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Hello fellow turners.... I recently purchased a morse taper drill bit 1" by 11.25", while drilling, when I back off the tail stock, the drill bit gets stuck in the stock and comes away from the tail stock. I am sure I am missing something. Are there any tricks or tips? This seems to happen a lot, maybe I am not supposed to stop and blow it out, should I just plow through it....
thanks all!
The cuttings tend to swell in the grooves and plug up no matter how fast you feed the bit. A slower feed will allow the cuttings to work out better, but I find that I need to pull out the bit and clear cuttings frequently, especially if the wood is a little wet.
Thanks but when I try to back out the bit it comes out of the tail stock and the bit is stuck in the wood? Does that typically happen?
I drilled and tapped a hole in my tailstock quill 1/4 X20 to take an allen head set screw. I use it to lock on the the morse taper of everything from drill chucks, to drills as you are using. Look up Lyle Jamieson on You Tube, he shows how to do it.
Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOVnB2gnHxgQuote:
Originally Posted by Tom Albrecht
I should note, that instead of drilling all the way through as Jamieson did, I drill and tap the quill, and grind a small flat spot on the marse taper for the set screw to lock on.
Most morse taper tool that I have are drilled and tapped for a draw bar. The draw bar goes through the tail stock and is held in place with a nut and washer. I have some collet type drill bit holders and that is how they work. Yours may be different. You just about have to have something to hold them.
Tom and Fred gave you good advice.
Some other things to check - - (1) keep the Morse taper clean. Never use any lubricant, (2) check the drill MT and make sure that there aren't any nicks or dings. They will keep the bit from seating correctly, and (3) when you mate the bit into the quill, give it a bit of a snap/tug to seat it.
It is possible that either your quill or your bit are not perfect Morse tapers. One way to figure that out is to put on some white-board marker on the drill bit MT, stickthem/rub them together and see if there are sections that are not seating.
David, yes this happens and is the problem with MT in the tailstock, as you can use a drawbar in the headstock to keep the MT in, with most tailstocks you can not use a drawbar as the length changes cranking the tailstock ram in or out.Quote:
Originally Posted by David DiOrio
Only tailstocks that have a ram that goes through the hand-wheel and sticks out the end you could use a drawbar.
What I do with smaller drill-bits in a drill-chuck held in the tailstock ram, is to hold the chuck and pull it back while I withdraw the drill out of the work, with large drill-bits that have a MT on it I use vice-grip pliers clamped on the bit and hold and pull the bit back while backing out.
I would do the same with a metal lathe drilling into metal to make sure the bit would not spin in the MT opening, with wood drilling the material does often move out of the way rather than get cut, even with a sharp drill-bit, so it squeezes the bit and holds the bit while you back out.
And yes you could drill and tap the ram for a setscrew to hold the bit, I have never done that, but that’s up to you :)
I hold the larger bits with pliers if necessary to keep them from grabbing in the hole and twisting loose when retracting. Usually, though, I can just stop the lathe and twist to back out the bit by hand. It helps to drill a large hole in smaller steps and clear chips often.
As mentioned, a clean and unmarred taper on both surfaces is important. Even wipe off the dust. I use one of the rubber MT cleaning tools on the socket. The shanks of the large taper bits I have are not hardened so they can get nicked or scratched easily. When mounting the bit I do seat the taper in the tailstock with a short twist by hand. Then before starting the lathe it may help with a large bit to advance the bit gently into the work. (This method is often used when seating Jacobs chucks into a drill press, sometimes not so gently!) The thing I would NOT do is what the rubberchucky guy told me on the phone when a couple of aluminum mandrels I bought were poorly machined: Every machinist knows all tapers have to be pounded with a hammer to seat them. No. Then he must have realized how that sounded and changed it to "tapped with a mallet." Accept all advice with an open mind tempered by careful thought...
JKJ
David,
I own a few morse taper drill bits and never use them in wet wood for exactly the reason you describe. The problem is it is difficult and dangerous to hold onto the bit while cranking it into the work piece. Additionally, the flutes clog easily. I own several Forstner style bits that fit into a morse taper extension and that dies not come loose in the taper. Even holding a Forstner bit in a chuck works well because you can hold the chuck with your left hand to keep it in place while cranking with your right hand.
One other thing to try is "spade" drill bit. These allow a lot more empty space behind the head.
That allows the shavings to clear out better.
There are longer versions up to 24" or extensions. These normally pul back out very easily.
As stated above, a clean & properly matched morse taper fit should not loosen under normal conditions, However, if you intend to drill a cross-hole in the quill as shown, I would advise using a centerdrill to start the hole before using the twist drill & use a cutting oil as well when drilling steel to provide a clean, smooth finish hole.