pen blank horizontal drilling jig for shopsmith

[Larry Browning]

I am just learning about pen turning (2 pens under my belt). I have a shopsmith that I am using. I think for the most part it is working well for me. I am drilling the blanks in the horizontal position mostly for convenience to save reconfiguration time. But this has been awkward at best for me. I have setup the miter gauge on the table and clamped the blank against it. I keep thinking there must be a better way so I have been trying to find a plan or idea for a drilling jig. All I seem to find is drill press jigs and nothing for horizontal drilling on a shopsmith. Can someone point me to a plan or even a picture of a horizontal drilling jig? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Larry

[Ken Burner]

Here's a thread on the Shopsmith owners forum with a jig you might try: http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=11930. Lots of info and helpful fellow Shopsmith users over there.

Ken

[Dennis Collier]

There are pen blank specific jaws made for Nova chucks and PSI sells a dedicated pen blank chuck. I don't know anything about a shopsmith but I assume you can mount a chuck and drill with it just like any other lathe.

[Mark Greenbaum]

Here's another link, but no pictures.: http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewtopic.php?t=13065

I have a Shopsmith and I use it as a drill press to bore thru the blanks. I think horizontal boring makes more sense, and I'll try to figure it out when I get time. It shoul be easy as long as you monitor the blank to keep it centered and in line with the drill.

[Stan Smith]

PSI has 2 different pen drilling chucks. I have the 1 x 8 tpi size for my lathe headstock. Don't know anything about shopsmith though. Since I have a Vicmarc chuck, I bought their pen jaws and now that setup is my favorite since it provides the best accuracy. The key to get the most accuracy is to make sure that your blank is square on all sides and that the drill bit is centered. YMMV

[Larry Browning]

At this point in my pen turning journey I am not willing to spend the $80-$100 it would take to buy a lathe chuck, so that is out for now. Plus the shopsmith has a 5/8" shaft instead of the standard lathe drive. This limits what can be attached it.
Tonight I am going to just make something up for a jig. I am sure it won't be as clever of a design, but hopefully it will be a little less awkward as what I have been doing.

[Larry Browning]

So far I have not been able to locate a pen drilling jig that pleases me. So I have started just winging it. I will say right up front I don't have much of a creative mind, so my expectations are not too high about coming up with a really cleaver design. I worked on it last night, but did not quite get it finished. However I will say that it just might work. Pics, when it is complete.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I can't help with your horizontal drill rig, but, when I drill pen blanks, I drill 20 or 30 at a time. For a "jig" I routed a V groove across the jaws in my twin screw wood clamps exactly opposite each other. That way when you clamp the blank down, you can hold the wood clamp to keep it from spinning. I know, swapping modes on a SS is a bit of a PITA. Even if you just drilled only 10 blanks, that would be easier. Routing the V groove across the jaw pretty much lines up the blank vertical. Assuming the V groove is perpendicular to the jaw.

Perhaps you could do what I did, and clamp 1 jaw to the table. If your blanks are about the same size, that could work. Oh yeah I don't really think the V groove would affect the original purpose of the clamp. You can still use it.

[Larry Browning]

I can't help with your horizontal drill rig, but, when I drill pen blanks, I drill 20 or 30 at a time. For a "jig" I routed a V groove across the jaws in my twin screw wood clamps exactly opposite each other. That way when you clamp the blank down, you can hold the wood clamp to keep it from spinning. I know, swapping modes on a SS is a bit of a PITA. Even if you just drilled only 10 blanks, that would be easier. Routing the V groove across the jaw pretty much lines up the blank vertical. Assuming the V groove is perpendicular to the jaw.

Perhaps you could do what I did, and clamp 1 jaw to the table. If your blanks are about the same size, that could work. Oh yeah I don't really think the V groove would affect the original purpose of the clamp. You can still use it.

The v-grove concept is a part of my design, only I cut mine on the table saw. I will try to post pictures later.

[Larry Browning]

Ok, here is my jig. What do you think? I got the basic idea from a book. The block with the v-grove and stop is for marking the center of the blank.
IMG_0542.JPGIMG_0545.JPG

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Ah! Clever! I would have just clamped something to the tailstock and suffered.

[Larry Browning]

Ah! Clever! I would have just clamped something to the tailstock and suffered.

Well, the 1st couple I did, I clamped the miter gauge to the table and then clamped the blank to the table
What a PITA that was! That's when I decided there must be a better way!

This one, the blank should be centered horizontally automatically. All I will need to do is adjust the table height to center it vertically. I tested it out last night and it seemed to work pretty well. I made the center marking tool from the scrap piece I had left over. I came up with that idea all by myself! For the drilling jig, I saw a picture of something similar in a book.

[Larry Browning]

One other thing. I wish I had gotten the vertical toggle clamp instead of the horizontal. it can be a knuckle buster if your not careful!