"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2016-12-02, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
...
Hmmm ... for cross drilling -- have you ever seen the tailstock
tool for the purpose? A Morse-taper mounted round pad with a
V-groove
across it. Just slap the workpiece (assuming cylindrical) into
the
V,
and with a drill chuck in the headstock spindle, drill away. I've
seen
them in old _How to use a Lathe_ books. Either the
Atlas/Craftsman
one,
or the South Bend -- if not both.

I would actually like to have one of those myself.


I have one that I never used, so I just went through the motions
without turning the lathe on. I don't like having to swap the hand
holding the work against the vee to reach the power switch on the
headstock while the spindle is running and the drill is in the
hole.
Backing out the tailstock could let the work spin. It seems as
dangerous as hand-holding a small part on a drill press.

Add a foot switch to stop the spindle. (It helps if you have a
relay-switched spindle motor with buttons -- there you just need to
add
a NC switch in series with the stop switch.

Enjoy,
DoN.

Like the lathe milling attachment it seems to be a workaround for
those who don't have other machine tools. It provides only hand layout
and punch mark accuracy lengthwise.

Long ago I cast a white metal bolt-down vee block for my drill press
that served the same function. The drill bit holds the block centered
while tightening the bolts. Before the bit breaks through I raised the
bit and work and turned the work onto the flat tops to give clearance
underneath.

-jsw