Nifty trick needed!

[HamsterJam]

I have done this a few times with Forstner bits and brad points/twist drills.
Slow speed (400rpm is slowest my lathe can go) - a bit faster for bradpoint/twist drills (next step up for me is 1000rpm).
Withdraw bits to clear waste and allow cutting surfaces to cool every 20mm or so, particularly for twist drills.
Use a candle to apply wax as a lubricant if necessary.
Hold Jacob’s chuck with left hand while feeding gently with right to avoid morse taper spinning.
Don’t over extend quill in tailstock to keep things tight and accurate.
Keep cutting edges of sharp - use a diamond file to hone forstner bits periodically.

 

[Richard_C]

Lathe is a Coronet Herald, and I think a bit of judicious waxing would make quite an improvement to the tailstock smoothness

Mine too. It has a self ejecting tailstock and the Jacobs chuck I have was bought for an earlier lathe so the tang is a bit longer than the one on the supplied live centre, do a comparison. That means I have to wind the tailstock out 15 mm or so before I put the chuck in place or it won't seat properly. A block of solid beeswax on the bed, and on the ridges under the casting, works well for getting it all moving nicely, good on the toolrest as well. I don't use sprays, no need and you don't risk getting it in the wood where it might mess up finished. The MT tapers don't need lubrication, dry and clean so they grip.

 

[Amplidyne]

If you have a metal turning lathe, what's stopping you making an extension for whatever bits?
Personally when I needed to put a larger or add sized hole in something on the woodturning lathe, I just ground or filed a spade bit and used an extension.
My relatively crude woodturning lathe with a pressed base never seemed to have much trouble accurately (enough) repositioning the tailstock, as long as I made sure it was pulled over towards me before tightening.
Spade bits clear the waste easily, and you can sharpen them with "spurs" to stop any initial tear out.

 

[Paul Hannaby]

If your tailstock alignment is hit and miss, it won't help you drill straight holes. Also, there is a limit on the quill travel so for deep holes, you will need to move the tailstock to achieve greater depths than the quill will allow in a single operation so again, tailstock alignment is important.

I use blacksmith drills for shorter holes, forstner bits with extensions for deeper ones and also beam drills for even deeper holes but you need a long bed to use a beam drill. For small diameter holes, lamp augers are useful. Here the range is around 6-10mm diameter and up to around 3' length.

The most accurate type of drill would be a gun drill with air feed. They are available in a range of diameters and lengths but they aren't cheap. I have a few of those which come in useful occasionally.

An alternative here would be to use a smaller diameter drill to overcome the alignment issues and after drilling, enlarge the hole to full size with a hollowing tool. This ensures concentricity and allows any diameter to be cut.

 

[SkyBlue63]

You could also consider the cheap chinese TC Forstner bits with added extension.

 

[RonnieI]

I use Forstner bits with a home made extension. Can do a 40mm hole 300mm or so with only about 1mm run out. I have to keep repositioning the tailstock because the quill on mine is around 130mm long.

 

[JerryP]

I use Forstner bits with a home made extension. Can do a 40mm hole 300mm or so with only about 1mm run out. I have to keep repositioning the tailstock because the quill on mine is around 130mm long.

I think I’ll try some extensions, whether homemade or shop bought depends on what spare bar I have in the workshop, and how much time I have to put to it. I do like the idea of hollowing though - it’s how I would go about it on the engineering lathe.

 

[MikeJhn]

I don't have a Lathe, but do have a lot of fishing rods, what has that got to do with anything you may ask, if any of you know about Spay Casting you know that the action is against keeping the rod ferruls together, (Morse taper) using "Loon Graffitolin Ferrule wax" allows easy fitting, sure location and easy disassembly, may be worth a try?

Happy New Year all.

 

[Sachakins]

I have a set of extensions for 10mm shank forstner bits, work a treat.
Not used often, but when needed a great kit to have.

FAMAG 1639503 3pcs Extenison Shank Set https://amzn.eu/d/edRXv2s