Drilling long blanks

[nblong]

Does anyone have suggestions on how to drill a blank past the limits of your drill press or lathe? My machines can handle 2 1/2" but I need at least 3 1/2" for the blank (woodworker's pencil). Standing in my garage staring at my drill press and waiting for inspiration hasn't seemed to help any. :icon_scra

 

[FredP]

provideing your bit is long enough you can drill to the capacity of the machines travel then raise the table on the drill press or move the tailstock on the lathe burying the bit in the hole you just drilled then drill some more. on the lathe would be easier.retract the tailstock quill and move the tailstock closer burying the bit in the work. if you do it on the drill press I recomend a vise or some form of clamp to hold the piece.

fred p

 

[ebarr]

Bruce,

I have the same problem. I have a table vise I bought from HF, so I clamp my blanks in and raise the table after I reach my bit limit. Haven't had any issues yet. I have also finished drilling them by hand.

I did buy a chuck for my lathe, but I bought it at HF and it is not very accurate in my opinion. So have stayed away from it. To much bit movement.

 

[Mike Davis]

Do it on the lathe.

Start the hole, drill about an inch or so. Then move the tailstock out of the way, hold the bit with a visegrip plyers, just run the bit into the hole you started.

Yeah, I didn't believe it either, till I tried it.

Hey if you don't trust me, just get some scrap and drill a few pieces. You'll see how easy it is.

 

[nblong]

Thanks for the suggestions. On my drill press (table-top variety) I can't crank the table up or down, I can only loosen it and move it by hand. Typically that means rocking it from side to side to get it to move up the column. (Of course that could mean I just need to clean and lubricate the column.) Would an alternative be to shift the bit down in the chuck (leaving the table, vise & blank locked down) or is messing with the bit/chuck a bad idea?

 

[Mike Davis]

Bruce,

I have the same problem. I have a table vise I bought from HF, so I clamp my blanks in and raise the table after I reach my bit limit. Haven't had any issues yet. I have also finished drilling them by hand.

I did buy a chuck for my lathe, but I bought it at HF and it is not very accurate in my opinion. So have stayed away from it. To much bit movement.

Wasted your money on that HF junk. Get a good chuck from McMaster-Carr or some other industrial supply. A $50-75 chuck will make a world of difference.

I may be cheap but I'm not foolish with my money.

 

[Mike Davis]

Thanks for the suggestions. On my drill press (table-top variety) I can't crank the table up or down, I can only loosen it and move it by hand. Typically that means rocking it from side to side to get it to move up the column. (Of course that could mean I just need to clean and lubricate the column.) Would an alternative be to shift the bit down in the chuck (leaving the table, vise & blank locked down) or is messing with the bit/chuck a bad idea?

Depending on the quality of your tool you could be asking for disaster.

That will only buy you an extra inch or so anyway.

Mill a good square piece of wood a little shorter than the depth you can drill. Start with the blank on the table, drill as deep as you can. Stop the drill, now raise the blank up the drill bit and insert the block underneath it. Drill the rest of the depth you need. Be sure to stop the drill between operations.

Helps to have a square fixture to clamp the blank to so you can keep it clamped while you raise it to put the block underneath.

They make special steel blocks just for this, called 123 or 246 blocks. They are milled to very close tolerance and sometimes drill and tapped to facilitate mounting.

 

[John Jankowski]

At the AAW in Richmond this year I purchased a 1/2 inch #2 MT keyless drill chuck for the lathe from VM Woodworking for $37. It is very precise and very well made. They also carry a 3/4 inch chuck for about $5 more.

John

 

[Mike Davis]

My lathe takes a #4 MT. I always forget most of you can buy less expensive accessories for your smaller lathes. :embaresse

 

[johnpipe108]

Making bagpipes means long holes in the wood pieces. Some very long parts I start in the square in a 4-jaw chuck, with a center-rest on the outboard end, then start the hole with a center bit in held in a pin-vise, bore with a long, modified "long-boy" twist -bit, or a home-made "D" bit.

Some items, such as the wagon-wheel hubs, I put a center at each end of the piece with a machinist's center bit. I have a Jacobs chuck on a #2 Morse/jacobs taper which I put in the headstock and feed the work with a 60 degree center in the tailstock. I drilled the hub-blank from both ends toward the center this way as it is longer than my standard twist-bits.


HTH, John

 

[ScottM]

I purchased this chuck from Klingspor and have been very happy with it. They also have it in MT1 and MT3.

http://www.woodworkingshop.com/cgi-...aysBetween=0&daysBetweenFix=0&monthsBetween=0

 

[Charles Lent]

When I mounted my old benchtop drill press I turned the base around backwards so that I could mount it on the bench with the rest of it hanging off the edge of the bench. This gave me the ability to drill holes much longer than the designed limit of it, but sometimes necessitated some unusual platforms on the floor to hold the work at the right height. It served the purpose for the few times that I needed that little bit more capability. I now have a floor standing drill press and replaced that old tabletop press with a new one. I didn't bother mounting this one backwards as the floor model can handle my needs now, but back when money was tighter and the need was there the backward mounting served me well. It's an easy and cheap way to get that little bit more capability out of a bench mounted drill press.

Charley

 

[gordonmt]

You could try something simple such as drilling the hole from both sides of your blank thus creating double the depth available from a single hole from one side.

 

[TedAS]

Bruce
This how I drill my pen blanks. I have an old Craftsman bench top drill press that I setup as a dedicated tool just for this. I clamp the blank in the jig, drill as far as I can, loosen the clamp slide the blank up and complete the drilling. If you look at the second picture you can see how I made it adjustable to drill the hole on the center of the blank.

 

[jeff...]

You could try something simple such as drilling the hole from both sides of your blank thus creating double the depth available from a single hole from one side.

Yep - I said about the same thing - but my post disappeared. Might have been something to do with the way I worded it and how I explained about gently pushing it in from both sides :dontknow:

 

[nblong]

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone. I have lots of new things to try now. It's amazing the creativity you can find on this site.