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X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 7:56 pm
by DocAitch
I am still having difficulty getting a great mortise. The method I tried with the pin in the tailstock and a block on the shaped stummel didn't quite do it. My mortises were slightly conical, so I went back to the drawing board. My first attempt was posted earlier and it required eyeballing and pushing and pulling to get the mortise and tobacco chamber in the same plane.
Below is the third iteration of this clamp.Image
I have 4 independent jaws on 3/8 threaded rod, with a 5th rod coming up the center. The 5th rod is ground to a point and I am using the same principle that Scott Thile wrote up in Pipepedia (and J Alan uses in his video). Before I clamp the stummel, I line up the Z axis point with a long drill bit in the drill press quill and lock the table and wing nuts
Image
Z axis rod
Image
The stummel, left center foreground has a piece of Instamorph with dimples for the mortise and draft axes
Image
the dimple is fitted to the pin. The pin is the end of the Z axis rod and can be raised or lowered to place the end of the shank above the clamp. I am now using a lock nut to make the rod more solidly fixed in the clamp. The X and Y axes can be adjusted with othe other 4 rods
Image
pillows of InstaMorph are heated in the micrwave and placed between the jaws and the stummel. The jaws are snugged against the stummel, the draft or mortise entry is lined up, and the InstaMorph allowed to set.
Image
The most successful configuration of these pillows is a double piece of cotton sheeting. I tried some Naugahyd type material, but the surface melted, The sheeting doesn't leak melted plastic if sewn tightly.
This set up works pretty well for mortises and draft holes, I have not yet tried it with tobacco chambers, I am not sure that the design is robust enough for that amount of torque.,
but I can use the pin-in-the-tailstock method for that.
DocAitch

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 8:02 pm
by PremalChheda
Wow. That is really cool. What about some sort of rubber type material instead of the pillows?

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 8:13 pm
by DocAitch
I think some sort of rubber will work, it just won't conform quite as well. Since these photos, I started using only two pads on the upper jaws with the lower wooden jaws unpadded. The jaws could probably be configured better to use other materials. I haven't bothered because the Instamorph molds to both the jaws and the stummel.
The major drawback of the Instamorph is that it requires some time to set. There are plenty of other things for me to do in the shop, so that is not a bottle neck for me. With your large operation, it would probably be a factor.
DocAitch

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 8:24 pm
by LatakiaLover
C'mon, Doc... you need to forget that fancy shit and grow a pair:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh8RBsz0AF4

:twisted:

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 8:46 pm
by DocAitch
:lol: I actually used to do it similarly to that way. I would hold the stummel in one hand and use my hand drill.
Looking at the motion of his stummel while he is drilling the mortise, his mortises have to look almost as bad as mine.
I still drill my pilot for my tobacco chamber while holding the stummel in my hand and eyeballing a hand drill.
I then clamp the stummel to widen the chamber, because I am not strong enough any more.
With my clamp, I drill undersize 19/64", and then ream the mortise. It is uniform and cylindrical, and all my pipes have the same size tenons.
DocAitch

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 9:34 pm
by PremalChheda
DocAitch wrote:I think some sort of rubber will work, it just won't conform quite as well. Since these photos, I started using only two pads on the upper jaws with the lower wooden jaws unpadded. The jaws could probably be configured better to use other materials. I haven't bothered because the Instamorph molds to both the jaws and the stummel.
The major drawback of the Instamorph is that it requires some time to set. There are plenty of other things for me to do in the shop, so that is not a bottle neck for me. With your large operation, it would probably be a factor.
DocAitch
If one man team (me myself and I) is a large operation, then I am huge!

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 9:48 pm
by DocAitch
I thought there were two of you at least (Ocelot55 ?). I stand corrected.
DocAitch

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 9:59 pm
by PremalChheda
DocAitch wrote:I thought there were two of you at least (Ocelot55 ?). I stand corrected.
DocAitch
Just me now.

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 10:44 pm
by LatakiaLover
PremalChheda wrote:
Just me now.
Never accept a dinner invitation that features liver, fava beans, and a nice Chianti.

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 9:03 am
by sethile
DocAitch wrote:I actually used to do it similarly to that way. I would hold the stummel in one hand and use my hand drill.
Looking at the motion of his stummel while he is drilling the mortise, his mortises have to look almost as bad as mine.
I still drill my pilot for my tobacco chamber while holding the stummel in my hand and eyeballing a hand drill.
I then clamp the stummel to widen the chamber, because I am not strong enough any more.
With my clamp, I drill undersize 19/64", and then ream the mortise. It is uniform and cylindrical, and all my pipes have the same size tenons.
DocAitch
Haven't seen your mortises, but I've seen Rainer Barbi's, and I can assure you that his were spot on, along with the rest of his pipes! It is hard to imagine how he managed precise drilling with his "completely freehand" techniques, other than he had developed amazing skill with his hands, knows his tools, and has a great eye!

To my mind, successful pipe making involves developing methods that work for your particular skill set and tools, and then dialing it in. You can save a lot of time by building on the techniques of those that came before you, and fine tuning those to your own situation.

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 10:47 pm
by mightysmurf8201
LatakiaLover wrote:C'mon, Doc... you need to forget that fancy shit and grow a pair:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh8RBsz0AF4

:twisted:
:shock: What the hell did I just witness!? :notworthy:

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 11:41 pm
by LatakiaLover
mightysmurf8201 wrote: :shock: What the hell did I just witness!? :notworthy:
You ever notice how the world's best guitar players (not counting the rock guys where showmanship is part of the package) seem to hardly move their hands & fingers, yet torrents of music come out?

Listen to this guy play THREE parts simultaneously without apparent effort:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foJ-Fs6DWZM

It's like that. :D

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 12:45 am
by sandahlpipe
When people have mastered a skill, they make something difficult look effortless. I've heard it takes 10,000 hours to truly master a skill. Rainer Barbi was a master.

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 10:26 am
by mji.ipour
You are so creative Doc

Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 2:45 pm
by DocAitch
sethile wrote:Haven't seen your mortises, but I've seen Rainer Barbi's, and I can assure you that his were spot on, along with the rest of his pipes! It is hard to imagine how he managed precise drilling with his "completely freehand" techniques, other than he had developed amazing skill with his hands, knows his tools, and has a great eye!
To my mind, successful pipe making involves developing methods that work for your particular skill set and tools, and then dialing it in. You can save a lot of time by building on the techniques of those that came before you, and fine tuning those to your own situation.
Please believe that I had no intention of disparaging Mr Barbi's work. I have not handled any of his pipes, but am aware of his reputation. I am sure that the orientation of his mortises and airways is spot on.
My concern with my own pipes is that, while the mortises are correct in plane and angle, unless they are held in some sort of mechanically rigid device, they tend to be slightly conical due to the wobble inherent in hand holding. This has consequences to me for further operations. This is my way of removing that small bit of variability with pipes that are rounded shapes rather than squared. My mortises done with this rig are cylindrical,cleaner, and reproducable.
I was also demonstrating two techniques with heat malleable plastic that I have not seen used on any pipe forum (or anywhere else).
My apologies,
DocAitch

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 6:31 am
by W.Pastuch
May I ask why don't you just use a typical pipemaking chuck (two jaws with centering pins) bolted to the table?

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 4:01 pm
by pipedreamer
I am wondering the same thing. Rainers'Pipes are flawless! So was his charm and skills! To attempt to paraphrase Scott and L.L. 'Find your way, then own it, till it flows from you'.

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 3:28 pm
by DocAitch
W.Pastuch wrote:May I ask why don't you just use a typical pipemaking chuck (two jaws with centering pins) bolted to the table?
Philosophically and aesthetically, I am in total agreement with Mr Barbieri with shaping to accentuate the grain and to avoid flaws before drilling.
If I am visualizing this correctly, the two pins will mark the desired endpoint for the holes drilled (giving the direction) and the jaws must stabilize the stummel so that there is no wobble at the beginning of the drilling?
That will work, (I think) if I leave enough wood for the jaws to bite. My stummels are a bit more shaped and don't really lend them selves to clamping unless the jaws are modified for each stummel. I accomplish the same thing by using the pin -and-button method (a la Mr Thile's as Pipedia article) to get the direction, and using the conforming jaws and some X, Y adjustments to get the starting point right without moving the clamping device on the table (after my initial alignment).
Besides, the total cost of my device is less that $30-scrap wood, threaded rod, epoxy and nuts,and InstaMorph)
DocAitch

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:14 pm
by pipeguy
That's a lot of time and materials to drill a pipe.Wow I don't know what to say just wow lotta time there :banghead:

Re: X,Y and Z adjustable custom drill press clamp

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 9:59 am
by Sasquatch
I know a guy who wastes time oil curing.


What's up your ass these days Bob? Jesus your posts have been nasty.