Kurt Hertzog answers readers’ questions
I’ve been smitten by pen turning. Easily done, small size and materials, and in demand. I’m interested in your opinions on drilling and assembly vices. Any recommendations?
Congratulations on finding an aspect of turning that you really enjoy. Your question regarding the drilling and assembly vices will let me offer some of my opinions on bought versus made. Over the years, I’ve accumulated many of the available drilling vices and at least one commercially offered assembly press. I distinguish between the drilling vices and assembly presses. There are some drilling vices that profess to do both tasks, but I feel most are limited as assembly presses. I’ll explain why I think there is a functional difference and offer some alternatives that I use.
The various drilling vices offer positioning and holding advantages to the user. Virtually all pen drilling vices employ a V set of jaws that allow you to position, safely hold, and drill a wide variety of blanks. The blanks need not be pen blanks. They can be just about anything that you’d like a hole drilled in that can fit in the jaw openings. And not necessarily a complete through hole. Using the V jaws, you can clamp round, square, and not square stock. Many times, square blanks are not cut square, yielding trapezoidal results in one or more dimensions. Drilling a hole in these blanks using any traditional parallel jawed vices can be difficult and potentially unsafe if poorly secured. The reason I distinguish between the pen drilling vice and the assembly press is the limited jaw opening dimension on most pen blank drilling vices. They all seem to be able to accept and press 7mm kit parts but can’t press in the transmissions to a controlled depth or assembling kits that have longer components.
Within my collection of drilling vices, there is only one that will open far enough to function as an assembly press for kit assembly and transmission press. I only own 6 one commercially available pen assembly press. It works well with any pen kit I’ve ever run across regardless of length. It also has a variety of features for presets and rapid production-type use. Having my collection of pen drilling vices and my assembly press is nice to show and teach my students how to use them but, in truth, I often use two simple items instead. While seemingly simple minded, these alternatives are cheap, easy to use, and travel well for classes, particularly since they are multifunction.
For drilling, I use a homemade drilling block made from a scrap of 2×4. Having jointed it to 90°, prior to cutting in my two V cuts, I’m certain that my drilled hole will be parallel to the face(s) positioned in the V slot. A drilled hole that will accept a tube, be faced on both ends, and turned round has no needs other than there be sufficient stock around the tube to provide the desired wall thickness when turned to round. Folks that get hung up on anything other than that have missed the boat.
My universal assembly press is a hand held quick clamp. In addition to functioning as a clamp to hold things, it works well as my assembly tool by simply removing the padded jaw covers. Of course, I can use a bench vice if it opens far enough. I have a lightweight clamp-on vice that opens wide enough for any pens I’ve ever worked on. Should you decide to buy a pen drilling vice, I suggest you look at the available products and be certain that it will accomplish the tasks you wish.
Never forget that the best drilling and assembly vice you own is your lathe. Whether round or square stock, you can clamp it in the jaws of a chuck and use a drill chuck in the tailstock. Some scraps turned into press plugs will let you use your lathe as an assembly press. Not only will you have a huge opening dimension as needed but also plenty of force and precise resolution. While I don’t typically use it, the drill press can also perform as an assembly press with a couple of scraps of wood.
My chuck seems to be getting more difficult to tighten and loosen. Should I grease it or lube it with something? Where should I lube it and with what?
I try to avoid oils and grease anywhere I can in the wood shop to help prevent attracting and retaining dust and debris. Some tools and equipment need oil or grease, but many don’t. Over time, I’ve found some of my chucks getting more difficult to adjust – not unworkable but noticeably more difficult to operate. Depending on the make, type, and care it has had during use and storage, a cleaning may be in order provided the stiff operation isn’t caused by mechanical damage.
There are two ways to clean a chuck and return it to better functioning. The more time-consuming but most thorough is to disassemble the chuck by removing the jaws and taking apart the scroll mechanism for cleaning. While this isn’t difficult, you do need to remember that there is a timing of the various components. Reassembly needs to be done in reverse order to have the jaws sequence properly. You can take all the pieces and chemically clean them with any solvent you feel comfortable using. Nothing aggressive is usually needed. I’ve always had good results using denatured alcohol. I put all the pieces of the chuck into a plastic container with the solvent and let them soak for a bit. An old plastic food container that has been washed out works well and can be disposed of after use. After soaking, I then brush the nooks and crannies of all the pieces clean using a brass bristled brush.
Always remember to wear the proper PPE when working with chemicals and compressed air. Blow the components dry with compressed air or simply leave the pieces to air dry on some paper towels. When my chuck pieces are ready for reassembly, I give the internal pieces a spray of Boeshield T9. Feel free to use an equivalent if you have access to one. The Boeshield was developed to provide corrosion resistance to metals and provide some lubrication. I use the T9 sparingly since a light spray is sufficient. Too heavy and you’ll have to wipe the excess off, not to mention the waste of a somewhat expensive product. I do not spray the jaws themselves to avoid any potential of chemicals contacting the wood.
Once done, reassembly in reverse of the disassembly sequence should yield a very smooth-running set of scrolls and chuck function. An alternative, less intensive method of cleaning your chuck is to immerse the whole of it into a cleaning bath of DNA. I use a plastic tub that will contain the chuck with little extra space. That lets me be frugal with the amount of denatured alcohol it takes to totally submerge the chuck. After soaking it a bit, I use the chuck key to run the jaws open and closed repeatedly. Within a short time, the operation of the chuck should become easier. Once it works freely enough, I use compressed air to blow the excess DNA free of the chuck. I then spray the chuck with Boeshield T9 into the internal workings and let it soak into the mechanism. Any excess is wiped off with a paper towel and the chuck is returned to service.
How often should you clean your chucks? I don’t think you can hurt anything by keeping them cleaned and rust-proofed. When in doubt, give them a soak in DNA, run them open and closed a few times, dry them out, and give a spray of T9 in the internal workings. Once the T9 flashes off, you are back in business.
What is the best mini-lathe for under $300 (£238)?
am not aware of much in this price range new that I could recommend in good conscience. With the dramatic costs in steel years ago and the recent bouts of inflation, I don’t think you’ll find anything worthwhile in that price range new. I suggest you consider continuing to save as you look around at used lathes. You are better off waiting to find a reasonable-value used lathe even if you need to pitch in some additional cash. DO NOT BUY some clunker based on a cheaper price only to have it run poorly, break easily, and not have any support for parts should you need them.