I've done some turning, mostly small bowls under 10". Have done some practice spindle turning. I now want to try turning pens. I watched an instructional video on pen turning and the instructor was emphatic about drilling the hole in the exact center of the pen blank. I don't understand why the worry. If the hole goes in one end of the blank and out the other, everything will be center AFTER turning the blanking. Why the concern about being centered initially?
The instructor was using a centering vise which is a neat tool but is it really necessary??
#2 If you want the grain straight through both halves and not look like a dog's hind leg
#3 If your blank is JUST big enough
I used a cheap handscrew that I closed tight and drilled a 3/8 hole centered through the closed faces. This created two half-moon slots vertically on both faces and held a blank true. It worked very well and didn't preclude using the clamp for it's original purpose.
SWMBO bought me a centering vise for my b-day. It works not much better, except for production runs. Then I clamp it centered up to to my drill press and don't have to find the center of each blank.
Always a good accessory, and the price is right. Grip a bit or a chuckable turning the same thickness as your material or measure/fiddle to center. Too cheap not to get one.
If you're doing more than a pen or 2, I'd recommend the pen drilling vise... I tried to make my own and wasted a LOT of time and energy to try to save the $40 that I ended up spending on the vise..
As you gain skill and confidence, you want to waste less wood making the blank round and down to the size of your bushings, and to still have your grain aligned... I used to cut my pen blanks at least 3/4 x 3/4" but now I usually go between
1/2" and 5/8", depending on the pen size.. Reasons for starting as small as comfortable:
More/better use of wood..
Less time carving away excess wood and more real pen turning..
Less disappointment when the outside of the blank has nice feature and the inside doesn't.. Better to know in advance..
Also, if the hole isn't centered on both ends you're going to have high and low sides on your blank that not only mis-align the grain but give you a big "ghost" to turn off... clunk,clunk,clunk.. lol
IMHO, pen turning MAKES you learn better sharpening, especially of the skew, lighter touch with tools, finer finishing and sanding.. and probably most important, patience.. I know that my pen turning has made my bowl turning better..
My current drill press is really and Shopsmith which is not the most convenient way to drill one or two blank. I'm going to try another method and will let you know how it works.
I don't believe anyone mentioned it, but if you have a four jaw scroll chuck with 25mm jaws, you can hold the blank with the chuck and drill with a Jacob's Chuck mounted in the tailstock. I don't make many pens, but when I do this is the process that I use. It makes about as truely centered hole as possible.
Thanks! What I was considering was putting the drill bit in the my Nova chuck, center it on one end of the blank, put the tailstock centered on the other end of the blank, and then advance the tailstock to drill out the blank. Similar to what you suggested. Your might work better and easier because the chuck would maintain the position of the blank.
Thanks aga>> I've done some turning, mostly small bowls under 10". Have done some
My pen drilling jig is on my Shopsmith.. the jig is the one from Lee Valley and I'm very happy with it..
As a long-time Shopsmith user, I have to say that it's the best drill press I've ever used.. It might suck as a lathe or table saw, but the drill press kicks butt.. I leave it in the horizontal drilling position so I can leave the 12" sanding disk and small table on the other end..
I did this for a bit.. works better with long jaws, to keep the blank square to the bit.. Cranking the tailstock in and out gets old real quick, though... ;-]
but why, oh why would you crank the tailstock - put the wood in the chuck, put the drill in the tailstock, don't clamp the tailstock down, start the lathe and push on the tailstock to advance the bit, then pull it back, stop the lathe and repeat with next piece.
personally, I just use a drill press - it's not at all important that you be centered, just far enough away from edges that you can make the pen
I used to do just that, Bill, as I got part way through a bunch of blanks and started getting impatient.. I found that without the tail stock banjo locked, it has just enough up and down play while sliding to drill a slightly oval hole.. Not having any matching oval pen tubes, I bought the drilling vice and use the DP now..
different drills will drift differently - a brad tipped drill will be more stable in the scenario I propose. A "D" drill will be best, but it doesn't clear chips very well (in fact it doesnt' clear chips at all). On my lathes, I can push a bit throgh the tailstock while holding the work between centers - I use a center where the center point can be removed - I don't drill this way for pens, but I do drill lamps this way by just pushing the 3 foot long bit through the tailstock - I hold it with a drill chuck and hold the chuck in my hand - if it binds, I let go and stop the lathe, but usually I can feel it getting stiff and just pull it out and clear the chips and then proceed.
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