Machinist

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/tool-post-drill-chuck-alignment-245567/

1. 
   

   Tool post drill chuck alignment

   I recently got a tool post mt-2 adapter with a lot of others that I needed. Just to try something I loaded a Jacobs chuck into it. Now I'm wondering how to align it tothe spindle center? A wiggler doesn't seem to work nor does the DTI because there is no runout per se. There is just a constant offset in one or more axes.
   
   How do people align these and what are they commonly used for? Is it more accurate than tailstock drilling? More convenient?
   Thanks!
   Chris
2. 
   

   Throw it in a drawer & take it out only when you want to brag about having one. The only thing they are good for is to power feed your drill. Use dowel in your 3 jaw the find height, Use dia. of drill & dia of part to find
   center when you crank in, 1/2 half of each.
   Stan S.
3. 
   

   I would line up the side of the holder to the extended tailstock spindle. Then line up the height with either a live center in the tailstock or a pin in the spindle chuck.
4. 
   

   I use mine all the time for center-drills. To judge alignment you have to look at the chip. Rotate the cutting edges into the line you want to judge and take a chip. If the drill is off center the chip will be thick on the side in the direction you are off. I can get it dialed in pretty quick.
   
   To use a wiggler or an indicator place a dowel in the chuck and mount the wiggler/indicator in the chuck. Rotate the chuck by hand. Much too much trouble in my book.
   
   You don't need the chuck. Use MT2 collets. Keeps the carriage up near the work, eliminates sag and holds the work more securely. Plus you can have a larger selection of tools pre-mounted.
5. 
   

   Chuck a drill capacity rod in the lathe chuck. Plop the drill chuck in the tool post, loosen tool post a bit. With everything relaxed, position axes and slip the drill chuck on the rod. Lightly tighten the drill drill chuck, snug up the tool post, snug he height adjusting nut, tighten the tool post by stages ubtill all is snug and the rod slips in an out of the dril chuck without deflection. Select a tooll number and zero offsets if yiu have a DRO. Apply tape to slided and matchmarrk with felt tip pen and zero micrometer collars on slide and compound if you don't.
   
   You won't use it much. As shs said throw it in a drawer. It's a great seeming idea that didn't work out that well in practice. Also if you want to feed a larger drill in tough material the tool post may rotate from the thrust. Takes a lot of push to feed a drill.

   
   

   Shs-cm.... never had to drill a lot of long holes??? Toolpost adapter is very usefull for that.
   
   A stop pin can be inserted in bottom of QC tool holder (mine has one) to resist twist, Use compound to dial it in x axis wise, with stop pin firmly set against compound.
   
   The toolpost chuck holder saves endless cranking on tailstock, and clamping and unclamping of tailstock to slide it back to clear chips.
   
   It also has a lot longer throw, then even the longest lever operated tailstock.
   
   Add a coolant through adapter to MT drill, and you can really knock out some deep drilling.
   
   Not a HUGE hole drilling setup, but for light to medium drilling, it can save time. A heavy duty special MT holder could be fabbed, to eliminate the off center thrust, and having to dial in height every time. It would not use the QC toolpost.

   
   

   i use a similar holder with an allied tm series drill and spray mist through the tool to punch holes through long shafts, works quite well. I sweep the pocket and write down my crossfeed dial position for center line. Quick change block height is set when sweeping with a dti. I call it my poor mans gun drilling machine
6. 
   
8. 
   

   I'm with abarnsley. I drill a lot of pins for grease, and I use mine often. 1/8-3/8 drills, sometimes over 12" deep. One turn of the carriage handwheel is either 1/2" or 1" depending on the lathe, beats 1/8" on the tailstock. I centered it the first time like Forrest described, and locked the height screw. Now I just put the long drill along the shaft to get the chuck parallel with the spindle, and guess to center by watching the tip of the drill if it moves when it enters the hole. I will start the hole with a screw machine or jobber length drill.
9. 
   

   I once had to drill a lot of deep holes in permalloy tubing. Basically high nickel steel.
   
   Small jacobs chuck went on a straight arbor.
   Arbor went into an aloris tool block.
   Tool block went into the toolpost, pointing at the
   spindle.
   
   Needed: height to match the spindle height.
   Needed: forward/backward distance set to match spindle position
   Needed: axis of drill aligned with axis of spindle.
   Needed: compound pointing exactly parallel to the ways
   
   A blank in the chuck heading into the spindle works. I used a dial test indicator to get closer, as
   I had to drill three inches (about 0.080 diameter drill).
   
   Then a stop was installed on the bed.
   
   Carriage runs forward to stop. Feed with compound. Retract with carriage to clear
   chips. Rapid forward to stoip, continue feeding with compound. Continue till hole is
   at depth.
   
   

   limited experience with this, but...

   Originally Posted by beez

   How do people align these and what are they commonly used for? Is it more accurate than tailstock drilling? More convenient?
   Thanks!
   Chris

   I've got an ER16 collet holder and a set of collets. The collet holder OD is the same size as my AXA boring bar holder ID. So, I chuck up the ER 16 collet holder in a headstock collet, loosen the tool post bolt, and align the boring bar holder so it slides right over the ER16 holder. Lock the tool post into alignment, then move the carriage back to clear the collet holder. Take the ER16 collet holder out of the headstock and pop in into the boring bar holder. Close enough for my stuff.
   
   Would love to have a turret lathe, but don't have room. Does anyone know of a way to mount a turret for a DV59 onto an HLVH bed?
10. 
    

    Go carefull going for a turret addition on a standard lathe bed, a lot of them don't have that much stroke :-( But mine still seams to spend about 3/4 of its life on the lathe bed in place of the tailstock.
11. 
    

    Ray, that is one sweet setup on your tailstock. First one I've seen with a power feed.
    
    I use a tool holder with a MT3 hole on my QCTP to bore 7/8" holes in a 3" dia. X 1" thk mild steel biscuit under power. After I get all the biscuits bored, I then tap them at 1"X8tpi under power. Works just fine until the tool holder gets out of alignment, then bye bye tap. I also put a pin in place to keep the QCTP from spinning.
    
    Tim
12. 
    

    Ok, it's settled then! I think. Is it?
    
    I guess for vertical alignment I could use a pin in the spindle, a pin in the tool post chuck, and a six inch scale just like I setup cutting tools.
    For horizontal alignment I could use the same pin and adjust it for a loose running fit between the two when aligned.
    
    For ultra precision I could mount an indicator ( I don't have a coax, yet ) in the spindle and sweep the inside of the MT tool holder.
    
    Wow, Ray, that's a nice tailstock setup. I love the two-for-one locking mechanism, and the power feed. Did you run a face mill over the top to make it more tool-friendly? What kind of machine is it?
    
    Chris
    Beez,
    

13. Nope, just cleaned the paint off. It's a 20'' x 80'' American w/ box ways. For a cheap POS power feed, it works like a charm!
14. 
    

    I use a drill adapter regularly for deeps holes. After getting center ht set, I set the X like on any CNC lathe. Touch the edge of the drill to the edge of the stock, set the cross feed to be the diameter of the stock plus the diameter of the drill, crank into center and drill. I square the toolpost by loosening the bolt and bumping it on the tailstock ram, gets it within a .0005/3" on my lathe.
    
    When pecking I either loosen the carriage stop if it has one or set a chunk of metal on the way so that it gets pushed down the bed by the carriage when powerfed. When pecking I can retract the drill and then run it down to within .050 of the stop and engage the powerfeed for the next peck. I prefer this to sliding a heavy tailstock back and forth.