Drilling on the lathe

[Prashun Patel]

I am making some lathe tool handles, and need to drill the holes for the tangs.

I only have a tail stock drill chuck, so I'd need to lock the handles at the head stock and feed the bit into the handle.

What is the best way to hold a spindle on the head stock?

Drill hole for a worm screw in the bottom of the spindle? Turn a tenon on the bottom of the handle to sit in the chuck?

Neither seems as easy as using a headstock drill chuck, but alas I don't have one and likely won't use it that often. If I'm going to buy one, I might as well just buy some aluminum handles!!!

[Jamie Buxton]

Bore the tang hole in the stock before you turn it.

[Prashun Patel]

How do you bore the tang hole?

[Bob Bouis]

What's a headstock drill chuck?

What I do is turn a tenon, put the piece in a chuck with the tailstock attached, rough it round, then use a "five finger" steady rest (i.e., my hands) to hold it while I drill the hole at a slow lathe speed using a drill chuck in the tailstock. Once you get it started it's easy to drill a straight hole. Then put a cone center in the hole and finish up the handle.

[Prashun Patel]

Bob, that's how I usually do it. However, this means the drill stays stationary while the piece rotates. I always find it requires a little muscle to keep the drill bit from spinning. I usually use a clamp on the chuck to get some leverage. That feels wrong. If I could chuck up the drill bit at the headstock, it would rotate, and I'd feed the stock into the bit, which would be easier to get a good grip on. I could also spin the bit faster than I can spin the stock (with confidence) so I think that would also cut down on the torque as I feed.

[Bob Bouis]

I'm not sure where your drill bit is slipping, but have you tried sharpening your drill bits or tapping the chuck into the tailstock with a mallet? It shouldn't take that much holding force.

If the bit is slipping in the chuck you need a new chuck.

[Prashun Patel]

Bob,
The bit is not slipping. The chuck spins free, so when it encounters the spinning stock, it spins with the stock instead of penetrating - unless I grip the chuck to keep it from spinning. Is that what's supposed to happen?
prashun

[Neal DaMommio]

Prashun my chuck is attached to a morse taper and just like a drive center in the head stock the morse taper locks into place. How does your chuck spin in the tail stock? Is the morse taper slipping?

[Brice Rogers]

You will want to make sure that the Morse taper on the chuck is very clean (no oil) and that the MT pocket is also very clean. When I drill holes for handles, I have my left hand on the drill chuck and the right hand on the tail stock handle. I apply pressure with my left hand to keep the drill chuck from spinning, especially when I am pulling out the drill to clear chips.

If you have dings or ridges in your MT tail stock or chuck, it could interfere with the "lock-up".

If you want to see how well the two parts are locking up, apply some machinist Dykem (bluing) or magic marker to your drill chuck and then stick it in the tailstock and rotate it. Ideally, the color should be removed over the entire length of the MT part and not just at one end.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Find the center on each end. Then between a drive spur and a rotating tail center, turn a shallow tenon on one end. Chuck up the tenon so the shoulders of the tenon are resting on the chuck jaws without bottoming out in the chuck. Then drill it with the drill/taper assembly in the tailstock. That's how I drill the holes in my bottlestoppers.

[Prashun Patel]

Brice, Bob,This is the chuck I have.

Penn State Industries: Live 1/2 Tailstock Drill Chuck #2MT


The chuck and the taper spin freely from each other. It is not the bit in the chuck that is slipping; it is not the taper that is slipping. It is the fact that the taper and the chuck are not locked together. I can't understand how something like this is designed to be used. And there is no resource on line that I can find to show how to properly use this thing.

Ken,
Do you have to grip the chuck in order to stop it spinning, or is it fixed to the taper?

[Neal DaMommio]

That is a live version that is used to hold a tenon at the end of your piece while you are turning. This one is the one needed to drill.
https://www.pennstateind.com/store/TM32.html

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Brice, Bob,This is the chuck I have.

Penn State Industries: Live 1/2 Tailstock Drill Chuck #2MT


The chuck and the taper spin freely from each other. It is not the bit in the chuck that is slipping; it is not the taper that is slipping. It is the fact that the taper and the chuck are not locked together. I can't understand how something like this is designed to be used. And there is no resource on line that I can find to show how to properly use this thing.

Ken,
Do you have to grip the chuck in order to stop it spinning, or is it fixed to the taper?

My drill chuck doesn't spin independently of the taper it's mounted on. Once in a blue moon, the entire assembly might spin but usually, just reseating the entire assembly (drill chuck with morse taper) into the tailstock will remedy the problem.

[Bill Boehme]

Brice, Bob,This is the chuck I have.

Penn State Industries: Live 1/2 Tailstock Drill Chuck #2MT


The chuck and the taper spin freely from each other. It is not the bit in the chuck that is slipping; it is not the taper that is slipping. It is the fact that the taper and the chuck are not locked together. I can't understand how something like this is designed to be used. And there is no resource on line that I can find to show how to properly use this thing.

Ken,
Do you have to grip the chuck in order to stop it spinning, or is it fixed to the taper?

Prashun,

That chuck isn't meant for drilling, it is for gripping a mandrel or a tenon. For drilling you should be using a drill chuck on a solid shank to fit the Morse taper socket on either the drive spindle or the the tailstock quill. Typically the drill chuck will have a JT6 taper so you will need to buy a JT6 to MT2 shank, but be sure to verify that because sometimes a drill chuck will have a JT33 taper.

[Bob Bouis]

Oh! That's what you meant by headstock vs tailstock drill chucks.

I'd still recommend sharpening your drill bits, but otherwise just pony up for a fixed drill chuck. $12 at harbor freight with the ubiquitous 20% off coupon. I don't think anybody uses live-center drill chucks for drilling holes if they can help it.

The fixed drill chuck has other uses. I use mine mostly to hold buffing wheels with drill mandrels. But you can also drill pen blanks with it, hold small parts, etc.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

One thing about the non-live drill chuck. If you get one, make sure that the end of the morse taper is drilled and threaded. You can get a properly sized piece of all-thread, a wingnut and washers and use the all thread as a draw bar to hold the chuck into the head stock.

[Brice Rogers]

Bill and Neal hit the nail on the head - - that chuck is a "live" chuck and is meant to spin.

I bought a cheap 1/2" MT2 drill chuck from Harbor Fright :eek: for about $15 (or $12 with a coupon). Works fine. Has very little tendency for MT to spin.

Keep your live chuck as it is good for holding small things that a center might have trouble gripping. Might work okay with pens.

[Prashun Patel]

I feel like an idiot. :eek:

Had no idea there was a difference. The past 5 years I've been doing it all wrong.

Reminds me of my neighbors that were flabbergasted seeing me refill the water bottle machine by removing the cap and then flipping the bottle over onto the dispenser. They confessed that for many years one would hold the bottle upside down, while the other removed the cap quickly and then they'd slam the bottle down into the dispenser. If they lost less than a couple quarts to the floor, it was a good day...

[Bill Boehme]

I feel like an idiot. :eek:

Had no idea there was a difference. The past 5 years I've been doing it all wrong.

Reminds me of my neighbors that were flabbergasted seeing me refill the water bottle machine by removing the cap and then flipping the bottle over onto the dispenser. They confessed that for many years one would hold the bottle upside down, while the other removed the cap quickly and then they'd slam the bottle down into the dispenser. If they lost less than a couple quarts to the floor, it was a good day...

Well, it's good to mop the floor with spring water now and then. :D

....... Unless it's carpet.:eek:

[Bob Mezzatesta]

I agree with the above but here's my 2 cents (Canadian). I mount the square blank in the chuck using a live centre on the tailstock end to make sure it's centred before I tighten the chuck. I pull the tailstock away and put a proper drill chuck in the tailstock and drill my hole. I put the live centre back in the tailstock and fairly gently engage it into the drilled hole. I then turn down the end for the ferrule l. I put the ferrule on and then tighten the live centre against it firmly. You can then turn down the rest of the handle quite safely. And yes, a sharp drill helps. BTW I use brass Pex fittings for ferrules (with the narrow end cut off. As we say up north "strong like streetcar". Cheers.

[Bill Jobe]

I don't see how you could ever get the hole in proper alignment with the chuck without turning at least part of the way through before using a drill.

[Bob Mezzatesta]

I don't see how you could ever get the hole in proper alignment with the chuck without turning at least part of the way through before using a drill.
Not sure I understand your comment. A sharp drill and a centre punch mark on the end and away you go. Are you thinking the drill would wander? It doesn't. A small forstner bit works very well also. I've made a lot of handles without any problem.

[Bill Jobe]

Not sure I understand your comment. A sharp drill and a centre punch mark on the end and away you go. Are you thinking the drill would wander? It doesn't. A small forstner bit works very well also. I've made a lot of handles without any problem.


Yes, I think it will wander. But your suggestion looks convincing. Perhaps if I had paid more that $150 for my mini lathe.....
Your suggestion is correct. My response is looking back over the many years machining core holes in nodular

I can still remember the first multi-drill lathe fixture I had ever seen. Very hard to get my mind around.

[robert baccus]

Bob is doing it the correct way for sure.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I agree with the above but here's my 2 cents (Canadian). Cheers.

Thanks for making public the conversion!:confused:;):D

[John K Jordan]

Not sure I understand your comment. A sharp drill and a centre punch mark on the end and away you go. Are you thinking the drill would wander? It doesn't. A small forstner bit works very well also. I've made a lot of handles without any problem.

The absolute best thing I've ever found for starting a hole in the end grain to have a good chance of it drilling straight - first use a center drill. These are so short and stout they can't possibly flex. I keep a large one ready in a separate chuck and use it on every hole.

A set of center drills is cheap, made for machinists to put the properly shaped hole in the end of a piece of metal for mounting on a metal cutting lathe.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004MOJVKU
356401

I also occasionally use an NC Spotting Drill, probably better for small diameter holes but more expensive.

If the hole is large, I will drill a short smaller diameter hole then follow with the larger hole. This helps get the large hole started straight. If it wobbles or follows the grain right off the bat the hole will be a mess.I

f the hole is not too deep is use screw machine drill bits. These are shorter and stiffer than the standard jobbers bits and not prone to flexing in the wood. For a longer hole I might first drill partway with the shorter bit.

The third thing I do if possible is eliminate the Jacobs chuck by using taper drills.

356402 356403

Look at how much shorter the taper drill bit is than a bit in a Jacobs chuck - less chance for flexing and for slop, er, accumulated tolerance errors. Also handy if drilling on a short lathe where you need every inch.

The largest taper drill bits I use come in an MT2 taper and I put them directly in the tailstock.
The smaller taper drills come in an MT1 taper so I use an inexpensive precision hardened and ground MT1-MT2 adapter.

The last thing I do if I need holes perfectly concentric:
- chuck and turn the blank to shape but a bit oversized
- drill the hole
- mount the same drill bit in the lathe headstock spindle and use it as a jam chuck
- supporting with the tailstock, turn to the final profile.

I often use this method on handles I make from 8" long stock. An important advantage is with the piece jammed on the bit I can remove the tailstock and clean up the end.

356410

JKJ

[Prashun Patel]

I just did it the usual way for me.

Turned a small tenon on the butt end to hold the handle. Put a drill bit in the live chuck and then clamped the chuck with a quick grip. Works well enough.