Delrin Tenons

[Cheach80]

Greetings all,

I am hoping someone can answer a rather odd question for me in regards to drilling delrin tenons; how do you e sure you drill dead center?

I’m using a 1” piece giving me enough to thread and for the mortise, but for the love of words I can’t post here, getting the bit dead center has been a challenge. Even the odd one I get close, the bloody thing still wonders and is off center on the otherside; help?

I am using 1/4” Delrin on a Drill press drilling a 5/16 smoke hole. I’ve gotten some dead on but it takes some real doing to achieve; there has got to be an easier way.

Any assistance is appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[LatakiaLover]

Probably your equipment. Consumer-grade drill presses are notoriously imprecise.

[caskwith]

Put the delrin in the drill chuck and the drill bit in the vice.

Also 1" probably isn't long enough for a 1/4" tenon. For that size you want about half the tenon in the stem and half in the mortise and the tenon needs to be around 15mm in length for a good fit. Fatter tenons can be shorter.

FWIW I use 6mm tenons and they are 30mm total length.

[Cheach80]

Probably your equipment. Consumer-grade drill presses are notoriously imprecise.

I suspected this may be a large portion of the problem as although affordable, I don’t think Mastercraft is going to cut it.

I have found a lot of guys are using a lath for pipe making. Any suggestions on a good quality lath without remortgaging my house?

To put this into context, a lath has always been a bucket list tool as in highschool wood turning was somethig I always enjoyed. I keep seeing great projects online where I keep thinking “Man the things I could do with a lath!” So it isn’t something I’d purchase just for pipe making, more of fulfilling a little boy tool fantasy. There seems to be a degree of percision laths that can’t be beat; any thoughts?

[wdteipen]

It's hard to beat the old metal lathes. Atlas, LaBlond, South Bend, Logan, Clausing...all good bets but may need some work. You're looking at around $900 - $1500 for decent used metal.

[DocAitch]

Have you tried a center drill? that would at least prevent the wander initially. https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead ... RBA&adurl=
You should also use the shortest bit available.
If you are just going to make stems, the inexpensive 7x10-14” lathes are perfectly adequate for that job. If you are making tools or turning briar, then you need a larger lathe.
DocAitch

[n80]

Before I got my wood lathe I was using a 70 year old drill press. Like you it was hit or miss but I was getting pretty good at it. I did have a drill press vice with rubber grips with round slots in them that centered the delrin. That helped.

I got a used wood lathe and even though it is not the ideal device for pipe making compared to a metal lathe, it drills perfectly. Delrin, stems, shanks, all that.

[Cheach80]

Before I got my wood lathe I was using a 70 year old drill press. Like you it was hit or miss but I was getting pretty good at it. I did have a drill press vice with rubber grips with round slots in them that centered the delrin. That helped.

I got a used wood lathe and even though it is not the ideal device for pipe making compared to a metal lathe, it drills perfectly. Delrin, stems, shanks, all that.

Since you mentioned it; is there some advantage to using a metal lathe or a wood lathe in wood turning/pipe making I am missing?

[Cheach80]

Have you tried a center drill? that would at least prevent the wander initially. https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead ... RBA&adurl=
You should also use the shortest bit available.
If you are just going to make stems, the inexpensive 7x10-14” lathes are perfectly adequate for that job. If you are making tools or turning briar, then you need a larger lathe.
DocAitch

I have not. The initial wondering I have a havk for, travel mid drill is where my issue appears to be. Can they be used in a drill press?

[Cheach80]

It's hard to beat the old metal lathes. Atlas, LaBlond, South Bend, Logan, Clausing...all good bets but may need some work. You're looking at around $900 - $1500 for decent used metal.

I have to ask; why a metal lath over a wood lathe?

[UnderShade]

It's hard to beat the old metal lathes. Atlas, LaBlond, South Bend, Logan, Clausing...all good bets but may need some work. You're looking at around $900 - $1500 for decent used metal.

I have to ask; why a metal lath over a wood lathe?

The compound on a metal lathe allows for repeatable precision. With a wood lathe, hand tools are used, which are not as precise. I love my wood lathe (and still use it a lot), but getting a metal lathe changed my game for sure!

[n80]

Watch some pipe making videos and you'll mostly see metal lathes. The compound is a rig that sits alongside the lathe with a tool holder than can move up and back and in and out. It is moved with little hand wheels and is very precise. I think they will also run at lower speeds than a typical wood lathe but I don't know that for sure. My wood lathe will run down to about 400 rpm. Metal lathes tend to be considerably more expensive and considerably more heavy than a wood lathe as well. I'm also guessing the tail stock on a typical metal lathe is also more precise than a wood lathe but not sure about that either.

Having played around with my wood lathe for about a month, I'm also guessing that a good metal lathe involves fewer brown underwear than a wood lathe too.

[caskwith]

Metal lathes will definitely run slower than a wood lathe, the lowest speed on my lathe is 28rpm and the highest is 2100rpm. Of course I almost never use those extremes.

Precision is the key really. A metal lathe will do pretty much anything a wood lathe will do and a whole lot more.

[DocAitch]

I have not. The initial wondering I have a havk for, travel mid drill is where my issue appears to be. Can they be used in a drill press?

Yes. You may have to adjust the table because they are short.
DocAitch

[cpd2186]

If you keep your eye out on Craigslist, you can find some great deals. I got my 1944 Logan 200 metal lathe for $600. It is almost 76 years old and is just as precise as it was day one! FB Marketplace is another location to look.

[Cheach80]

Thank you for the information everyone. Are the modifications fairly intense to utilize wood on a metal lathe?

[Sasquatch]

No modifications at all, I use the same cutters for rod, briar, delrin, horn, and metals.

[n80]

I have been told to be prepared to spend as much on tooling and such as you did on the lathe, so be prepared for that. Chucks, jaws, bits, cutters, tail stock drill chucks, etc.

I went the cheap route with my wood lathe and still spent well over $300 on that stuff alone.

[cpd2186]

Mine came with everything but Jaws which I purchased from Premal. Just keep your eyes open, especially now. People will be dumping stuff due to current situation.

[wdteipen]

It's hard to beat the old metal lathes. Atlas, LaBlond, South Bend, Logan, Clausing...all good bets but may need some work. You're looking at around $900 - $1500 for decent used metal.

I have to ask; why a metal lath over a wood lathe?

A wood lathe can't do everything a metal lathe can do but a metal lathe can do everything a wood lathe can do. I used a wood lathe for a long time and made due. A metal lathe is much more precise. Operations like facing stems and shanks is much easier on a metal lathe. There are many other tasks that are much easier and more efficient on a metal lathe. Once I got a metal lathe, I sold one wood lathe and relegated the other to buffing. If I had to do it all over again, I would have skipped the wood lathe altogether and saved a bit more for a good metal lathe from the getgo.