Drilling Wooden Pen Blanks

I founded Green Leaf Wood Studio around 5 years ago when I made the decision to become a professional woodturner. Since that time, I conservatively estimate that I have made about 500 wooden pens. I tell you this to establish my experience while I proceed to debunk a commonly held opinion among woodturners...

Collective wisdom says when you go to drill out penblanks that you keep the rpm's low, in the 300-400 range. My experience leads me to believe this is wrong.




This is a picture of the control panel on my lathe. As you can see, I have it set to 1000rpm's. The blanks I was drilling were maple burl, amboyna burl and some rosewood (these were leftover blanks from who-can-remember-when-I-bought-then. Best guess, these are 2 years old). Total number of pieces I split/cracked from excessive speed or heat generated...zero.

Let me clarify a couple of things because I know some readers are saying, "Ya, but..."

I am a woodturner and therefore the material I was drilling was wood. Not acrylic. Not metal. Not some funky weird rock material. Wood.

I do not use any special drill bits. I use regular, old-tech, twist bits which came with different pen kits. These are not colt, cobalt, bullet-point, or brad-point bits. If I order a style of kit which is new to me, I order the appropriate sized bit for that kit. If the bit arrives as a brad-point or something else, fine. I will use it but generally I use twist bits (like I was tonight).

I tend to advance the bit rather quickly via my tailstock. I hear lots of folks saying that you should only advance a 1/2" at time and that you need to cool your bit with a water spray. I have seen no evidence which supports this notion. Me, I drill fairly quickly until the shavings no longer easily escape up the flutes. Then, I retract the bit and brush off impacted shavings with an old toothbrush. Come on people, this is woodturning, not brain surgery. Let's keep it on the simple side. Leave the brain surgery to the rocket scientists. Ok, maybe not them but you get the idea.

So, why do people advocate this low-speed, slow-advance approach? I really have no idea. Perhaps they have read it in a book by someone famous and accept it as gospel. Me, I'm not famous, though I have read the same books. Maybe they like drilling blanks. I hate it so I want it done and over with.

Now, just so you don't think I am in a surly, pompous frame of mind, here is a piece of advice which many penturners will offer, and which I am a recent convert to... Turn your pens between centers without the use of a mandrel. A size "A" mandrel will easily flex if it is held by too much tailstock pressure which leads to vibration which leads to all sorts of badness. I picked up a hardened non-revolving centre for about $7.00. I mount this is my headstock and my regular revolving centre in the tailstock. I also use the appropriate bushings on either end of the blank, just like I would if i was using a mandrel. Ya, you need to turn each section of your pen separately and that takes extra time. Trust me, the results are worth it. Here is a picture of my set-up...




So, how about it...what "truths" of the woodturning world have you found to be less than true? Shall I tackle the volumes that have been written on the subject of finishing next? How about the notion that more money spent makes for better tools? Ya, I could upset a pile of folks with those...

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. Disclaimer: If you want to drill ebony, African Blackwood or other brutally brittle species, you are on your own. I do not condone the use of these species for any number of reasons including their high PITA factor.

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