Centering holes before turning between centers

[Joe Hillmann]

At the moment I am trying to figure out how to hold a work piece in the lathe so I can center drill it so I can turn it between 60degree centers and I do not have a chuck to hold it in.

The reason I want the center holes perfectly centered is because the work piece is a piece of oil hard drill rod which is very hard to turn by hand (I am using a graver to turn it which is similar to a parting tool just harder) so the closer I get it to center the less truing up I have to do makes it much easier.


I am thinking possibly mounting a block of wood to the faceplate and turning it into a collet that tightens with a hose clamp and building a steady rest to support the other end but figure there is some obvious way to do this that I am missing, which there must be since lathes have been around for thousands of years and chucks and cross slides have only been around for a couple hundred.


Any advice would be appreciated.

[Dennis Ford]

If the drill rod is small enough to fit through the headstock; a collet would be the preferred method. If it is too big to fit through the headstock, a steady rest will be needed if it is very long. Getting the steady rest aligned right will be a tedious job. You might consider making a jig that fits tightly over the drill rod and has a center hole for a drill guide. Then the center drilling could be done off the lathe.

[Reed Gray]

Are you trying to drill the drill rod, or a handle to put the drill rod in. I know there is a metal shape available that has centered holes in it, and I got some 1 1/2 inch thick with a 3/4 hole through it but can't remember what it is called. Sounds like that might be more simple. Another way would be to turn a morris taper on a piece of wood, use the tailstock and a jacobs chuck to drill a centered hole in it, then insert the metal. Still wouldn't be as accurate as some thing from the local metal supplier.

robo hippy

[Joe Hillmann]

I am actually turning the drill rod, to make Morris tapers so I can mount jacobs chucks and make drill pads, in the future for making mandrels out of threaded rod which will have to be perfectly centered since I can true it up without damaging the threads.

[john taliaferro]

cheaper to get them from grizzles for a few $ than have one slip in the headstock and mess up the taper like i did.

[James Roberts]

+1 what john said. You probably have more $ invested in the drill rod than you would spend for a few Morse tapers. Add to that the possibility you could screw up the taper in your spindle and the cost that would entail. Cut your loses and eliminate the headaches and get some from Grizzly.

[Joe Hillmann]

Cheap is a matter of perspective. At this point I can either make my own tools or I can't afford to turn (I spent $3.50 yesterday on a left hand nut and felt that was pushing the limit on what I can afford to spend on this hobby). Also with a sine bar and some fine sharpening stones I am pretty sure I can get the taper perfect so I am not at all worried about damaging the head stock and if I do I can always ream it out and start over.

[Marvin Hasenak]

2MT blank arbors are about $13 at Little Machine Shop, if you mess up the MT in your headstock with a homemade version it will cost at a minimum a $100, and more like likely $200 or more. If you go to Little Machine Shop and search "2MT arbor" you will find all kinds of goodies, some cheap and some expensive but all will be usable and get the job done.