drilling pen holes on a lathe, how do I get it centre every time?

[handmadekrafts]

Hi there folks I just come back of holiday and started turning some new style of pens. However I am having trouble finding the centre of my blank. Does anyone have any jigs or advice on how to get the perfect centres when drilling your blanks using their lathe.

 

[Jim]

Hi Jamie, just a few questions .. What are you holding the blanks with when drilling, at what speed and are the blanks squared? All can be detrimental in some way to drilling on the lathe ..

 

[Buckeye]

You can mark the centre at one end of the blank and make an indent then put it loosely in your jaws, bring up the tailstock with live-centre and put the indent onto the live centre and tighten the jaws. change the live centre for your bit holder and drill.

I used to do it like that, but now I just put the blank in the Jaws and visually check it is running close to true.

Peter

 

[Bigblackdog]

these are on my list of things to do one of these days Auxiliary Pen Blank Jaws

i currently have none of the bits though so it isnt going to be soon!

 

[chas_41_uk]

You can mark the centre at one end of the blank and make an indent then put it loosely in your jaws, bring up the tailstock with live-centre and put the indent onto the live centre and tighten the jaws. change the live centre for your bit holder and drill.

Yep that's how I do it but with the drill and bit already in the tailstock

 

[Penpal]

Jamie being passionate turning Plastic and Wooden pens means you have the desire to succeed. Mrs Beaton used to say first slaughter your ox well for us that means from the get go ensure with a dead centre in the head and tail stock that they meet to the points if not correct any errors (cal in a friend?). the rest is open ended until you maybe show us what you are doing right now pics are good. Centring depends on how where when you grip or hold the blank in relation to the drill then what drill you choose and if before you hoe into the drilling process do you use a centering drill to prepare the entry of your chosen drill. All of this hinges on what shape your blank is how long it is. There are two jaw wonderful chucks that can help here. Most of all an eye for the task can be natural or trained. There are umteen marking centring guages available to allow you to initially mark the centre then centre pop the spot helps. If any of these terms or means seem involved or not understood go to you tube look up drilling blanks for pens on the lathe. Like playing Russian Roullette a result can be hit and miss if we do not start from scratch put away the shotgun approach thinking at least something will hit the centre.

So far your question is fully open ended trust this provides some thought involved in this important aspect of pen making.

Kind regards Peter.

 

[Baldy]

I initially used a centre finder but just got robert sorby pen jaws and no looking back for me now.. just have to remember to back off and clear every now and then

 

[bellringer]

Just drill the hole it does not have to be in the centre


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[Walter]

Have a read of my article. Might help.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a52ntlb79vv8c34/Drilling pen blanks.pdf?dl=0

Or my tutorial:

http://www.penturners.co.uk/misc/pdf/Tips/Drilling_Pen_Blanks_on_the_Lathe.pdf

 

[rayf6604]

While I have the blank spinning I use the long point of a small skew chisel. It's easy to get the point in dead centre by holding it and if it's perfectly steady just push it in to the centre to make a small recess jobs a good un

 

[Louie_Powell]

Jamie

The hole doesn't have to be centered exactly. There are only two requirements - first, that there is enough wood all around the hole to be able to turn the pen body, and second, the hole must be straight which means that the blank cannot shift while you are drilling.

Here's how I do it. I start by finding the center of the blank either by drawing corner to corner lines on the ends, or by the more approximate approach of scribing lines on the ends that are parallel to the edges of the blank to create a small square (or rectangle), and then eyeballing the center of the rectangle. I use an awl to create a small dimple at the marked end points.

The next step depends on whether the blank is approximately square in cross section. If it is square, I simply mount it in my scroll chuck using pin jaws. using the tailstock centered on the dimple to align the blank. Tighten the chuck jaws, and drill.

If the blank isn't square, I mount it between centers and turn a tenon at one end that I can use to mount the blank in my scroll chuck. Align as above, and drill.

I usually start drilling with a center bit just because I have one and I'm fussy. That step isn't really necessary if you are using a brad-point bit - just center the brad point in the center dimple and drill.

 

[Penpal]

When I started my apprenticeship as a sparky last century in the fifties everything was wood blocks separate switches, outlets switchboards in horrible material before long there was no need for a template for the many holes for cables and fixing screws rarely ever used a level or any special aids for centring so after a while you will be instinctive when you hold a blank experience will tell you what to do, if this is a continuing challenge then follow a pattern of behaviour that is cautious. When you first spin the lathe after gripping the blank it shows immediately if it will drill truly or not trust the getting there is eased by the advices given. After a while give us something very few people do fed back how you progress and what you would then pass on to others after a while this could be refined to the most needed and how to in every area and become library material. How are you progressing Jamie?

Kind regards Peter.