Drill press

[Garno]

Is a drill press with a 70mm depth adequate for pen turning (Drilling holes in the blanks that is) without having to go in at both ends?

 

[Curly]

It is as long as your tubes are 70mm or less. One way around it is to drill to depth and then loosen and lift the blank while the drill bit is in the hole to maintain alignment and retighten. If it's a deep hole you get to do it multiple times to keep the swarf from building up in the flutes. Nicer to have a drill press with a 100mm or longer stroke but not many of us have them so you do workarounds.

Pete

 

[alan morrison]

You wont have that problem, Gary, if you drill them on the lathe.

 

[flexi]

I have a Record DP16B press and I drill all my blanks on it, yes I do drill in two steps but it dosent cause me any issues and I have done some loooong blanks that way toooo

 

[Bill Mooney]

Sound advice above.

 

[alpha1]

I drill all my blanks on the lathe using a set of pen jaws.

 

[Penpal]

The blanks drilled on the lathe are great however every time you need to use this method in a hurry you could be using the lathe conventially to turn pens. Time consuming chaneover. I dedicatelathes for turning,that means locking units in with draw bars to maintain accuracy.
Yes 70 mm or 2 3/4 inches is a fair throw for a drill press for pens with 52mm needed for Slimlines eg.

 

[Padster]

I have a bosch pbd40 it's brilliant IMHO and on offer at Amazon again at the moment (not the cheapest a tad under 200quid) but good quality and you'll see on the other forum it gets mostly good reviews - I believe the travel is 90mm but I've got a jig I made that holds blanks and I can 'leverage' that to get more travel if needed.

Regards

Padster

 

[alpha1]

The blanks drilled on the lathe are great however every time you need to use this method in a hurry you could be using the lathe conventially to turn pens. Time consuming chaneover. I dedicatelathes for turning,that means locking units in with draw bars to maintain accuracy.
Yes 70 mm or 2 3/4 inches is a fair throw for a drill press for pens with 52mm needed for Slimlines eg.

Of course you are correct. But luckily I have more than one lathe I have a lathe that is fitted with a set of pen jaws and the only thing its used for is drilling pen blanks. Its a small Axminster jobby.

 

[Geoff Kent]

As you have just bought a new lathe why not set up your old lathe to drill blanks with.
I have found it more accurate to drill blanks on the lathe.I drill my blanks in batches so changeover is kept to a minimum.

 

[Garno]

As you have just bought a new lathe why not set up your old lathe to drill blanks with.
I have found it more accurate to drill blanks on the lathe.I drill my blanks in batches so changeover is kept to a minimum.

There is too much lateral movement on it to get accurate sized holes. The only thing it is good for really is to put a polishing/buffing system on it (will bet one with my Christmas money )

 

[Garno]

I have a bosch pbd40 it's brilliant IMHO and on offer at Amazon again at the moment (not the cheapest a tad under 200quid) but good quality and you'll see on the other forum it gets mostly good reviews - I believe the travel is 90mm but I've got a jig I made that holds blanks and I can 'leverage' that to get more travel if needed.

Regards

Padster

Had a look at that before it looks a great bit of kit but just out of my price range sadly so I have been looking at this one instead Scheppach DP55 710W Bench Pillar Drill with Digital Display + Laser + 13mm chuck – SCHEPPACH DIRECT

 

[21William]

I had to very accurately drill one particular blank so I did it like this. I accurately marked both ends and then turned it to a cylinder between centres. The blank was then placed in a collet Chuck for drilling. The result was perfect. You could just as easily drill it in a standard chuck though. You don’t need special jaws.

This is just an example picture of work holding. You could in many cases leave the standard jaws in place and still grip a cylinder like this.

 

[silver]

Some sound advice above.

There is too much lateral movement on it to get accurate sized holes.

The lateral movement can be resolved! its only a matter of looking where its coming from to rectify the issue.

 

[21William]

I have known some pen turners that don’t leave blanks in the square, they turn them to cylinders as soon as they can to get a much better idea of what a finished pen from it may look like. If you get into this habit, popping one of these cylinders into the chuck for drilling must become second nature?

 

[Garno]

I have known some pen turners that don’t leave blanks in the square, they turn them to cylinders as soon as they can to get a much better idea of what a finished pen from it may look like. If you get into this habit, popping one of these cylinders into the chuck for drilling must become second nature?

Now I like that idea
My only concern would be the part that's held in the chuck would be wasted.

Sorry just had a rethink and I am back to thinking it's a good idea

 

[Geoff Kent]

Some sound advice above.



The lateral movement can be resolved! its only a matter of looking where its coming from to rectify the issue.

I had this issue a while back.If you slide off the tailstock and look underneath some shavings/dust may have gathered around the cam/clamp.A quick clean and all is hunky dory.If there is still movement it may be possible to adjust the clamp to obtain a tighter fit.There should be a nut to enable this.

 

[Padster]

Had a look at that before it looks a great bit of kit but just out of my price range sadly so I have been looking at this one instead Scheppach DP55 710W Bench Pillar Drill with Digital Display + Laser + 13mm chuck – SCHEPPACH DIRECT

I’d waited and saved for a while for mine, but I’ve also seen good reviews for the one you quote, Aldi do a version and if I didn’t save and have the budget it would have been one I may opt for.

Padster