drilling pen blanks

[Tool Man]

hey i am looking for some different ideas on drilling pen blanks.
any suggestions would be appreciated thanks;)

[Dean]

Here's a setup that works quite well. Can build your own relatively easy.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11476&sid=AF989

[Baz]

Drill them on your lathe, I find the Vicmarc 25mm jaws work well.
Cheers
Barry

[darley]

hey i am looking for some different ideas on drilling pen blanks.
any suggestions would be appreciated thanks;)
Send me an e-mail and I will send you the photo of my pen drilling jig, don't know how to post a picture here, will cost you 4 screws and a peice of angle

Serge

[Sprog]

hey i am looking for some different ideas on drilling pen blanks.
any suggestions would be appreciated thanks;)

Try

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~pwguild/i-dp-jig.htm

[KevM]

hey i am looking for some different ideas on drilling pen blanks.
any suggestions would be appreciated thanks;)

Attached below are photos of my jig, which is mounted in a two way cross slide vice. A v-slot was cut in the back timber before the base was attached.

I number all my blanks on the same face when they are cut, to ensure that they can be matched when turning and assembling. When I place them in the jig to drill, I ensure that the number on the blank always faces the same direction, this ensures that the point of entry of the drill into each blank is always at the same place and when assembled, the grains at the ring, always match.

Blanks can be inserted and removed quickly since they are held in by a sliding tapered piece of timber.

regards

Kev M

[Wizened of Oz]

Until I read this thread I did not know there was a problem. My drill press vise, which was just run-of-the-mill when I bought it 30 years ago (admittedly for metalwork back then), has v-grooves to grip round stock both vertically and horizontally. I just grip my pen blank across the diagonal in the V, centre by eye and drill.
Today I was in Trade Tools and Carba-Tec and had a glance at a few drill press vises and none had grooves to grip rounds.
We are being let down by our suppliers. Is it just sell the punters anything old thing and damn the functionality?
Where do we complain?

[JackoH]

Same as Wiz of Oz. I bought my drill press (Ryobi) about five years ago and at the same time purchased a Record drill press vice whitdh has vertical grooves in it. I use this in exactly the same way as does Wiz. I have made over a hundred pens with few problems.
"Pens from the Wood Lathe" by Dick Sing is my bible on the subject and I cannot recomend it too highly. He drills them slightly differently with a jig that he has made.