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Drilling Holes in Long Blanks

angelo49

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Jun 19, 2013
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Angelo
Just wondering how you drill holes in long (4"+) blanks.
I have 2 drill presses.
One has 6"quill travel and the other has 4" travel, if the bit is long
enough I'm OK.
Like to hear how others deal with this.:thinks:
 

rayf6604

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I have problems with a normal length drill bit flexing (i do all my drilling on the lathe with the sorby pen blank jaws on the Chuck and a Jacobs Chuck in the tail stock. I don't have a drill press yet. Could you use the long hole bore facility on your lathe? I know you can get extra long drill bits as well.
 

bassethound

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Mar 12, 2014
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I only use the lathe for drilling blanks, If you take it slowly i can't see a longer blank being a prob with the lathe, I always do it a small bit at a time to keep the heat down!
 

angelo49

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I chuck the blank in a machinist's vice on my drill press.
With 6" quill travel they come out OK
You should always drill a little at a time (peck drilling),
cuts down heat and loading the drill.
Most of the time drill bits wander when they are not sharpened
properly, especially when one cutting edge is longer then the other
or the lip angles are not the same.
 

brody2123

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Feb 13, 2014
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redditch
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I too use the lathe for drilling. I always start with a 60 degree centre drill so the main bit doesn't rock around if the end of the blank is slightly out of true.:thumbs:
 

chas_41_uk

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I used to use my drill press for blanks, but after reading a post on here started using the lathe.
I have found the lathe to be far more accurate, the drill bit doesn't wander anywhere near as far as it used to :thumbs:
 

rayf6604

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My drilling on the lathe improved no end when I started using the sorby pen jaws. Before that I'd been using some small jaws and it was a bit hit and miss whether the blank would be square in the jaws or not.
 

Jim

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Oct 19, 2011
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The only blanks that i have done longer than 4" are drilled using a Colt 7mm drill bit Angelo, this bit does give good results especially on acrylics .. :thumbs:
 

mattyts

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Jul 26, 2013
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Location
West Yorkshire
I do what Brody said, center drill, use the Penn state ID chuck, I think my quill on the lathe can go about 4 inch at a time,I would drill until it bottoms out,,wind the quill back out,advance it forward 4 inch,start the lathe again etc.

It will work as long as the drill bit is big enough.
 

Louie_Powell

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Aug 16, 2014
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Saratoga Springs, NY USA
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Louie
I've been making a lot of 'cheap pens' - wooden jackets to house ordinary Bic biro infills. They are fun to make, cheap enough to just give away, and make great skew practice. They requires drilling a hole almost 5" deep using a long 5/32" bit that is unfortunately very flexible.

I mount the blank in a scroll chuck in the headstock, making sure that it is centered on the tailstock. I start the hole with a machinist's center drill (using the straight portion only) in a Jacobs chuck in the tailstock, and then put a standard length 5/32" bit in the Jacobs chuck. But to minimize flexing, I put the drill bit as far into the chuck as it will go so that I have the minimum possible extension of the bit. Drill at about 400 r/min, but advance the bit VERY slowly so that the bit cuts its way into the wood rather than being forced in by the advancing tailstock ram. After drilling to that minimum depth, I remount the bit to expose its full length, and continue drilling. Finally, I mount a long (6") 5/32" bit to finish the hole to the full depth. I go in about an inch at a time, back the bit out to clear the swarf, and then drill some more. My experience is that if I'm careful (and don't rush the process), the hole will remain bang on center.
 

wm460

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Mar 16, 2013
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Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, Australia.
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Mark
I do my drilling on the lathe, I mark the centre with with a centre punch, then if metric size as I have a set of Dewalt Extreme 2 drills I drill the hole with these.
If imperial size I use a centre drill first then the required size drill..
 
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