Stupid simple project taught me a lot

[Batmanacw]

My project today was stupid simple but the result will be a huge improvement in efficiency.

I needed to drill a 3/16" hole in the end of 4 pins 1.5" deep. Then drill 0.080" deep with 1/4", then drill #3 to 0.260" from the face. Then lightly debur the hole and tap 1/4-28.

My tiny headstock has to be locked down to loosen the chuck quickly. I had the center drill in its own 2mt, I chucked all three drills, the chamfer tool, and the spring tap guide.

The finish was to cut an external radial groove at 1.375" from the face and then drill a hole through the groove to the center hole.

What struck me is how much time I wasted on the drill chuck. On this lathe, popping out the mt2 is way faster than cranking the chuck on 5 different size tools.

I ordered a mt2 endmill holder in 1/4 and 3/8 for my chamfer tools, a 1/2" for my tap guides, and a mt2 to 3/8-24 drill arbor for an inexpensive USA made 1/2" Jacob's chuck.

I will have 3 drill chucks and my center drill, chamfer tools, and my tap guides will all be on their own tapers. This would have dramatically sped up my super easy job today. I blew around $100 on better efficiency.

Does anyone else find that changing tapers is faster than spinning the chuck, especially over large size differences?

 

[woodchucker]

Yep, I have quite a few.
I keep 2 with center drills, one a super small and one a medium size .
I have another for a pilot drill on large holes.. I . it's an odd size that won't get used otherwise.
I have 1 or 2 others for free drilling of other holes. Any of them can be changed. Then I have another 3 chucks for my mill which can also work on the lathe. I have done as you have...

 

[Batmanacw]

Yep, I have quite a few.
I keep 2 with center drills, one a super small and one a medium size .
I have another for a pilot drill on large holes.. I . it's an odd size that won't get used otherwise.
I have 1 or 2 others for free drilling of other holes. Any of them can be changed. Then I have another 3 chucks for my mill which can also work on the lathe. I have done as you have...

I have a drill chuck on an R8 and two on straight shanks. I also have an R8 to mt2 adapter. Now I'll have 3 on mt2.

If I was going to do a bunch of tool changes on the mill I'd use my er16 and er20 collet chucks to hold all the different tools.

 

[Firstram]

Keyless chuck?

 

[Batmanacw]

Keyless chuck?

My main chuck is keyless. It still takes time to roll the chuck body to change drill bits. With my tiny tailstock I have to lock it down so the back end doesn't pop up as I put down pressure on the chuck. Each extra movement takes time. Shaving off a minute a part would be huge.

 

[woodchucker]

My main chuck is keyless. It still takes time to roll the chuck body to change drill bits. With my tiny tailstock I have to lock it down so the back end doesn't pop up as I put down pressure on the chuck. Each extra movement takes time. Shaving off a minute a part would be huge.

why I stopped using my keyless. I find the jacobs so much easier to spin to size. I keep mine in the drill press.

 

[Firstram]

why I stopped using my keyless. I find the jacobs so much easier to spin to size. I keep mine in the drill press.

I have cleaned the Chinese out of mine and lightly re-lubed with higher quality grease. All three spin freely and tighten easier now.

 

[Batmanacw]

I have cleaned the Chinese out of mine and lightly re-lubed with higher quality grease. All three spin freely and tighten easier now.

For my little lathe popping the taper out is just easier since I don't have far to go. Lol

 

[Batmanacw]

The morse tapers should arrive before I get home on Friday. Weeks when I've got new stuff to try out and I'm traveling for work are the worst!

I'll put a small flat on my tap guide and chamfer tools for the set screws. Just like I did for my #3 center drill when I modified a drill chuck arbor for that purpose.

I've got the 3/8-24 drill chuck arbor coming too.

Now to figure out how to hold the tapers and drill chucks in a way that I can access them quickly and put them back as I work through the tools.

 

[Batmanacw]

I'm going to mount this on the chip shield of my lathe above the tailstock.



4 tools will live in it permanently in the same spots. A center drill, two chamfer tools, and a tap guide.

Then the 3 drill chucks.

This way each time I grab a tool or chuck, the moment I'm done with it the tool goes right back to its home. No tray clutter. No drill bits laying together in the tray waiting for me to grab the wrong one.