Drill Press Drilling Suggestion
Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 10:20 pm
Hi all-
I've been devouring everything I can find on the forums for a couple of weeks now since stumbling upon them. Thanks for the amazing information everyone shares! This is a great community!
I know now that drilling on the drill press is one step away from taboo around here, but I thought I would share a couple of insights I have had in my few years of pipe making using a drill press exclusively. If any of these ideas have been posted previously, please forgive me; I have only dug through the first few pages of each topic area.
I started pipe making when I was a teacher and had access to the school's woodshop. Through the advice of the shop teacher there, I developed some decent techniques for drilling on a press and have had great success overall, though some of my initial efforts resulted in all kinds of horrible screw ups...LOL.
The first suggestion I had for anyone drilling on a press is to make sure you are using an adjustable angle vise. The vise I used in the woodshop was salvaged from the old defunct school autoshop, but now that I don't have access to that shop anymore, I went and found a decent vise at woodcraft for 20 bucks or so. Being able to adjust the angle of the drilling without actually re-clamping the block is really helpful.
The second suggestion I had is the most helpful one I have when it comes to drilling on a press. The hardest thing about drilling on a press is being able to see into the tobacco chamber to make sure you have not drilled too deep (I always drill the mortise/draft holes first, and then the tobacco chamber). The angles make it hard to see in there, even with a flashlight or fancy press light. I destroyed 3 or 4 good blocks of briar by over drilling the tobacco chamber. That's when the shop teacher shared some great wisdom with me.
He suggested that as the drilling of the tobacco chamber gets close to the correct measured depth, the best way to know when it had actually intersected with the draft hole was to blow compressed air into the draft hole while still drilling downward in the tobacco chamber. It's impossible to miss when the two holes intersect; a billow of sawdust will fly out of the tobacco chamber to let you know it's safe to stop!
In another thread I saw it suggested that you insert a wire hanger into the draft hole to acheive the same result. I think that could work as well, but I hate the idea of tearing up my bits or dealing with any shredded hanger metal in the draft hole of my pipes.
I hope this is helpful for any other folks who are drilling with a drill press rather than a lathe!
I've been devouring everything I can find on the forums for a couple of weeks now since stumbling upon them. Thanks for the amazing information everyone shares! This is a great community!
I know now that drilling on the drill press is one step away from taboo around here, but I thought I would share a couple of insights I have had in my few years of pipe making using a drill press exclusively. If any of these ideas have been posted previously, please forgive me; I have only dug through the first few pages of each topic area.
I started pipe making when I was a teacher and had access to the school's woodshop. Through the advice of the shop teacher there, I developed some decent techniques for drilling on a press and have had great success overall, though some of my initial efforts resulted in all kinds of horrible screw ups...LOL.
The first suggestion I had for anyone drilling on a press is to make sure you are using an adjustable angle vise. The vise I used in the woodshop was salvaged from the old defunct school autoshop, but now that I don't have access to that shop anymore, I went and found a decent vise at woodcraft for 20 bucks or so. Being able to adjust the angle of the drilling without actually re-clamping the block is really helpful.
The second suggestion I had is the most helpful one I have when it comes to drilling on a press. The hardest thing about drilling on a press is being able to see into the tobacco chamber to make sure you have not drilled too deep (I always drill the mortise/draft holes first, and then the tobacco chamber). The angles make it hard to see in there, even with a flashlight or fancy press light. I destroyed 3 or 4 good blocks of briar by over drilling the tobacco chamber. That's when the shop teacher shared some great wisdom with me.
He suggested that as the drilling of the tobacco chamber gets close to the correct measured depth, the best way to know when it had actually intersected with the draft hole was to blow compressed air into the draft hole while still drilling downward in the tobacco chamber. It's impossible to miss when the two holes intersect; a billow of sawdust will fly out of the tobacco chamber to let you know it's safe to stop!
In another thread I saw it suggested that you insert a wire hanger into the draft hole to acheive the same result. I think that could work as well, but I hate the idea of tearing up my bits or dealing with any shredded hanger metal in the draft hole of my pipes.
I hope this is helpful for any other folks who are drilling with a drill press rather than a lathe!