock for the drillbit/chuck and holds blank with hand and tailstock. He is drilling blank for screwdriver kit. I have not done alot of drilling on my lathe, but I prefer the tailstock method. Seems like the other method adds some extra bad voodoo.

[Bill White]

Chuck in the tailstock in this shop.
Bill

[Curt Fuller]

About the only time you should use a MT Jacobs chuck in the head stock for drilling is if it has been drilled and tapped for a draw bar. When you buy a jacobs chuck some are already drilled and tapped, some aren't. To make a draw bar just get a piece of threaded rod (they're usually 1/4" coarse thread), and thread it into the morse taper, slide it through the hollow spindle, put a washer and nut on the other end and tighten it to hold the chuck snug in the spindle. Without a drawbar, the vibration will often cause the morse taper to work loose and the result will be what Chris experienced if there's nothing to hold the chuck in the spindle.

Chris I don't make many pens, but I do drill on the lathe a lot. When I do I hold the wood in the jaws of a chuck and use the jacobs chuck in the tailstock to hold the bit. Then turn the wheel to drill into the blank. Even then be careful backing the drill bit out of the wood because it can pull the jacobs chuck out of the tailstock too. I hold onto the jacobs chuck with one hand holding it tight in the tailstock while turning the wheel with the other hand to back it out. If your lathe doesn't have enough travel in the quill of the tailstock you might have to drill part way, then slide the tailstock closer and drill the rest of the way.

Also, slow speed to prevent the bit and wood from getting too hot and cracking the pen blank. Drill a ways, back out to let the bit clean out and drill some more.

[Jim Becker]

What Curt said in his first paragraph....a draw bolt is really a best practice for both safety and quality results.

[Chris Huybregts]

Hey guys, thanks for the suggestions, to reiterate though, the jacob's chuck was in the tail stock. How Brodie described it in "2." is how I was using it, the problem came that the wood in the chuck shifted as it was too small to be gripped by all 4 jaws, I then pulled the tailstock back without first turning off the lathe, which caused the wood to grip the bit which yanked the jacobs chuck out of the tailstock.

In the future, i'll definitely be using the slowest speed when using that setup!

[Allen Neighbors]

I usually drill with the chuck in the tailstock, and at about 6-800 rpm. Advance 1/2" then back out to clear the chips, then drill some more. Never had one come out, but I do hold the chuck when drilling. But I don't drill my pen blanks on the lathe.
I made an adapter to hold the pen blanks, and drill them on the drill press. That way I don't have to keep removing and remounting the pen arbor.
I'm a professional, of course... I've turned probably as many as 8 pens now. :D