Hi guys!
I am not sure if any of you guys already know these 'tips', but I thought I would share them as I have found them great!
1) Drilling perfectly central holes in the blanks - I have got an axminster super precision chuck and it came with a two sets of what look like machinists jaws (internal and external), I fit these jaws into the chuck and these hold my square pen blank firmly and most importantly dead central, I can then use my drill chuck to bore the hole and they come out near enough bang on target. Now don't get me wrong, this method is not 100% accurate but it is very close and nice and easy to do once you have it set up, plus..... you don't have to buy one of those fancy self centring drilling jigs.
2) Keying the brass tubes for glue up - I have previously bought a light pull mandrel from axminster for around £15, I bought this with the intention of making some nice light pulls for around the house, however I have now discovered a new use for it! What I did was to clamp it in my chuck using the jaws mentioned previously (any jaws should do though), place the brass tube on the end and then brought up the tail stock, I then used some 240 grit sand paper and within 10 seconds I had a perfectly keyed brass tube without any hassle.
Does anyone have any other tips to add to the list?
I am not sure if any of you guys already know these 'tips', but I thought I would share them as I have found them great!
1) Drilling perfectly central holes in the blanks - I have got an axminster super precision chuck and it came with a two sets of what look like machinists jaws (internal and external), I fit these jaws into the chuck and these hold my square pen blank firmly and most importantly dead central, I can then use my drill chuck to bore the hole and they come out near enough bang on target. Now don't get me wrong, this method is not 100% accurate but it is very close and nice and easy to do once you have it set up, plus..... you don't have to buy one of those fancy self centring drilling jigs.
2) Keying the brass tubes for glue up - I have previously bought a light pull mandrel from axminster for around £15, I bought this with the intention of making some nice light pulls for around the house, however I have now discovered a new use for it! What I did was to clamp it in my chuck using the jaws mentioned previously (any jaws should do though), place the brass tube on the end and then brought up the tail stock, I then used some 240 grit sand paper and within 10 seconds I had a perfectly keyed brass tube without any hassle.
Does anyone have any other tips to add to the list?
