Thread: Drilling blanks

Originally Posted by plantagenon

BTW, have a look at the Aldi sale this Saturday 21/4/12. There is some good stuff there for the shed. The metal shears work a treat. I bought a set last year. But they are only good for flat metal.

Greg

Bugger, no Aldi in Cairns, just Bunnings. Roll on May 18th, woo-hoo

Steve

If there is anything you need from Aldi I can pick it up for you and you can fix me up for it when you come down in May. I was only pointing out their 12 monthly sale on tools which are pretty good value and good for a DIYer but not industrial heavy and constant use quality.

Greg

Received my new 2 jaws blank drill chuck with an adaptor for my Woodfast lathe and my 16mm chuck for drill bits with an MT2 arbor from McJing today after only ordering it yesterday. I got excellent service from Max who was very helpful to a novice like me when I phoned him with the order. I also thought the all up price of $164 delivered to Brisbane from Sydney overnight was very reasonable. He stocks so much gear that you almost need a degree to navigate through the website and if you don't know the technical terms for the items they can be had to find on the website. However, thanks to the help from Fred and John I managed to describe what I needed. That is the beauty of this forum. It is also a pleasure to find a website business that you can actually phone and talk to them. So if you are a novice like me, try McJing and phone to tell them what you need.

Greg

Greg ! better save up for the woodshow hehe, I believe McJings will be there with heaps of goodies ,they have been in previous years ,and hard to get near there stand lol.

Max said he would see me there John. Trouble is I have blown the budget already getting things set up. I think it will be just a meet and greet with me at the show and see if there are any free sample bags.

OK I used the new equipment from McJing today to drill 6 blanks. Everyone was perfectly centred. The only problem I had was the drills I have are not long enough to go through on a single pass. I have to readjust the tailstock and that seems to make the hole for the tube a little too large but not sloppy. The Sika poly glue will expand to cover the fine distance. Time will tell are the glue sets. But I can say that drilling on the lathe is 100% better than using the drill press and my lathe chuck will take up to 16mm drill that the drill press could not.

Greg

Originally Posted by plantagenon

OK I used the new equipment from McJing today to drill 6 blanks. Everyone was perfectly centred. The only problem I had was the drills I have are not long enough to go through on a single pass. I have to readjust the tailstock and that seems to make the hole for the tube a little too large but not sloppy. The Sika poly glue will expand to cover the fine distance. Time will tell are the glue sets. But I can say that drilling on the lathe is 100% better than using the drill press and my lathe chuck will take up to 16mm drill that the drill press could not.

Greg

Greg, that wouldn't really be a function of the drillbits not being long enough, but more a function of the tailstock travel not being long enough? If the drillbits weren't long enough, adjusting the tailstock wouldn't help?

That was one of the things that attracted me to my lathe (H&F WL-46) which has a tailstock travel of 85mm+.

Yes you are quite right Fred. First I has a drill press that wouldn't extend far enough to get through on one drill, now I have the same problem with the lathe. However, the new bits of drilling gear I have for the lathe at least keep the blank dead centre while I move the tailstock forward to finish the job, unlike the drill press. Drilling is so much better on the lathe but I have found that the dimension drilled is almost a little too loose for the tube. Maybe I will have to reduce the drill size a fraction. Although the Sika glue does hold the tube nicely and the gap is barely noticeable unless you use a magnifying glass. Maybe its just getting used to the lathe and a better hole.

Greg

Greg ! unless you are drilling very long blanks (long clicks or such) you should normally be only drilling a half blank at a time ,and most drills will go through in one go ? The recommended drills for kits is not always the best fits, I use a drill gauge to test my tubes for fit and use that sized drill, especially in the larger kits,that have very little meat on them when turned ,sometimes I have to use a round file to give some clearance after drilling as the wood can shrink a little after drilling . Cheers ~ John

As John said, you need to cut the blank into it's 2 sections first before drilling, (cap end & Nib end), I only use the standard Sutton twist drills and they are always long enough. See Davids video clip re-drilling blanks. How I drill out my blanks to produce better grain matched pens « TimberBits Blog

Pariss, I do cut the blanks into 2 sections before I drill. However, as Fred mentioned the problem is in the travel of the Tailstock in that it can not be wound in enough to get through the average blank on the first drill. I won't be changing lathes to rectify the problem until I finally get a shed that will also accommodate a bar fridge, lounge, big TV, etc - which will probably be never as I doubt SWMBO will agree. So I will take John's advice and buy a drill gauge as some of the drills I have bought are either too big or too small for the tubes even though they are recommended by the suppliers of the kits.

Nevertheless, to every problem there is a solution - just identify the problem and the solution will follow through thought.

Greg

Dunno Greg, Seems that you are going through a whole lot of round about ways just to drill a hole in a blank. Might be time to up grade your drill press. One with a decent amount of verticle adjustment, at least 300mm. All standard drill bits are long enough to drill 99% of blanks we all use. I feel your frustration and wish I could help more

Pariss

I could upgrade to a new drill press although the vice is good enough. But the trouble I had before was getting the hole centred properly. Drilling on the lathe with the new recommended gear has produced perfectly centred holes on the 6 I have had time to do so far. It is quicker and easier to drill on the lathe with the 2 jaw vice and I am impressed with the success so far. I will check on the tailstock travel again now that I have pulled everything apart, cleaned it and oiled it; maybe that was a problem. I checked out the Sika glued tubes in the blank and I don't think it will be a problem - maybe I am too fussy.

When you come down in May and we catch up perhaps I can run you out to my place (about 15 minutes from the city) and show you my setup if you have time.

Greg