DRILLING WITH THE CENTRE LATHE
V. Ryan © 2003 - 2009
| PDF FILE - CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE WORKSHEET | |
|
USING THE TAILSTOCK FOR DRILLING |
|
|
|
The tailstock of a lathe can be used for drilling, with the aid of a drill chuck attachment. The drill chuck has a morse taper shaft which can be push into the shaft of the tailstock, locking it in position. |
|
|
|
|
|
The usual starting point for drilling with a centre lathe is to use a countersink bit. This is used to drill slightly into the material and creates a starting point for other drills that are going to be used. Attempting to drill with a traditional drill bit without countersinking first will lead to the drill bit slipping straight away. It is not possible to drill a hole successfully or safely with out using a centre drill first. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If a long piece of material has to be turned on a lathe then a centre drill is used to produce the hole at one end. This allows the drilled end to be supported by the tailstock centre. |
|
|
Once a hole has been produced by a centre drill, machine twist drills can be used to enlarge the hole and if necessary to drill all the way through. If a large diameter hole is needed then a small hole is drilled first (eg. 4mm dia). Then the hole is enlarged approximately 2mm at a time. Trying to drill a large diameter hole in one go will inevitably lead to the drill bit over heating and then jamming in the material. This is potentially dangerous. |
| When drilling, it is very important to use soluble oil as a coolant. This should be constantly fed onto the drill bit to keep it cool. This will help prevent jamming and over heating. Over heating will blunt the drill bit quickly. | |
|
QUESTION: Using diagrams, explain the stages involved in the drilling of a hole - using the centre lathe. |
|
|
|
|