your thoughts on using MT2 ER32 collet chuck in the tailstock.

It is possible to put a dog on the drill with the tail against the compound or cross slide to take the torque of heavy drilling. It works. I have pretty much given up on trying to drill big holes in steel with the tailstock. Too many things can and do go wrong, and it hurts the work, the tooling and the lathe, and makes the operator (me!) afraid of it, which is not a good thing. I have taken to drilling a single hole (no step drilling) that I know I can do safely and with confidence and then boring the hole to completion. Takes longer, but is a lot less exciting.
 
Bob Korves said:
I have taken to drilling a single hole (no step drilling) that I know I can do safely and with confidence and then boring the hole to completion. Takes longer, but is a lot less exciting.
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That pretty much is how I drill larger holes with my small lathe, it is tedious but no drama.
 
It is also possible to power feed heavier drills by connecting the (slightly loose) tailstock to the carriage and pulling it, or by buying or making a chuck mount or Morse taper socket for the tool post. I have no intention of going there.
 
When I have to drill a hole larger than 1/2", I pilot drill the stock and switch to a main drill with an integral MT tang on it. Tap it into the tailstock quill and it won't slip. A big drill with a reduced shank (like S&D drills) will often cause the chuck to spin in the tailstock taper if it catches. It isn't the chuck that slips so much as the MT. Big drills with integral MT shanks are not cheap but they hold solidly and cause much less excitement.
 
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