# Blank drilling on a Shopsmith?



## Russknan (Sep 1, 2012)

I've been reading, with great interest, about blank drilling on a lathe. I currently do my drilling on a jig I made which is a copy of one displayed in a "Rex and Kip" book or video. (I forget which or, whether, both.) Picture is attached. I had previously used a jig I made for horizontal drilling. Neither gives the accuracy I want, although the vertical one is better than the other. I've been looking into a couple of other options, and am hoping some of the more experienced people could guide me. Each of these two options seems to offer the promise of not having to mark out the center of a succession of blanks after the equipment is adjusted. Nor would I have to fiddle with the jig placement before drilling every blank. Both are in the PSI catalogue.

First up is the "Pen Blank Drilling Center Vise" for $49.95. Looks pretty straightforward. I'd just have to align it very carefully, then attach it to a base with cleats underneath to make subsequent placement on the table a matter of guided placement and clamping.

Next option is the "Dedicated Pen Blank Drilling Chuck" for $79.95, plus a tailstock Jacobs chuck for $29.95. I'd also need to buy an adapter for the Shopsmith spindle for $16.95. So my total would be up around $150. I realize that I could go for even more versatility and get one of the Barracuda chucks (plus adapter, plus tailstock Jacobs chuck, etc.) but now we're getting into a price range that I am not completely comfortable with. Also, I'm uncertain whether having a chuck of any description on the quill feed of the Shopsmith introduces issues of its own.

Presently, I've only made one "long clicker" pen because I lack confidence in being able accurately to drill such a long blank. I only did that one because I had an acrylic blank that was round and had a hole already drilled in it. I just had to enlarge the hole and the larger bit "followed the path" pretty well.

I don't want to be stupid with my money and buy something that I will, ultimately stop using. If you tell me to definitely hold out for a larger self-centering chuck, I will just save up for awhile and do that - or do some serious hinting around Christmas time. ;-)

I will appreciate any advice you can give. Russ


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## flyitfast (Sep 1, 2012)

Russ, you will get as many answers to this as there are people to respond. 
I used the Shopsmith for quite awhile. But it always seemed I had just used the SS for some other function and had to change out and go vertical. I tried horizontal boring but never got the satisfaction I wanted. One great feature of SS is the long spindle travel when drilling. Works great on those long barrel pens like the Long Clicker you mentioned.
However, I now have the "$150" version you mentioned. I already had the drills and drill chuck so I only had to order the PSI Drilling Chuck. But, now with drilling on the lathe, the holes come out straight and clean. It takes a little longer but well worth it. 
I have also used a Beall chuck for already round blanks and a Scroll chuck with pin jaws. But, whichever the method, I really like drilling on the lathe. Accuracy, less blowouts, and cleaner holes. :biggrin:
FWIW
gordon


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## BassBlaster (Sep 1, 2012)

I'm not familiar with the SS but can a collet chuck be put on it?

I currently drill with a shope made jig on my drill press or on the lathe with a set of pin jaws on my chuck. I'm hoping to eventually buy the PSI collet chuck and then I can just round the blanks, mount them in the collet and drill away. This seems to be the most accurate method I have seen and would be a bit cheaper for you. I think the collet chuck runs right around 80 bucks at PSI and the jacobs chuck can be had for much cheaper on amazon allthough I cant spek to the quality. I have the one you mentioned from PSI.


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## 76winger (Sep 1, 2012)

BassBlaster said:


> I'm not familiar with the SS but can a collet chuck be put on it?
> 
> I currently drill with a shope made jig on my drill press or on the lathe with a set of pin jaws on my chuck. I'm hoping to eventually buy the PSI collet chuck and then I can just round the blanks, mount them in the collet and drill away. This seems to be the most accurate method I have seen and would be a bit cheaper for you. I think the collet chuck runs right around 80 bucks at PSI and the jacobs chuck can be had for much cheaper on amazon allthough I cant spek to the quality. I have the one you mentioned from PSI.



I believe the collet chuck can be used on the Shopsmith if you have the adapter that coverts the Shopsmith 5/8" shaft to 1" X 8tpi needed for lathe options. PSI offers those as well. I've done this on my own Shopsmith in order to use one of the Barracuda chucks with it and the combination works really nice.


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## 76winger (Sep 1, 2012)

As for a pen blank vise, I've got the Pen Press/Vise offered by Rocker (picture attached) and although It's normally priced $99.99, you can regularly catch it on sale for 79.99. I use it on my Craftsman floor model drill press, but it could easily work just as well on my Shopsmith. 

What I like about it is how you don't have to move it round for different sizes blanks. There's a V grove on each jaw that centers the blank in the vice, regardless of diameter or square size. Odd-shaped blanks wouldn't be consistent, but they wouldn't on any other solution either. 

I think it would also be pretty easy to make a base for it that would fit on the Shopsmith's table and be clamped in place. You could even make piece to fit in the miter handle's grove on the table to help hold it in place more consistently.


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## Russknan (Sep 1, 2012)

Darn, Dave! You've just caused me ANOTHER problem!  You mentioned the magic word, "Rockler". I LOVE their stuff, and have problems with self-control when looking through their catalogue. I am currently in love with the glue brush which I purchased recently, although the Bench Cookies, channels and hold-downs that I installed in two of my benches, etc. are high on the list. They have a real candy store for your shop. So I have to be careful.

I'm reminded of having made the mistake of taking my wife with me when I went into a Cabela's while we were visiting family in Michigan. She looked around a bit and said, "Oh, we have one of those. And one of those. And even one of THOSE! I guess that if there weren't a Cabelas, we'd probably have a vacation house!"

Thanks, though. I really like the looks of that vise. Russ


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## plantman (Sep 1, 2012)

Russ; I have used the PSI centering vice on my Shop Smith for over 10 years now. I leave the fence attached to the table and clamp the vice to the fence. You can use the table adjustment to move the whole thing in and out, and tap the jig with a wooden mallet to move it right and left. The twin tube setup on the SS is much more sturdy than a single post. You can tweek the adjustment on the quill bearing to take out any of the play in it also.  Many other makers have the same basic vice as PSI, and any of them would work just fine. Second option I have is a medium priced lathe from HF that I use sometimes for center drilling. With the attachments I have from other lathes, and the above mentioned adapter it can hold larger and odd shaped objects. Depending if the chuck is a 3 jaw or 4 jaw it may take a little longer to set up. If the object is small and round, use collets. Third option is a larger bench top drill press with a built in light and double lasers that mark an x on your work piece. Simply put your blank in a vice or clamp, use the fence to get the distance front to back, and clamp it to the table. You can find these at a big box home improvement store for around $220. 5" stroke, 3/4 hp motor, heavy duty castings, and adjustable speeds. With all these options, I still use the Shop Smith 99% of the time for drilling blanks.  Jim S


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## rej19 (Sep 1, 2012)

Here's my shopsmith set up for drilling.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/attachments/f30/67875d1327031706-shopsmith-users-chime-ss.jpg


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## navycop (Sep 2, 2012)

plantman said:


> Russ; I have used the PSI centering vice on my Shop Smith for over 10 years now. I leave the fence attached to the table and clamp the vice to the fence. You can use the table adjustment to move the whole thing in and out, and tap the jig with a wooden mallet to move it right and left.  Jim S



Jim, I too have a SS and am trying to visualize this. Is this in the drillpress configuation or the horizontal boring setup? I am using the Woodcrafters vise in the drillpress setup. It is getting harder to raise it for the drillpress (not ready to shell out the $ for a lift assist kit yet).


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## ericofpendom (Sep 2, 2012)

Hi Russ, what lathe do you have? I do all my drilling on the lathe and I don't understand people that don't, unless it is because they don't have the right chuck and jaws.  I will post some pics of mine.

Eric...


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## ericofpendom (Sep 2, 2012)

*Drilling on the lathe*

Russ, this is how I and I'm sure many others drill blanks using the lathe. 

It doesn't matter if the blanks are round or square I can grip them and drill them right down the centre. 

I hope I am not teaching anyone to suck eggs but why mess around with jigs and expensive "pen vices".

Notice the analogue readout, none of the digital stuff for me:wink: just a 6" rule and a couple of magnets. set the drill end against the blank and set the rule to a reference point at the length of your blank.

Eric...


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## plantman (Sep 3, 2012)

navycop said:


> plantman said:
> 
> 
> > Russ; I have used the PSI centering vice on my Shop Smith for over 10 years now. I leave the fence attached to the table and clamp the vice to the fence. You can use the table adjustment to move the whole thing in and out, and tap the jig with a wooden mallet to move it right and left. Jim S
> ...


 
:wink::wink: Mike; I hear there are alot of retired Navy men that have the same problem. Just kidding!!!! Drillpress mode. I have always found the horizontal boring position to be not as exacting as the drillpress mode. Think of it this way. In the horizontal mode, you have all this weight cantilevered out from your headpiece to your table and vice. The more you run the quill out, the more weight and less leverage you have to keep your drill bit from drifting. In the drillpress mode, you have little or no lateral force and gravity on your side, plus the twin rails to take up any touque. Also if you keep your headstock closer to the right end, you have more leverage to lift it. You don't need to change your setup if you want to use something on the other end of your SS. I usualy keep my band saw here for cutting blanks. All you have to do is move your headstock back and forth. Jim S


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## anneb3 (Sep 3, 2012)

jumping into this discussin on using a shopsmith to turn pens.  First a little build up.  Mesquite is the firewood of choice in southern AZ,  so I decided a pen turned from  local firewood piles would make nice gifts for my friends and neighbors at Christmas.

Anyhow this is my method.  Hit the firewood pile, find pieces at least 3 inches in diameter.  Wash it down to get most of the dirt out.  Cross cut on the bandsaw,  maybe 5 inches long.  Guess at the center, drill the hole.  Feed some slow drying epoxy  and the right bushings and slide it on the mandrel.  Take up the rest with scrap wood.  The the fun begins.  Using a crummy lathe tool  get rid of the excess, hoping I don't hit a nail or rock.    By now I have a cylinder.  Then back to the band saw.  Trim it down almost to the brass tubing.  Back to the shopsmith and its big disk sander, the saw table and its miter gauge. Sand it down til the brass shows. 

My piece is still way too big  but at least I have some extra material in case I did not get my hole in the center.  Reinsert bushings and start the actual turning with the bushings to provide a center point. Turn the piece down almost to the bushings,  then since mesquite is so hard, I use 100 grit sandpaper to finish the turning part, Then through the grits to 400.  Going any further just burnishes it.  Finishing is done by  slopping on a bunch of minwax, usually walnut and letting it set for 5 minutes so it can work its way in.  Wipe down and let it set overnight.  Next day I use Johnson's paste wax and buff it out with paper towel, still on the shopsmith.  Works for me, and my neighbors will have a gift they can recognize, a mesquite pen- maybe from their own firewood pile.

to square


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## 76winger (Sep 3, 2012)

ericofpendom said:


> Hi Russ, what lathe do you have? I do all my drilling on the lathe and I don't understand people that don't, unless it is because they don't have the right chuck and jaws.  I will post some pics of mine.
> 
> Eric...



Eric, he uses a Shopsmith which is a table saw, lathe, drill press, horizontal drill press and disk sander all in in one unit. Ron Jones's photo shows how he's set it up for drilling horizontally: http://www.penturners.org/forum/attachments/f30/67875d1327031706-shopsmith-users-chime-ss.jpg (looks like he's already doing what I suggested earlier) and here's a shot me using mine to turn a pen: Turning an Ebony pen | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


Unfortunately, the "turning on a lathe" process is a little different on the Shopsmith because if we were set up like those that do it on a normal lathe, the drill would be stationary and we'd be pushing the rotating chuck and blank into the drill. There's just enough looseness in the moving quill that we might as well approach it from the angle of using a regular drill press for the procedure, whether it's in the vertical or horizontal position.


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## Miles42 (Sep 3, 2012)

I use a Taig Lathe to do all drilling.  I do not have a drill press. So far no problems with this method


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## plantman (Sep 3, 2012)

76winger said:


> ericofpendom said:
> 
> 
> > Hi Russ, what lathe do you have? I do all my drilling on the lathe and I don't understand people that don't, unless it is because they don't have the right chuck and jaws. I will post some pics of mine.
> ...


 
 I think both of you are missing the idea of how the SS is being used. If you go back and look at Rons photo of his SS and stand it in the drill press mode, it becomes more stable for drilling. It is set into the upright or drill press mode, making it a twin tubed drill press. The saw table is rotated and put in the 90 degree position under the drill press with the fence mounted to it. Next the centering vice is mounted to the table and clamped in position. The powerhead turns the chuck holding the drill bit. The vice centers and holds your blank in place. Your side lever lowers the quill the same as any drill press and allows you to set the depth of your hole or drill all the way through. You could drop your rails and do the same thing in the horizontal mode as Ron did as well. As for turning a pen on the SS you would buy the slip on 5/8" pen mandrel made for the Shop Smith and a live center for the tail stock. I have never tried to turn a pen on the SS, I have other lathes for that,  but have turned many small items on it. Personaly I think it is a little overkill for pen turning, but you use what you have. You can take the play out of the quill by the way. Jim S


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## 76winger (Sep 3, 2012)

plantman said:


> 76winger said:
> 
> 
> > ericofpendom said:
> ...



I'm not sure who "both of you" is referring to, presumably those not familiar with the Shopsmith, which is why I included the links, in the hope that would help those not familiar with them visualize what we're discussing. Ron's is in the horizontal mode, but it could just as easily be flipped up to drill press mode and all the adjustments you mention above and below would apply either way. 



plantman said:


> Next the centering vice is mounted to the table and clamped in position. The powerhead turns the chuck holding the drill bit. The vice centers and holds your blank in place. Your side lever lowers the quill the same as any drill press and allows you to set the depth of your hole or drill all the way through. You could drop your rails and do the same thing in the horizontal mode as Ron did as well.





plantman said:


> As for turning a pen on the SS you would buy the slip on 5/8" pen mandrel made for the Shop Smith and a live center for the tail stock. I have never tried to turn a pen on the SS, but have turned many small items on it. Personaly I think* it is a little overkill for pen turning, but you use what you have.* You can take the play out of the quill by the way. Jim S



For anyone leery about turning pens on the SS, don't be. Yes it's bigger than you need, but if it's all you've got, it's works great. I've made over 300 pens and pencils on my Shopsmith now. Everything from slimlines to Majestics and Emperors and it does great for all of them. 

As for the adjustment for the play, yes that's possible (you can even lock it tight for no movement), but the tighter you make that to reduce play, the more wear is going to occur, so there's a fine balance there.

The big benefit of the Shopsmith is how it works as several tools in one small space. If someone doesn't have the room for all the individual tools (drill press, band or table saw and lathe), one SS can do it all. In my shop it serves as my bandsaw and lathe because I don't yet have those tools in stand alone form. Other owners use different features it offers to meet their own specific needs. 

Hopefully we've answered the original question of what would be a good solution for holding the blanks, to where you don't have to make multiple adjustments for every blank of a different size (my words for what I understood the question to be). I think what I recommended in my first reply would be a good solution for that, and Ron's photo showed that idea already in use! :wink:


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## Russknan (Sep 4, 2012)

Thanks to all for your advice, and for explaining to Eric what a Shopsmith is. For a further note, Eric, this multi-tool is very well-made IMO, and is especially useful to someone who doesn't have a ton of space for multiple stationary tools. In my next life, I would like to have a workshop that rivals Norm Abram's (This Old House on US TV). It would be in a good-sized, insulated, heated barn with an incredible vacuum system, great lighting, and just about every tool known to man. Not sure what I would do with all that stuff, but why go cheap on fantasy? In the mean time, I have a decent workshop with room for a FEW stationary tools and the Shopsmith. The Shopsmith has something of a cult following. There are a bunch of them around available on Craig's List, etc., in various states of integrity up to considerable abuse and disrepair. Some guys - including people I've seen here - enjoy the challenge of bringing them back. Most anything can be replaced. The newest Shopsmiths (Mark VII) are just beautiful, and you can take a peak at them here: Shopsmith Mark 7 and Mark V. Of particular interest to people on this site, the lathe is pretty robust. 

Anyway, I've taken into account all the great advice, and have decided to order the Rockler pen vise, first. I probably WILL also get the PSI pen blank chuck and tailstock Jacobs chuck in the future and experiment with which inspires the most confidence. I never mind having extra tools or gadgets.  Seems like I can't really lose with either option. Then, of course, if I move into making bowls or other larger items, I'll probably have to buy a Barracuda . . .

Thanks again,
Russ


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## Culprit (Sep 4, 2012)

Russ,

I started drilling blanks by clamping them to the table and drilling horizontally.  It worked great and was very accurate (other than the bit following the grain in some woods, but the blank was always usable, and the hole was always round and not wollered out - the tube fit snug in both ends of the blank.

But I quickly got tired of adjusting the table height and sliding the miter bar forward and back to center the blank on the tip of the drill and readjusting for each and every blank.  So I bought a Nova G3 chuck from Shopsmith.com that came with the spigot jaws.  I already had a Jacobs chuck to mount in the tailstock.

My problem now is that the spigot jaws are not designed to hold a square (or irregular rectangle sometimes) pen blank perfectly parallel to the quill axis so - depending on how well I align the blank in the chuck - the entrance hole in the blank will be slightly enlarged and the exit hole will be perfect.  It is straight and centered, but the entrance hole is slightly enlarged.  To fix that, I bought some Aluminum angle from Lowes and plan to build this jig this week:

Auxiliary Pen Blank Jaws

If that doesn't work, my next step would be to round the blanks first before chucking them in the Nova G3 and drilling with the drill in the tailstock.


PS: Norm actually used a Shopsmith on the New Yankee Workshop for the first season or two before he got the big name sponsors and started using their tools because he was paid to!  Someone over at the shopsmith forums (shopsmith.net) posted links to some of the video clips earlier this year.


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## TerryDowning (Sep 4, 2012)

Another SS User here.
I drill, square, and turn blanks in lathe mode.

For holding blanks
for square blanks I use the PSI Barracuda 2 with the long pin jaws
for round blanks I use the PSI Collet chuck Both of these use the 5/8 - 1 x 8 tpi adapter.

Drills are held in place using a MT2 mounted drill chuck in the tailstock adapter.

For squaring, I remove the chuck and adapter from the headstock and switch to the 12" sanding disc.  I switch the drill bit for one that fits the ID of the tube/blank. I then put the blank with tube glued in on the drill bit (This also cleans put the inside of the tube) and advance the sanding disc to square the blank end to the tube. To get more life out of your sanding disc you can raise the TS adapter to use different parts of the disc.

to turn, I first install a live center in the TS adapter and align to the center of the 5/8 shaft. I then either use the collet chuck and install a dead center for TBC or install a mandrel if using that. 

The only times I have accuracy issues is when I advance the blank too quickly onto the drill bit.


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## plantman (Sep 4, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> Another SS User here.
> I drill, square, and turn blanks in lathe mode.
> 
> For holding blanks
> ...


 
 When I bought my first major tool it was a radial arm saw. With the attachments I could plane, mould, cross cut. almost any woodworking task you cold think of. Next step was a Shop Smith.That was 30 years ago. I still use it everyday. As you get older you tend to buy tools to do certain jobs so you can go from one task to another without having to change setups. Until then, you use what you have and make it work. Bottom line. Everybody will do the same task differently and come out with like results in the end. If we all did things the same way with the same tools, 1,000s of tool makers would be out of business. In the end everybody is correct in their method of completeing the task at hand. And I believe the original question was if he would get his money's worth buying a squaring vice for his Shop Smith. Jim S


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## TerryDowning (Sep 5, 2012)

plantman said:


> When I bought my first major tool it was a radial arm saw. With the attachments I could plane, mould, cross cut. almost any woodworking task you cold think of. Next step was a Shop Smith.That was 30 years ago. I still use it everyday. As you get older you tend to buy tools to do certain jobs so you can go from one task to another without having to change setups. Until then, you use what you have and make it work. Bottom line. Everybody will do the same task differently and come out with like results in the end. If we all did things the same way with the same tools, 1,000s of tool makers would be out of business. In the end everybody is correct in their method of completeing the task at hand. And I believe the original question was if he would get his money's worth buying a squaring vice for his Shop Smith. Jim S



Just sharing my process. Not saying it's the best, just what works for me and the tooling I use as well which also demonstrates how I spent my money. (The OP did state that he was frugal and wanted the best bang for his buck.) Other readers can take from it what they want.


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## plantman (Sep 6, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> plantman said:
> 
> 
> > When I bought my first major tool it was a radial arm saw. With the attachments I could plane, mould, cross cut. almost any woodworking task you cold think of. Next step was a Shop Smith.That was 30 years ago. I still use it everyday. As you get older you tend to buy tools to do certain jobs so you can go from one task to another without having to change setups. Until then, you use what you have and make it work. Bottom line. Everybody will do the same task differently and come out with like results in the end. If we all did things the same way with the same tools, 1,000s of tool makers would be out of business. In the end everybody is correct in their method of completeing the task at hand. And I believe the original question was if he would get his money's worth buying a squaring vice for his Shop Smith. Jim S
> ...


 
 Terry; Thank you and the others for sharing your methods!! This is how we, and this site, grows and gets better. There is never a right or wrong way to do something, unless it is dangerous, only a different way to do it !!  "turn now or forever turn in your grave" Old Fart ism.  Jim S


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