I have wood for a few reelseat inserts that I need to bore out and turn, are there any options outside of a drill press to drill the 3/8" hole for the blank? I know I could just use my hand drill but the few I've tried have been off center enough that they were ruined, plus I'd like to get my shop setup enough to do this the right way the first time. Looks like a table mounted drill press is about $130, I also looked at a Craftsman arrangement, like this....

[www.sears.com]
Craftsman Drill Press, Tool & Flex Shaft Holder Combo

Any thoughts?

Tim

Well that Craftsman is for a dremel style tool, which would not really be the right thing for what you are drilling. The way I bore these out is on my lathe. I just use a jacobs chuck on the tailstock.

Tim,
Since you mentioned turning the wood into reel seat inserts, I assume you own a lathe. If so, the lathe can be used. Picture a four jaw chuck mounted on your headstock. The four jaw chuck holds the wood blank parallel to the lathe's bed, with the end of the wood pointing directly at the tailstock. Then picture a drill chuck mounted on a morse taper inserted into the tailstock. The points of the drill chuck are now pointing directly at the end of the wood blank. Your 3/8" bit is installed into the chuck, the tailstock slides up to the end of the wood. You press the point of the brad point bit into the very center of the end of the wood blank, then tighten the four jaw chuck holding the wood. If everything is lined up properly, you can start the lathe which turns the wood. The stationary (not rotating) bit is advanced into the wood blank by turning the tailstock handle. Lathe speed should be set to your slowest speed.

Jeff Shafer

Mike & Jeff,

Yes, I have the basic Jet lathe......in addition to the drill chuck to bore out the wood insert, would I also need a lathe extension? Maybe this is the route to go? Jeff, thanks for the detailed ideas.


Tim

Tim,
I'm using the JWL-1220 which has a 20" bed., so I am able to use a 10" bit if I choose. But I don't. The 10" bit wobbles too much so I use a 5" bit to bore 3/4 of the way through the stock, then mount the 10" bit for the rest of the hole. I end up with a well centered hole.

If you have a 14" bed, it still may be possible to get away without the extension. The four jaw chuck and drill chuck eat up some of your bed space but if you have enough room for the chucks, wood and a 5" bit you can drill 3/4 of the way through then use a 10" bit in a hand held drill to complete the hole. This option may depend on the length of your wood stock.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

I would get the bed extension. It makes life a LOT easier. I routinely drill out 10/12" pieces of stock using a long BRAD POINT bit with no problems. It doesn't have to be exact since when you put it on a mandrel and turn. It will turn concentric to the hole.

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I use a drive center and first rough turn the square blank to round. Then I can clamp it in the standard 3 jaw chuck on the lathe and use the Jacobs chuck in the tailstock and do a normal drilling operation.

You should be able to drill a fairly long piece without the extension. Most lathes have a through hole in the tailstock. There is a dead center avaliable with a hole through it for a bit. Lampturners in paticular use this method. The wood is clamped between centers with the normal drive center in the headstock and the "drilling" dead center in the tailstock. Then the long bit is simply feed through the tailstock into the turning wood. This is a better method of drilling than using a Jacobs chuck in the tailstock because it is easy to withdraw the bit to clear shavings and because you can drill almost any length without movine the tailstock and because you can use the full bed length of the lathe.

My Delta lathe came with the bored through dead center for the tailstock.

Bill, do you mean theres a way to drill through the tailstock? But wouldn't it be difficult to keep the drill bit level and the hole even within the wood? Maybe the drilling dead center keeps the bit positioned accurately enough to complete this, The JML-1014I specs say that lathe live center has a removable pin for boring through stock....do I need anything else to do this?

Thanks,

Tim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2008 01:40PM by Tim Kelly.