drill press for pens.....

[mbeach]

will an 8 inch drill press be enough?

thanks

mike

 

[Ken Massingale]

What's the quill travel Mike?

 

[WoodWrangler]

Not usually. You will need a 12" drill press usually to get enough quill travel to get thru a typical pen blank.

 

[jhreed]

please listen to previous post. I bought a crftsman and the quill travel is not enough. I think you need about a 3" travel. Mine is about 2". Very aggravating & time consuming.
James

 

[boxxmaker]

What about just usin your lathe?

 

[erasmussen]

I have made a few pens, not many, and I think its easier to just drill them on the lathe. at least for me.:icon_cheers

 

[Trent Mason]

Mike,

I've had the Ryobi drill press (the $100+ one from HD) and just drilled my first pen blank on it yesterday. It wasn't nearly as centered as I thought it would be. :BangHead::BangHead::BangHead: I guess that's a work in progress though. Hope you get the one that will work for you bro. :icon_thum

 

[WoodWrangler]

What about just usin your lathe?

You surely can, however it has some drawbacks. If you are doing one pen, it's just fine, but if you want to do a lot it will slow you down big time. It's far easier to get a drill press setup with a jig and just keep punching out holes.

 

[sawman101]

There are several jigs available. I bought mine from Woodcraft and am happy with its performance. I chuck up the drill for drilling the blank, then lower it so I can close the jigs jaws on the drill bit--now it is centered. Then I use a clamp to hold the jig in place. My first drill press was small and I'd have to unclamp the blank, raise it, reclamp and finish boring; time consuming but it worked.

 

[rcflyer23]

I have done both drilling on the lathe and with a press and jig. I personally like drilling with the press and Jig. I agree however that you need probably a 12" with a 3" Travel. Mine is 2" and I have to drill then move the blank up and drill some more. NO FUN!! Plus you run the risk of knocking the blank out of center.

 

[jimwill48]

Check out the Ryobi bench top DP, its under $200 and has plenty of quill travel. As for the pen drilling vises, they work great but don't expect perfectly cantered holes ever time. Its not the DP or vises fault but you will find that very few wood pen blanks are perfectly square and sometimes not straight the entire length of the blank....jw