According to monkers :
I have a friend who brought a project by the other day. He has a bunch
( 60 + - ) 1"x1"x8" hardwood blocks that need to have a 3/16" hole
drilled through the center (long ways) . Any ideas on the best,
fastest way to do this? I was thinking of putting them in the 4 jaw &
drill with a normal length drill, then switch to a 12" bit, but I only
have about 3" of travel on the tailstock ram. So, I thought I could
make some makeshift drill bit holder and mount in place of the tool
post and use the carrige to drill the hole. Any ideas would be
helpful, thanks,

What kind of toolpost do you have? If you have a quick-change
toolpost by Aloris, or one of the semi-clones (by Phase-II or several
other makers) there are tool holders with a Morse taper socket. Install
this, put in a drill chuck with arbor, carefully center it relative to
the spindle, and then chuck your drill and feed with the carriage
handwheel.

Or -- if you already have the boring bar holder for such a
quick-change toolpost, you may be able to find a cylindrical to Morse
taper adaptor to reduce that to the size of Morse taper you need.

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---