[Metal turning] Transverse drilling attachement

[Christophe Mineau]

Hi,
Here is something I made during the last week-end.
It is a system for drilling transversely a workpiece, hold on the lathe chuck, without removing it.

I saw this idea somewhere (can't remember where), but it was for the wood lathe.
My first need was for the metal lathe, so I first did that, and then, I will show the adaptation for the wood lathe.

Here are a few pictures :

It is for the moment a low tech system, so no bearing or bronze bushing. It is made of a standard "Jacobs" chuck that I installed at the end of a long 12mm shaft. (trying to keep as much as possible aligned).
Then the shaft passes through two holes made in a little frame, itself hold in the QCTP of the lathe.
See the picture below (setting up the height of the tool with the live center point) :


As the chuck has a certain length + the length of the drill, I made this shape for the frame, so that the chuck can be pulled enough away from the piece.

As there is no special bearing or bushing, my solution was to simply drill two small holes where the the shaft passes through the frame, in order to put a drop of oil on each hole :



The shaft is powered with the hand electric drill :



Here is the first hole I drilled with it : it is for making a depth stop ring for the tool itself ! (some kind of egg and chicken story, the tool that maked the tool ...)



This is low tech, but with the drop of oil, it is far good enough for me, for the occasional use I will make of that tool. (and there is room for enhancement, if need be)

Next topic will be the same, but for the wood lathe.

Christophe

[mklotz]

Nicely done. Can it be mounted parallel to the lathe axis to do bolt circles, etc.?

For safety's sake, tell me that you dispense with the gloves and long sleeves when you're actually using the lathe.

[Christophe Mineau]

Hi Marv,
Yes, I didn't think about that , but why not, it is certainly possible.
But the main issue with my lathe is that I don't have any indexing feature of the chuck, like I have on the wood lathe.
I will have to find a solution for that sooner or later.

Thanks
Christophe

[mklotz]

Hi Marv,
Yes, I didn't think about that , but why not, it is certainly possible.
But the main issue with my lathe is that I don't have any indexing feature of the chuck, like I have on the wood lathe.
I will have to find a solution for that sooner or later.

If your lathe uses change gears it's not that difficult to make an expanding arbor similar to the one I used for my lathe crank...

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/l...7799#post37681

and use it to mount a change gear to the left end of the spindle. Cobble up an indexing pin to fit the gear and you're on your way. A similar arrangement should work on the wood lathe too.

[DIYer]

I like it! Thanks for the idea.

[DIYer]

Thanks Christophe! We've added your Transverse Drilling Attachment to our Lathe Accessories category, as well as to your builder page: Christophe's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Transverse Drilling Attachment by Christophe Mineau

tags: lathe, chuck, drilling, turning

[Andrej]

Hi Marv,
Yes, I didn't think about that , but why not, it is certainly possible.
But the main issue with my lathe is that I don't have any indexing feature of the chuck, like I have on the wood lathe.
I will have to find a solution for that sooner or later.

Thanks
Christophe

Hello everybody! My first post.

I'd use some lubricant with MoS2 or graphite to prevent galling on the shaft.

I'd go to a friend with a mill and divider. Drill 24 shallow holes on the chuck around perimeter. Make a jig with a spring loaded locator pin. Done.

Chucks are usually massive, so this will not cause any problem. I have enlarged hole on my 10" chuck for about 1/4" 15 years ago. But I don't do any really massive work on it.

On another chuck I have milled most of the jaws away and welded new supports on ends. Turned to get big diameter seats and bolted on 8" piece of aluminum and cut a hole in it, then cut the whole in three sections. Now I can hold piece of big diameter tubing very securely. I have inserts for several of each standard tube diameter. Something like this is used on pro CNC machines for long runs, but with jaws turned for only one shape.

[Christophe Mineau]

Hi Andrej,
Thanks for the ideas !
I think you should post pictures of these in the new tool section !
Christophe

[C-Bag]

Thanks for sharing Christophe. I'm going to have make one too, that's such great idea. There's been many times where I could have used that for drilling and taping. Add to that the indexing idea, the possibilities are endless!

[Andrej]

Hi Andrej,
Thanks for the ideas !
I think you should post pictures of these in the new tool section !
Christophe

I will when I can get some spare time.

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Pra...mental+turning

There are two parts, this is the second one.

This book should keep you busy for a while. It's hi tech from 1880. You'll be picking the jaw from the floor seeing what this guys could do with such simple equipment. It's all brilliant mechanical thinking.
For starters you can search "holtzapffel lathe". It has solutions for divider and about 1000 more ideas.

Andre