Drilling a hole in a turning

[Mike Henderson]

I'm not much of a turner - mostly just do turning for my furniture projects.

Given that, I have a question. I turned a furniture piece to support an arm on a chair. The support will attach to the arm with a dowel. I'll have to cut the end of the turning off to get the proper length, which means that I'll lose my center mark for drilling for the dowel.

One way to save the center mark is to drill a small hole, maybe 1/8 inch, down the center of the turning for a couple of inches. It occurred to me that I could drill through the tailstock, but I'd need a long drill. Before I go searching for a long 1/8 inch drill, let me ask the experts - "How do you drill a straight, centered hole in your turnings?"

Any suggestions and ideas will be appreciated.

Mike

[added note] I don't want to drill for the dowel before trimming the length because I may want to turn the piece again to reduce the size. So I want a hole that will allow me to rechuck the piece. I really work by eye, making adjustments as I put the pieces together and see what they look like. If the support looks too "hefty" I want to be able to turn it down further.

[Mark Pruitt]

Mike, this doesn't answer your specific question, but is there a problem with simply turning a tenon on the end of the spindle and having it perform the function you intend for a dowel?

[Mike Henderson]

Mike, this doesn't answer your specific question, but is there a problem with simply turning a tenon on the end of the spindle and having it perform the function you intend for a dowel?

Hummm, I'll have to think about that. My problem is that I don't know how long it has to be until I put the pieces together. I was thinking that I could trial fit by cutting to length, then put a dowel in, but I'll think about your suggestion some more.

Mike

[Ron Ainge]

Milke

I would start by drilling the hole in the project then using a cone type tail centrer to hold the turning while I turn the spindle. Check out the one on the page I have attached.


http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?search=action&keywords=modified-cone-center

[Mike Henderson]

Milke

I would start by drilling the hole in the project then using a cone type tail centrer to hold the turning while I turn the spindle. Check out the one on the page I have attached.


http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?search=action&keywords=modified-cone-center
Thanks, Ron. That's a good idea. I have one of those tail centers.

Mike

[Paul Engle]

You could always make one to fit specific hole, I have several made from wood that fit my ts nice and snug but the bussiness end fits different mortises'. When I was doing candle sticks , if LOML said it needed adjustment I could put it back on and " fix " , llike making jam reverse chuck for different mortices' , also make one that is morticed to fit dowels used for tennons on stands , also they make a chuck just for dowels that wont crush the wood, check out WC cat its not revolving but you get the idea incase you double tennon the support.