MT Drill Bits or MT Chuck

[John Ponder]

Is there an advantage to using either MT drill bits or an MT chuck? Any tricks a new turner should know about either one?
Thanks,
John

[Jeff Nicol]

If you are going to be doing a lot of repeat drilling and chuck changing then they are fast! But the MT chucks are good for small things that you are going to do a lot of the same thing. I have some MT drills that work great but a good drill chuck will give you the ability to use more drill bits on many sizes. Other wise you would need a MT bit for every size you would use.

Jeff

[Scott Conners]

A jacob's chuck is definitely more versatile, and if you get one with a threaded hole at the end of the taper, you can put a draw bolt on it and use it in your headstock too for smaller object that have shanks. I use mine more often than I imagined I would, for very random things.

[Mike Golka]

Another vote for the chuck.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jacob chuck is the way to go.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I agree - Jacobs chuck.

[Kim Ford]

Good comments, but to really answer I have a question first. What are you going to be using the drill bit for.

The jacobs chuck allows you to use any drill bit that you would use in a drill press or hand held drill. That can be handy. But if you have one drill operation that is only going to be done on the lathe and you are going to do it repetatively the MT taper on the drill bit is quick to change and does not have the mass of the jacobs chuck to get in you way.

I have the jacobs chuck that accomodates my entire standard drill bit drawer, and I have several MT bits that I use for specific production type applications. Both work well.

[John Ponder]

Good question Kim,
I will just be using them as you suggested, drill press operations on the lathe.
For my use it appears the Jacobs chuck is the way to go. It sounds like there is not an advantage to the MT bits for strength or safety and the availability of my current bits is a big plus cost wise.
Thanks to all for the help!
John

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I do agree that for small bits the chuck is very handy and versatile, but there are few chucks that will hold a 1"D drill bit, and those larger bits are available with MT on them, so yes for some applications the bit with a MT on it are the right choice.

[Mark Hix]

I just bought a chuck and have been experimenting with drilling on the lathe.....I wish I had done it years ago. I can see the advantage of certain sizes being bits but if you are looking for versitile then the chuck is the way to go.

[Jim Becker]

One thing to remember is that unless you use a draw bolt to secure the chuck in the taper (usually goes in the tailstock with the work spinning), it can break free if you push too hard or when pulling the cutter out of the material. In my experience, the MT on the lathe doesn't have quite the hold that you have on a DP because you intentionally don't get it as tight as you do on a DP...simply because you want to be able to remove it with reasonable effort. This kind of thing on a lathe is generally a light duty job. When I first started turning, I would use the chuck and a drill bit to do a hole down the middle of the workpiece before hollowing a bowl. I stopped doing that once I learned how to use my Ellsworth gouges, and rarely use the Jacobs chuck on the lathe at this point.

[John Ponder]

The only bits I have larger than ½" are forstner type. So I guess if I need one for a specific large hole, like Leo suggested, an MT type could be added later. I was not aware that a draw bar would be needed in the tailstock, how would that work as the bit is advanced?

[Brodie Brickey]

Good comments, but to really answer I have a question first. What are you going to be using the drill bit for.

The jacobs chuck allows you to use any drill bit that you would use in a drill press or hand held drill. That can be handy. But if you have one drill operation that is only going to be done on the lathe and you are going to do it repetatively the MT taper on the drill bit is quick to change and does not have the mass of the jacobs chuck to get in you way.

I have the jacobs chuck that accomodates my entire standard drill bit drawer, and I have several MT bits that I use for specific production type applications. Both work well.

I really recommend the Jacobs chuck. When your bit gets dull, you only have to change out the bit, not the entire item.

[Kim Ford]

John;

The MT taper or Morse Taper is same system that is used on a drill press to secure your Jacobs chuck in the spindle of the press.

It, by design works on the principle of pressure, the more pressure you excert on the male portion against the female portion the greater the force required to break the connection. So when using any MT union to drill a hole from either tool "down pressure" is not a problem (drilling the hole). Retreating the drill bit from the stock does work against the principle of the MT taper and if the seat is not sufficent the MT will release.

Hence, auger type bits can get you in trouble in either application. I don't recomend using auger type bits on the lathe to drill holes for the reason Jim stated.

If you are going to use forstner bits, which I do all the time, just make sure your MT seat is good and be careful how you retreat you bits. I have had very little trouble with mine.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

John make sure your tailstock MT is clean and your drill or drill chuck is also clean and fit well, (cheap ones can be a problem), then seat your MT well, that is insert it with the flick of the wrist, I like to use a centering drill first to have a good centered start, but you could use a skew point to do that also, when drilling into the material the MT will not likely slip, unless there's a lot of chatter, but withdrawing could possible loosen the MT, so a good prevention is to use a pair of vice-grips to hold the MT (drill or chuck) while withdrawing, something I always did on a metal lathe as well, prevention is better than....
good luck and have fun

Oh one more thing, a drawbar is never used in the tailstock, just wouldn't work, but if you use the drill chuck in the headstock spindle to say hold thin work pieces you want to turn, than you use the drawbar, as there is no pressure to hold the MT in the headstock spindle, it could easily come loose and NO you wouldn't like that to happen,