Hey Guys, Some of you have mensioned using a chuck with your lathe to drill through your plugs. What is a chuck, and are they expensive? Thanks PB

it's that round thingie on the end of a drill that u put your drill bit into .....they come without the drill an have a shaft on it so u can put it into the end of the lathe [motor side]. then u can through drill your plug...neat trick....far better than a drill press.

Thanks for the explanation, I wasn't sure.

Check the documentation that came with your lathe. It will tell you what kind of chuck your lathe takes. Probably MT1 or MT2. The MT stands for morse taper I think. They are not too expensive. I got mine on ebay for $12.

Originally posted by capesams
put it into the end of the lathe [motor side]. then u can through drill your plug...neat trick....far better than a drill press.

I thought you guys were putting the chuck into the tail stock....what are you using to keep the plug straight and how do you keep it from spinning if the drill bites in :confused:

YS, I hold the plug with my hand. The left hand guides the plug onto the bit and keeps it from spinning, keeping the center fo the tail on the tailstock keeps the bit centered down the plug so the drill hopefully comes out the center. I slide the tailstock up the lathe bed because you can get far more stroke faster than you can with the hand crank, you can also slide the tailstock back and clear chips faster than you can turning the crank. I generally drill from both ends. I fyou wan tyou can put your drive center in the tailstock to help hod the plug from spinning.

thanks, fp

Sears has the #2 Morse taper to a jacobs 1/2" chuck. I'm not sure how much they're getting for them though.