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bench pillar dril

Alanp

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Hi all must say what a great forum this is really enjoy all the pics etc anyway i am looking to buy a bench pillar drill i need one with enough travel to drill pen blanks any recommendations would be appreciated

Alan
 

PhillH

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You'll struggle to get one with enough quill travel, you can get them but they are a pretty penny.

Why not drill on the lathe, much easier and a lot less expensive.
 

rayf6604

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I havre a Clark pillar drill which would be fine, but as many discussion on here drilling on the lathe using your Chuck and pen blank drilling jaws and a Jacobs Chuck you will find more accurate every time and a cheaper option kto boot :thumbs:
 

Alanp

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yeah drilling on lathe would be ideal but how to i hold the blanks is there some sort of adapter available
 

PhillH

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Depends on the chuck you have, Sorby make special pen jaws which are good, but they only fit the Patriot and Nova chucks. See here

If you have a different chuck eg Axminster or the like, most manufacturers will have these type or similar which will do the job perfectly well.

A lot less expense than a pillar drill with sufficient travel.
 

Buckeye

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Drilling on the lathe is probably the best, cheapest option although if you need a pillar drill for other things then you don't have to have 5" of travel to drill your blanks, just cut your blanks to just over tube length and you only need just over 2" of travel unless it's a one piece pen you are making.

Peter
 

Kardav

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My pillar drill only has about 45mm of travel. I just drill as much as I can, then stop the drill and pack the vice up with a bit of 16mm ply to finish the hole. If you've plenty of meat on the blank it's quicker and easier than keep swapping chuck and mandrel if you've only got one lathe. If you're doing a large batch, then it's probably worth doing them on the lathe, but again, my Axminster lathe tail stock doesn't have any more travel than my pillar drill so I still have to move the tail stock up on the bed each time. As you'll find, it's half a dozen of one and six of the other. Whatever suits you is best!
 

Woody

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For holding the blank on the lathe I use the centre hole of whatever jaws I have on the chuck just grip it gently bring up the tail stock with your jacob chuck and drill bit line up the blank tighten the chuck jaws to lock the blank in position and drill on a slow speed no special jaws needed give it a try and save a lot of money for something else that is needed
 

Woody

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In my old workshop I used a pillar drill all the time and found it quicker and spot on all the time but sadly I haven't got the room in this workshop any more the scroll saw has taken up my drill space LOL so I use the lathe just as efficiently just slower
I do find it inconvenient at times as I would use it for other things like drilling for the screw chuck drilling for spindles on clocks which but I use a hand drill instead
 

paulm

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I always use a pillar drill for the blanks due to the fact that I often drill bits of tree branches and non square blanks where I need to drill anywhere but the centre and can't remember the last time I had a failure.
 

Lons

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I use my lathe 99 times out of 100 but have a decent second hand Meddings which is excellent and the way to go if you want a pillar drill. Much better than cheap chicane she imports
 

Nige52

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I just have a cheapie B & Q pillar drill, I simply drill down as far as the quill travels, slide the work up the drill a bit, then put some packing under the vice and carry on drilling through
:thumbs:
I tried doing it in my lathe but found doing a one off, it was a pain changing the chuck and tailpiece...
 

Penpal

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For me the old pillar drill left ready for blank drilling any time fitted a one hp motor lock the chuck in with a threaded rod had it for twenty years (Taiwanese) now used it for every thing imaginable for the first fifteen years. Renewed the bearings at purchase time threw away the first chuck binned it bought a larger capacity one. I read the hints on a metal work forum never regret it. Prefer drilling on this drill. The lathe dedicated to pens easier for me.

Every solution that fits in with the user is great.

Peter.:thumbs:
 

chas_41_uk

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For holding the blank on the lathe I use the centre hole of whatever jaws I have on the chuck just grip it gently bring up the tail stock with your jacob chuck and drill bit line up the blank tighten the chuck jaws to lock the blank in position and drill on a slow speed no special jaws needed give it a try and save a lot of money for something else that is needed
I use the same method as Woody, but the blank needs to be square. I also put an indentation in the end with an awl to centre the drill bit onto :thumbs:


I mostly drill on the lathe but if there is something already on the lathe that I don't want to take off then I use the pillar drill.
Mine is an Axminster Floor standing model and has 80mm of chuck travel which is enough for most kits. The bench version is the AH1603DP
I have an Axminster AH1303DP which has a chuck travel of 60mm. I use this for drilling pen blanks occasionally, but you have to keep stopping and moving the work up and continuing again. Hence I prefer to use the lathe
 

bigbob

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I put a few pictures of mine on the tips and jigs forum it has a 90mm chuck travel and Woody spotted it on Amazon for £75 its a weird looking beast but it does all I want and drills holes accurate enough for pen blanks and is quite powerful for a bench drill at this price oh and it has 2 speeds and VS.
 

Louie_Powell

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I have a bench-top pillar drill (only I call it a drill press) that has a 2" throw. That is theoretically all that I need for some pens, but the reality is that you need more than 2" to center the bit, and then drill all the way through the blank leaving a clean bottom hole. And some pen kits require blankds longer than 2". I use a jorgensen clamp as a vise to hold the blank, drill the hole partway through the blank, and then elevate the drill table enough to finish the hole.

You can buy special purpose pen drilling jaws for some chucks.

But if you can't find pen drilling jaws for your chuck (or if you are as cheap as I am), another solution is to put the blank between centers, and turn a short tenon on one end. You don't have to turn the entire blank round - just turn the end until you have a round tenon with distinct shoulders. Then, mount the blank in a standard scroll chuck - you can use pin jaws, or you can use standard 50mm jaws by gripping the tenon at the center of the jaws rather than on the noses.

If the blank is truly square, you don't actually need to turn the tenon - just mount the blank in your chuck making sure that each of the faces of the blank is tight against one of the jaws of your chuck. However, that approach may not work as well if the blank is rectangular rather than square. You may be able to center the hole initially, but if the cross section is rectangular, it will only be held in the chuck on two faces, which means that it could slip laterally as you are drilling leaving you with an off-center hole.

I've been making wooden bodies for inexpensive Bic biro refills recently; drilling the blank is challenging because the hole is very deep (5") and small (5/32"), and the bit can wander quite a bit if the bit flexes or the blank tends to shift. I've had very good success drilling on the lathe holding the blank in standard jaws in a scroll chuck. But I will admit that I spend more time drilling the hole than I do turning the pen body! Doing very precise work can be satisfying.
 

Alanp

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thanks for all the replies and tips i have decided to us woody's method and also follow pauls advice on getting a pillar drill as i will also be wanting to drill some irregular blank shapes i.e. tree branches from the farm,,, thanks everyone
 
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