Need help from the pro's. Wanting to expand my horrizon a little bit,want to learn how to do wood realseats,...handles, ...ext,.ext,...I did a practice real seat lastnight that turned out ok. Just woundering what is the best way to hold a square piece of wood on the lathe to drill my center hole. I ridged up something that worked ok for me, just wanted some more idears. Thanks for the help.

woodzy.

If you are using your lathe for that, the best would be to use a 4-jaw chuck. As long as it is square, a self centering type would work well. The use a drill chuck in the tail stock. I then put the blank on a mandrel to finish up the turning.

Like Mike said4 jaw chuck in the head stock and a drill chuck in the tail stock. Turning on a mandrel will give you a perfectly centered 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!!

Jeff,
One thing that is very very useful when you are doing these jobs is a set of drill bits of a particular size - say 1/4 inch that are of different lengths.

It is nice to have some very short stubby bits, that can be chucked into the tail stock to do the initial drilling. By having only a very short (say 1 inch) drill coming from the tail stock, the point of the drill will be very very stable and allow you to make a very precise hole with no tip wandering.

Then, as the hole proceeds deeper into the material, a longer bit can be used.

Depending on the length of material being reamed and shaped, it may or may not be to your advantage to start a centered hole from each end of he material and have the holes meet in the center.

If you have an odd shaped piece of material, this may not be possible.

If you are starting with square stock, you may end up with a better job , and if you are intending to turn the square stock to a round handle - it is probably bettter for you if you get the handle shaped round - before you drill the hole in the center.
Then, it is a good idea to start a hole in the handle from each end. This will insure that you have a straight centered hole for your handle.

If, on the other hand, you want to drill a straight hole in a piece of irregular shaped material, and then use a piece of threaded rod to hold the material while turning, ( also a good idea), this will also give you a perfectly centered hole in the final product.

It just depends on how you want to hold the piece of stock while turning and your individual preferences.

Take care
Roger

Jeff mark your centers then turn it round then drill it out using the four jaw chuck fast and accurate
John

As statedabove, a self centering 4 jaw chuck for the head stock. Then a hollow center in the tail stock and use a lamp auger. They can be found at most if not all wood working shops.

Bill in WV

Thanks for all the replys and help. I have a nova 4 jaw chuck but it will not open up far enough for the 3/4 by 3/4 piece of wood. I have different jaws that bolt on to the chuck , but one is for round stock, and the other is for [I don't know] . Neither will close up enough. Last night I screwed screws into the holes for the chuck jaws to hold the wood, which worked ok.I was just looking for something else easyer than this. Maybe I can find smaller jaws. Thanks for all the help.

woodzy.

You can get various jaws to fit the Nova chuck. I'm surprised that you can't hold a 3/4" piece. I routinely do 1 1/2" and up pieces in my cheap Penn State 4 jaw utility chuck. The best way to get a perfectly centered hole is to drill out on the lathe and turn on a mandrel. That way the piece HAS to turn concentric to the hole. This will probably require a bed extension on a mini/midi lathe

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!!

Thanks mike. I did some checking and found I have a 35mm chuck jaws, and I need 25mm jaws. Thanks for everybodys help.

woodzy.

I take the square and rough it out round between centers first. Then I hold it in a standard 3 jaw lathe chuck for drilling. I do not like fooling with the independent jaw 4 jaw chucks. Waste of both time and expense for me. I have a Nova chuck but have not really warmed to it. I get a very good grip with a standard 3 jaw.

Use a self centering 4 jaw chuck

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!!

Jeff,
If you happen to have a couple sets of larger chuck jaws and need them to open further, you can always use an abrasive disk to cut off a portion of each jaw, if you don't have a need to close up the jaws.
Often, this is an expedient way to take care of special - but often used needs.

Of course, if you need to be able to use the jaws, as they are currently c onfigured; you wouldn't want to modify them.

Take care
Roger

Thanks for the replys, I'm going tomorrow to get a set of 25 mm jaws for my 4 jaw chuck at woodcraft.They have them in stock. When I get one done, I'll post pics.

woodzy.