Lathe accessories help.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:42 am

You have to reset even when drilling the baccy chamber? How deep is a typical bowl on one of your pipes? With 2 inches to work with, you shouldn't have to reset for this drilling too often. When I have this problem, it's generally when drilling the draft hole. Even with an extra inch, sometimes I forget I'm limited and end up having to do what you're talking about.

If you have your block well-prepared and nicely squared, though, it shouldn't be too difficult to get it right more often than not. Do you actually remove the block from the vise when you reset? That will cause you no end of problems.

jeeper · Post by **jeeper** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:18 pm

Sometimes I have to remove it from the vice but part of the issue is the bit's I have are to long, the table only goes down so far so once you put a vice and a piece of briar well you don't have room so you have to swing the table out of the way and work from the base of the press which oh by the way is too far and you have to build it up with blocks so it's not to exact. Well I'm just bitchin now, I've done it this way for a year now so if I have to I'll keep doing it for now I guess. And I make a lot of free hands and quite a few of them because of the top not always being flat require more then two inches for the chamber.

kbadkar · Post by **kbadkar** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:30 pm

It sounds like you really need to take that lathe plunge. Just saving yourself a couple days of bitching at your press is worth the price of lathe admission. You'll be far more productive, accurate, and confident.

bvartist · Post by **bvartist** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:39 pm

A good and relatively inexpensive short term solution would be to buy different drill bits. Then save up for the lathe and accessories. Most bits are available in short, regular and long lengths. A range of lengths should give you enough options to drill, and change bits without moving the table or briar.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:43 pm

I gotcha.. you're not only limited by the depth you can drill but also by the room you have between the chuck and the table, as well. What kind of drill press is it?

Have you tried using shorter drill bits to start your holes with? Not only will this free up a bit of room for you it will also help in limiting run-out you get from longer bits. Once you've bottomed out the short bit, switching to a longer one may not be such a challenge.

Or you can go get a lathe and proper tooling and be done with the whole mess once and for all

Oh, to be independently wealthy!!

jeeper · Post by **jeeper** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:52 am

It's a small bench top from Delta works fine when drilling bow risers its original job. But with the brier, I do use shorter bits to start things out but quite often I have to remove the brier and the vice just to get the bit in. I think I'll get the lathe before the price goes back up $199 is the cheapest I've seen the Delta. I can start playing with it and save up for the 4 jaw. While searching last night I found the oneway jaws they come in smooth or profiled which is better for our situation?

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:24 am

You're going to want profiled jaws for stummel work.

bvartist · Post by **bvartist** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:27 am

Profiled jaws give much better gripping power. I think most makers use them.

jeeper · Post by **jeeper** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 9:03 am

What I figured tought the only reason folks might use the smooth was if the profiled left to deep a marks once clamped down.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 9:53 am

They do leave substantial marks, but they'll be long gone by the time you get to finishing sanding.

jeeper · Post by **jeeper** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:25 pm

I just found out that the 199 price on the delte midi is for a factory recond. unit. Now I'm woundering what to do

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:49 pm

How serious are you about making pipes? Serious enough to justify dropping the money on a lathe and the parts and pieces? That's the bigger question you need to answer. In several threads on this website, two professional pipemakers caution folks in our situation on the evils of jumping in feet first and eyes closed; of all that I've learned in these forums, those posts from Trever and Todd have stuck with me more than anything else I've read.

I've personally been through the "to lathe or not to lathe" quandry many, many times in the past 6 years since I got interested in making pipes. I still haven't taken the plunge. It's tough to get your head around the money it takes to get one up and running when you're not selling a few pieces a month to subsidize the cost. You may be well served by investing in a bit better drill press to get you where you need to be and keep the lathe in sight just a ways down the road. This is just my 2 cents, YMMV. I just know how easy it is to frustrate yourself in this craft by saying things like "if only I had this tool I could...", meanwhile, you get nothing done pipes-wise.

kbadkar · Post by **kbadkar** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:51 pm

A factory reconditioned unit should be fine. Check headstock-tailstock alignment before buying. I got my Jet-mini, which is pretty much the same unit as the Delta, from Rockler for $199. The newer ones have a variable speed motor and go for a $100 more. I don't think it's worth the extra dough.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 4:44 pm

jeeper wrote:I just found out that the 199 price on the delte midi is for a factory recond. unit. Now I'm woundering what to do

Almost all my tech kit is factory reconditioned. I've never had a problem with buying stuff like that. If you're serious about making pipes, I'd go for it. That's a very nice price for that lathe.

On the other hand, you can probably get a bigger drill press for half the cost. In the end, it boils down to doing what you're most comfortable with.

jeeper · Post by **jeeper** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 4:46 pm

hazmat wrote:How serious are you about making pipes? Serious enough to justify dropping the money on a lathe and the parts and pieces? That's the bigger question you need to answer. In several threads on this website, two professional pipemakers caution folks in our situation on the evils of jumping in feet first and eyes closed; of all that I've learned in these forums, those posts from Trever and Todd have stuck with me more than anything else I've read.

I've personally been through the "to lathe or not to lathe" quandry many, many times in the past 6 years since I got interested in making pipes. I still haven't taken the plunge. It's tough to get your head around the money it takes to get one up and running when you're not selling a few pieces a month to subsidize the cost. You may be well served by investing in a bit better drill press to get you where you need to be and keep the lathe in sight just a ways down the road. This is just my 2 cents, YMMV. I just know how easy it is to frustrate yourself in this craft by saying things like "if only I had this tool I could...", meanwhile, you get nothing done pipes-wise.

Yes this is what I wrestle with, I spoke with Mark Tinsky at length about this and came to the same decision you did, but now I;m trying to talk myself back into it. I would of course use it for other things but I still don't know if I can justify it.

kbadkar · Post by **kbadkar** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 5:25 pm

It seems to me that since you already have a drill press, it's silly to buy another one, since it works fine for your other uses. Plus you can do other operations on the lathe that a drill press isn't designed for (shaping & buffing, for example). Buy the lathe... you won't regret it. $200 lathe + $120 chuck & jaws + $20 Jacobs chuck = $340 and you'll be drilling without a curse word.

bvartist · Post by **bvartist** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 5:45 pm

Factory reconditioned should be good as new. I'll buy anything I can find that way and save some $$$. (currently pondering a Delta reconditioned variable speed grinder

)

Here's some info on Delta's factory reconditioned tools
http://www.cpowoodworking.com/about_del ... tools.html

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:40 pm

Not seeking to argue the point with Kurt, but $100 won't buy a decent drill press. My floor standing drill press cost somewhat more than that & I virtually gave the POS to my neighbour for $20, just to be rid of it. I'll just use the mill/drill on my combo for now.

kbadkar wrote:It seems to me that since you already have a drill press, it's silly to buy another one, since it works fine for your other uses. Plus you can do other operations on the lathe that a drill press isn't designed for (shaping & buffing, for example). Buy the lathe... you won't regret it. $200 lathe + $120 chuck & jaws + $20 Jacobs chuck = $340 and you'll be drilling without a curse word.

That will be the basic cost. Trust me, you will be buying needed accessories for it. I got so carried away buying accessories when I got my new "toy", I still have a couple I have yet to use more than 10 years later.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:19 pm

Frank wrote:Not seeking to argue the point with Kurt, but $100 won't buy a decent drill press. My floor standing drill press cost somewhat more than that & I virtually gave the POS to my neighbour for $20, just to be rid of it. I'll just use the mill/drill on my combo for now.

Well, half the cost of a lathe+tools+chuck+accessories at any rate. I have a $100 Delta drill press and wouldn't wish that evil on anyone....

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:37 pm

Total up the costs for all of the items you will need to make this wood lathe setup operate for you. The compare that to the price of a decent mini metal lathe. I think that you could probably buy one for around $500. I've said this time and again on this site and the sentiment has been echoed by the other pros who operate here. If you are convinced that you want to abandon the drill press (and many many professional pipemakers are lathe-free) I'd really recommend just buying a metal lathe. You'll upgrade there eventually anyway if you stick with it, so why buy a machine that you probably will not use in the future? The only two professional pipemakers I know who use wood lathes are Bill Ashton-Taylor and the carver of James Upshall pipes (I am blanking on his name.) They were both instructed by Dunhill to learn the method.

Best,

Jeff