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Drill blanks

Penpal

Grand Master
Joined
May 26, 2013
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25,340
Location
Canberra AUSTRALIA
First Name
Peter
Hearty welcome from over here in Australia. Everyone has there favourites,mine are Type 2 DeWalt as per pic.You can see they have a mini drill point and do not wander with a great drilling life.

Kind regards to you and Scotland Peter.
 

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Bill Mooney

Blind old git
Grand Master
Joined
Aug 16, 2014
Posts
10,997
Location
County Durham
First Name
Bill
I have the de walt drills but much prefer the colt drills, I’ve never had a problem with those. I find that the de walt drills can snatch the blanks
 

flexi

Executive Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Posts
6,159
Location
Maidstone
First Name
mark
As above.....I like the Colt too but their not cheap...I also have a box set from Machine Mart in imperial sizes, if you use good drilling technique they will do a good job.
I think technique is probably the biggest fail most make, me included....Proper drill speeds and feed rates, clearing swarf build up, also not over heating the blank or drill bit( mostly acrylic or Trustone, corian blanks) needless to say sharp bits(we've all done that one extra blank). Work holding either in the lathe or pillar drill, making sure it's square, don't overtighten the blank and crush the grain....
Sorry this has become longer than I thought
 

Themackay

Fellow
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Feb 27, 2014
Posts
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Location
Aberdeen
First Name
Alan
When I first started pens I bought some colt bits I am not so keen on them as I found they seem to be inclined to flex a lot
 

flexi

Executive Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Posts
6,159
Location
Maidstone
First Name
mark
When I first started pens I bought some colt bits I am not so keen on them as I found they seem to be inclined to flex a lot

Yes the 7mm is a long one and can be wippy if it's forced on very hard material, I've never had any problems with the other sizes,:praying::praying:
 

Penpal

Grand Master
Joined
May 26, 2013
Posts
25,340
Location
Canberra AUSTRALIA
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Peter
My preference is the large dedicated pillar drill,I have a fixed pen blank jawed Vicmarc chuck I enjoy from time to time however the blanks need to be regular. The secret 4 inch jaws I use on the Pillar Drill have open vees in the centres horizontally and three vertical vees that aqllow utmost control with irregular blanks I cut to follow the grain I desire.

Peter.
 

Penpal

Grand Master
Joined
May 26, 2013
Posts
25,340
Location
Canberra AUSTRALIA
First Name
Peter
My preference is the large dedicated pillar drill,I have a fixed pen blank jawed Vicmarc chuck I enjoy from time to time however the blanks need to be regular. The secret 4 inch jaws I use on the Pillar Drill have open vees in the centres horizontally and three vertical vees that aqllow utmost control with irregular blanks I cut to follow the grain I desire.

Peter.

Two of these sold by grizzly in the USA.

Peter.
 

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flexi

Executive Member
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Sep 12, 2014
Posts
6,159
Location
Maidstone
First Name
mark
I drill on a Record pillar drill with a pen blank vice from Turner's Retreat. For me it works,the down side is 50mm of travel so on 63mm blanks I have to raise the vice on a clean piece of MDF.:thumbs::thumbs:
 

Themackay

Fellow
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
Posts
2,510
Location
Aberdeen
First Name
Alan
I drill on a Record pillar drill with a pen blank vice from Turner's Retreat. For me it works,the down side is 50mm of travel so on 63mm blanks I have to raise the vice on a clean piece of MDF.:thumbs::thumbs:


Do you think its more accurate on pillar drill than on lathe
 

flexi

Executive Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Posts
6,159
Location
Maidstone
First Name
mark
For me I find it quicker, but others will say the lathe is quicker if you have a good set up....
Personally I think it's personal opinions, both can be great or total fails:pray:
 

AllenN

Fellow
Joined
May 20, 2013
Posts
2,242
Location
Lancaster, UK
First Name
Allen
I think Mark is right on the money re the drill bits. Personally I drill on the lathe. I prefer it because my pillar drill does not have the necessary length on the quill and is rubbish anyway. I find the lathe to be more accurate and controllable. I use pen blank jaws these days which I like but I managed quite well with standard jaws in the past so they are a bit of a luxury really.
I always use a centre drill or a spot drill to ensure I get the hole starting just where I want it, but then I am not doing this for a living so the extra time taken does not really concern me. The Dewalt bits with their starter tips do much the same thing.
 

andyl

Full Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2017
Posts
52
Location
angus
First Name
andrew
I use colt drills for acrylics only. They just cut into it like butter.
For wood I spot drill before drilling then use a bright HSS drill with a fairly long spiral flute. I do however re-grind, even a brand new drill, to get a better cutting, softer cutting action than you would with a drill straight from the packet.
Like many I too drill all blanks on the lathe as I find it a lot easier to control the feed rate.
 

Neil

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Joined
May 21, 2013
Posts
3,132
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Hitchin, Hertfordshire
First Name
Neil
Hearty welcome from over here in Australia. Everyone has there favourites,mine are Type 2 DeWalt as per pic.You can see they have a mini drill point and do not wander with a great drilling life.

Kind regards to you and Scotland Peter.

Peter, am totally with you, shame we can’t get the imperials here, just the metric.
 

Penpal

Grand Master
Joined
May 26, 2013
Posts
25,340
Location
Canberra AUSTRALIA
First Name
Peter
My approaches to drilling blanks is on the lathe as shown with my dedicated Vicmarc chuck with fixed jaws as shown here,my fantastic (so heavy I only just was able to carry this most accurate micro adjustable unit on a large pillar drill.)

I believe in long term solutions considering the importance of drilling in all media.HAve fun drilling it really is a repetitive process,I freely confess I have never varied drilling speed ever on the drill press,I happen to have auto variable speed control on this lathe so I just turn it to fairly fast when turning penblanks..I am reminded my first car was an A Model Ford tourer where the front springs were transverse providing a moving experience from side to side especially on unmade roads.

Peter.
 

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