Tailstock Drill (Lever Action)

[HandyDan]

I was never happy drilling on the lathe. All that cranking of the tailstock wheel and never enough travel. I always thought a lever action, like a drill press, would be nice especially when it comes to clearing the chips from the bit and hole. I looked through my stash of "Stuff that Will Come in Handy Someday" and found everything I needed. I had a tailstock from a old small lathe I scrapped so I took it and removed the 1/2" shaft that was in it and turned a brass bushing with a 3/8" hole to fit in its place.

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I chose the 3/8" hole because the mounting thread for the drill chuck was 3'8" and I found a rod with 3/8" fine thread already on it. Mated the two together and checked for true and it was more than close enough for this purpose.

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Since the tailstock didn't match my Delta 46-460 I needed to make a pedestal for it to mate to. Made it from some 1.5"X3" plastic and made a hold down clamp from some Delrin I had on hand. This part was a little tricky so to make sure I got it right I chucked a 3/8" bushing in the lathe chuck and slid the assembly with a 3/8" bit in the drill chuck it in and out until it did so effortlessly.

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Next up was the linkage. All went well there. Mounted it on the lathe and the tests proved success. I now have a lever action drill for my lathe with a 4" travel.

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[Stick486]

OUTSTANDING!!!

what are you going to do when you use aircraft or bell bits...

[Cherryville Chuck]

A genuine MacGyver job Dan. I bought a 3/4" chuck from an outfit in California and the shaft to mount it in my lathe, either an MT2 or 3 taper. i think the chuck and shaft were $17 US so we aren't talking top of the line quality, The lathe is the bottom of the line Delta one. I thought I could use it to drive small spindles but it was either out of round or out of balance so it didn't work. Luckily the tail stock is the same shaft so I can switch it with the chuck and use it to drill with and it works just fine doing that.

[HandyDan]

OUTSTANDING!!!

what are you going to do when you use aircraft or bell bits...

Don't often use longer than a jobber length bit but once a hole is started it can easily be made deeper with a hand held bit. Then this can be used which I made from a drill chuck and a drill side handle.

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[Cherryville Chuck]

It's probably a good idea to start with a short bit as they are stiffer. I have some 12" ones and up to about 1/4" they deflect pretty easy when you put pressure on them. Do you have any trouble holding on to the handle of that one?

[HandyDan]

It's probably a good idea to start with a short bit as they are stiffer. I have some 12" ones and up to about 1/4" they deflect pretty easy when you put pressure on them. Do you have any trouble holding on to the handle of that one?

Using the skew to mark center goes a long way to get the bit going straight. Holding onto the bit isn't hard unless it gets jammed. I always keep one hand on the off switch while doing that. I let it spin loosely in my hand while the lathe is idling down. I never use the hand held for big bits. Here is a good video on lathe drilling.

[Cherryville Chuck]

That's a good tip about turning a small cone to center the drill bit.

[HandyDan]

That's a good tip about turning a small cone to center the drill bit.

Yes it is. It dead nuts center using his method,