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I've got some briar on the way, few questions;
My only way of drilling these stummels is my drill press. I'm looking for tips on what order to drill, etc.
Do I face it first, or drill the mortise first? And the draft hole after the mortise?
I figured face it and drill the mortise and just leave the block mounted on the table, change bits then bada boom bada bing ?
Any advice is appreciated

thats basically it. don't let you bit wander or you'll have my woes
Bob Clark

Face first, always. If you drill teh mortis then try to face with a Forstner bit you'll end up with a chattering forstner bit and a crappy shank face.

Then drill the mortis, this way you don't disturb the angle of the block, and the chances of getting the face and mortis perpendicular to each other is greatly increased.

Then your airway, changing angle as required.

Then, flip the block and drill your tobacco chamber. Do this last so that you can adjust the depth to intersect with the airway. If you do the tobacco chamber first, you run the risk of having to go back and adjust it after drilling the airway if you come in too low.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking just wanted to make sure, I have "thunk" wrong before
Drill press question;
For the moment, I have mine mounted to a wooden work table. I do have a steel table for the press, made of angle and plate steel. Welded square by my dad (he's a welder by trade) just waiting to drill the mounting holes (3/8" steel is a bitch with my wimpy drill)
The question is; when I start it up, it doesn't look to be spinning true. Could this be from shoddy mounting or the belt being too loose, or am I just reaping the repricussion of a used drill press? I tried my forstner bits on a piece on white oak, it seemed to face pretty well, but I believe if I drop the speed it may do better?
Or is there a trick to "making it spin true?"

Hmmm...

My old drill press wouldn't spin true because the spindle bearings were crap. That might be your problem, but if you're lucky you may be able to just pull the chuck and clean the tapers. Put a heavy object in the chuck and GENTLY tap on the side of the chuck with a soft-faced mallet. It should eventually fall off. Carefully clean the spindle nose and the chuck taper socket, wipe a coat of light oil onto the spindle nose, and carefully press it back on by using the handles to force the chuck down onto a block of wood.

The mounting and belt tightness haven't got much to do with that. I'd try it first and see if it's insurmountable. I got less chatter on the old press when starting the chamber hole with a forstner, then switching to a spade bit. I couldn't clamp the vise down, though, I had to let it move with the chuck or it would chatter unmercifully.

I looked into what you said, most keep saying I need a chuck removal tool? Looks to me like a glorified crows foot (which I happen to have)
I also delved a bit deeper into inspecting it today, I think it may be the bearings because if I turn the chuck, even with the step pulley removed, it has a wobble. I did clean the tapers to the best of my abilty before work today, planning to try it again tomorrow to see if that helped. Looks like I may just need another drill press...

Ouch! That sounds like the bearings or a bent spindle. No cheap fix on those problems.

Edited to add: This is common on drill presses where someone used it as a milling machine with one of those cross-slide positioning vises. The spindle bearings are not designed for side loads.

Aha! Just got off the phone with a good friend, and it turns out one of the guys in his bluegrass band is a retired machinist who specializes in making replacement parts. Should know this weekend what he would charge to make a new spindle or just replace that bushings. Just hope I get the "friend price." But from what I hear he's an honest guy with fair prices. Here's hopin

KurtHuhn wrote:Then, flip the block and drill your tobacco chamber. Do this last so that you can adjust the depth to intersect with the airway. If you do the tobacco chamber first, you run the risk of having to go back and adjust it after drilling the airway if you come in too low.

Thanks very much for this Kurt, just goes to show I should have really read a lot more before trying to learn from my own mistakes. I have been drilling the bowl first... usually I been decent but not always and like you said going back and adjusting after drilling the airway and coming in too low is a pain but doable, coming in high though is kindling...

I am hoping to grab a day over the long t-day weekend to go after some more briars and this helps and will do the bowl last.