# Lathe Chuck for a Drill Press?



## les-smith (Jan 25, 2011)

I can't drill on my lathe because my tail stock isn't adjustable after it's set in place.

I thought I might mount a lathe chuck on my drill press so that I could mount stuff like dowels, bullet casings, things that are round so I could drill them and they wouldn't spin while drilling.

I thought this might work;
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-wood-lathe-chuck-with-key-31223.html

Any thoughts?


----------



## seamus7227 (Jan 25, 2011)

I wouldn't bet on it. I know you are probably trying to save a buck, but in the long run you will only kick yourself in the butt for not buying better. Are you saying that if you have a drill chuck in your tailstock with a bit inserted into it, that you cant slide your tailstock? I rarely lock mine when drilling my casings, I slide the whole thing by hand to drill, not sure why, just do. My suggestion: buy a Beall chuck  http://www.bealltool.com/products/turning/colletchuck.php

and dont ever look back on the issue, you can do so much with this tool and it will pay for itself after you make and sell a few pens!

Just my .02 worth


----------



## jskeen (Jan 25, 2011)

The jaws on that chuck have to be adjusted individually, and do not auto center.  If you've never used one, it's a bear to set up right every time, and I don't know anybody that uses one for anything pen related.  They are sometimes used for specialty one time products that are not symetrical or need to be turned off center, but it's a pain to set up.


----------



## Mac (Jan 25, 2011)

jskeen said:


> The jaws on that chuck have to be adjusted individually, and do not auto center. If you've never used one, it's a bear to set up right every time, and I don't know anybody that uses one for anything pen related. They are sometimes used for specialty one time products that are not symetrical or need to be turned off center, but it's a pain to set up.


 
I agree. It won't make you happy at all.
Do some research Grizzly makes a good chuck. Some buy the ones with tommy bars. and they work very well also. Wood craft has a nice set that a friend has. I have a grizzly don't have the number with me and two barracuda-2 bodys and a complete barracuda-2 set from psi. But I do other turning besides pens. a good set of collets would be nice and is on my list.
Don't forget to check Amazon. I did and saved $$.


----------



## robutacion (Jan 25, 2011)

les-smith said:


> I can't drill on my lathe because my tail stock isn't adjustable after it's set in place.
> 
> I thought I might mount a lathe chuck on my drill press so that I could mount stuff like dowels, bullet casings, things that are round so I could drill them and they wouldn't spin while drilling.
> 
> ...



Mate, whatever you do, don't waste your money in such piece of rubbish, believe me, they are useless...!

The other options already given here are a much better solution...!!

Cheers
George


----------



## les-smith (Jan 26, 2011)

seamus7227 said:


> I wouldn't bet on it. I know you are probably trying to save a buck, but in the long run you will only kick yourself in the butt for not buying better. Are you saying that if you have a drill chuck in your tailstock with a bit inserted into it, that you cant slide your tailstock? I rarely lock mine when drilling my casings, I slide the whole thing by hand to drill, not sure why, just do. My suggestion: buy a Beall chuck http://www.bealltool.com/products/turning/colletchuck.php
> 
> and dont ever look back on the issue, you can do so much with this tool and it will pay for itself after you make and sell a few pens!
> 
> Just my .02 worth


 
Yep, that's how I'd have to do it. I've got a Wilton MT1 lathe and to be honset I don't really trust it's accuracy. 

I thouhgt there might be a chuck that could be mounted to the drill press that would allow for round things to be drilled. I'm experimenting with dowels and drilling the harder materials I'm having a problem with them slipping in the pen vise.

The chuck I refrenced above was just an example of what I thought could be mounted to my drill press.  I just haven't found anything similar I thought would be mountable.


----------



## jskeen (Jan 26, 2011)

One thing that might work, is to find an adapter that will fit onto the jacobs taper on the end of your drill press ram and allow you to attach a 4 jaw chuck.  Of course you need to know what type of JT is on the end of your ram, and unfortunately, unlike a morse taper, a jacobs taper is not really good at being removed and reattached all the time.  USUALLY.  If you have a drill press with a threaded retainer on the JT, it might work nicely for you.  Otherwise you almost need a dedicated drill press to use just with the 4 jaw chuck instead of the standard jacobs chuck.  
Another option might be to replace the standard jacobs chuck with a dowel chuck, which is basically a jacobs chuck where instead of the jaws being 90 degree angles so that it closes down to a point, the inner jaws are ground into quarter circles so that they close down to a circle at a certain size.  Not perfect for any other sizes, but usually better than a standard jacobs chuck, of course this also pretty much keeps you from using the drill press for any thing else.  

I'm just curious, what type of lathe do you have where the tailstock doesn't have a ram for adjustment after it's locked down.


----------



## TurnerJohn74 (Jan 26, 2011)

I drill my round blanks with just a basic pen vice on my drill press and I manage just fine. Try to speed up the drill a little more and feed very slowly.
John


----------



## Mac (Jan 26, 2011)

Buy a pen drilling center vise or make two V s out of wood for your vise that came with your drill press.


----------



## studioso (Jan 26, 2011)

did you say you have a pen vise?
why not just make wooden jaws for it? make a V groove or a round groove on both jaws, and nothing is going to slip out of it.


----------



## les-smith (Jan 26, 2011)

jskeen said:


> I'm just curious, what type of lathe do you have where the tailstock doesn't have a ram for adjustment after it's locked down.


 
Just a plain old Wilton #1MT mini lathe.

http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-99177-..._1?ie=UTF8&s=industrial&qid=1296102368&sr=8-1


----------



## les-smith (Jan 26, 2011)

Mac said:


> Buy a pen drilling center vise or make two V s out of wood for your vise that came with your drill press.


 
I've got the Paul Huffman vise and I've done that, also used a collet I made out of wood that I saw in a tutorial here on the IAP. Still when I tried to drill harder material it would slip.

TurnerJohn74 may be on to something with my speed, maybe I need to increase it.


----------



## les-smith (Jan 26, 2011)

Somebody mentioned a aluminum/metal V-block that has a an adjustable shaft on it. I haven't searched on line, but that may be promising.

Here's a tutorial in the library that shows one:
http://content.penturners.org/articles/2007/streamlinedcartridgepen.pdf

Here's a picture from the tutorial. 






Where do you get one of these? I think it may work.


----------



## Mac (Jan 27, 2011)

les-smith said:


> Mac said:
> 
> 
> > Buy a pen drilling center vise or make two V s out of wood for your vise that came with your drill press.
> ...


 
How about an example of hard material. And maybe are your drill bits old, new and you sharpened or an off brand? I have drilled through some grade 8 stuff and brass shell casings is no problem at all. Just trying to get more info.
Bigger bits take bigger bites also, and put more strain on your work.


----------



## les-smith (Jan 27, 2011)

Mac said:


> les-smith said:
> 
> 
> > Mac said:
> ...


 
High quality bits, sharpened on a drill doctor, drilling brass, metal (have no idea of grade, seems hard to me), aluminum stock. 

My problem isn't drilling through the material it's keeping the material from slipping/spinning when I'm drilling.  I'd like a better fixture for holding round stock on my drill press.


----------



## Chthulhu (Jan 27, 2011)

les-smith said:


> Just a plain old Wilton #1MT mini lathe.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-99177-..._1?ie=UTF8&s=industrial&qid=1296102368&sr=8-1



Does the knob on the back of the tailstock not extend the tailstock quill when you turn it?

(I'm also wondering why the Amazon image shows a drive center in the tailstock.)


----------



## les-smith (Jan 27, 2011)

No, I doesn't travel at all.


----------



## jskeen (Jan 27, 2011)

les-smith said:


> No, I doesn't travel at all.



It might not now, but it is definitely supposed to.  I have that exact lathe.  Does the blue knob on the far right turn?  If it turns, does it just spin freely?  If it doesn't turn, have you loosened the black small lever on the back side of the tailstock?  One way or the other that knob is supposed to advance and retract the ram in the tailstock via the internal threads.  

If it's jammed up somehow, I can disassemble mine and send you some pictures of the parts if you think that would help.  Mine is getting to that point where it needs to be cleaned up and regreased anyway.


----------



## ldb2000 (Jan 27, 2011)

I also have the same lathe and the quill does extend when you turn the big knob on the end . You have to loosen the lock on the top of the tailstock first . The lever on the side (back) locks the tailstock from moving but the "t" shaped screw on top locks only the quill (the part that holds the live center) .


----------



## Chthulhu (Jan 28, 2011)

les-smith said:


> Somebody mentioned a aluminum/metal V-block that has a an adjustable shaft on it. I haven't searched on line, but that may be promising.
> 
> Here's a tutorial in the library that shows one:
> http://content.penturners.org/articles/2007/streamlinedcartridgepen.pdf
> ...



http://www.mcmaster.com/ on page 2288, among other sources.


----------



## Papo (Jan 28, 2011)

If I was you I'll buy a new screw and take it to a metal shop to get it fire up to a better steel strengh.Meaning that this screw may not be harden enough and causing it to fail while under stress.That's only my 2cents.


----------



## jskeen (Jan 28, 2011)

ldb2000 said:


> I also have the same lathe and the quill does extend when you turn the big knob on the end . You have to loosen the lock on the top of the tailstock first . The lever on the side (back) locks the tailstock from moving but the "t" shaped screw on top locks only the quill (the part that holds the live center) .



You're right Butch, I got the jet mini and the wilton mixed up there.


----------

