mini bead lathe to hollow point drill (other possiblities)

[corey012778]

after a number of failures at making something like these I bought a mini bead lathe and did a small mod. took it's "tail stock" and removed the bearings. put an .500 x .325 nylon spacer. cut a small slit in the top of the spacer to make it fit in the 12mm hole. had to bore out the spacer after that to fit an .314 boolit. while cutting the spacer, I broke one end of it. became a blessing. gave me a place to hold the boolit while drilling.

I can see other uses for these tool. case trimming, spin polishing, with the right cutting, case forming.


the lathe
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/corey012778/Mobile%20Uploads/05FF2464-C599-47EB-BD4C-0BCF599EF54F_zpsrhginmqy.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/corey012778/media/Mobile%20Uploads/05FF2464-C599-47EB-BD4C-0BCF599EF54F_zpsrhginmqy.jpg.html)

boolit
still a little off center
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/corey012778/Mobile%20Uploads/D651E1DD-07EA-4891-BC6D-CB17AB652EE3_zps9uwy2phd.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/corey012778/media/Mobile%20Uploads/D651E1DD-07EA-4891-BC6D-CB17AB652EE3_zps9uwy2phd.jpg.html)
"tail stock" (12mm shaft support for cnc)
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/corey012778/Mobile%20Uploads/8DA680B7-C7AF-4327-9566-C842382355F7_zpsyukr118w.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/corey012778/media/Mobile%20Uploads/8DA680B7-C7AF-4327-9566-C842382355F7_zpsyukr118w.jpg.html)

[JeepHammer]

A lathe center drill might give you a cleaner cut with a little deburring, rather than a regular twist drill.
https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tnpla/78581998?cid=ppc-google-New+-+Holemaking+-+PLA_sTAIITEfP___164124449516_t_S&mkwid=sTAIITEfP|dt&pcrid=164124449516&rd=k&product_id=78581998&gclid=CjwKCAjw54fdBRBbEiwAW28S9sKmmB_X-pridP9nrbBU82oF5L5oBfTWXd5OegAmQ_m481Q2_JLGBRoCO7k QAvD_BwE

I *Might* use a collet type bullet puller in the tail stock to make for quicker bullet changes if I had a bunch to do...

Lead is a PITA to drill (like a lot of Non-ferrous), a parabolic drill will cut and roll curls much easier.

[corey012778]

I have set of center drill up at my shop. don't know if it will fit in the chuck I know a .308 and up boolit does not fit in that small chuck. as for the set up in the tailstock. it is set up for easy in and out of 30cal boolets. when I move up to larger or smaller then I will find something more on the lines of a collet system. already thought about all that. right now it is a fast/dirty mod for one caliber.


should of posted these the starter, where I broke the spacers, the blessing. I can slide the boolit in and out, also hold in place when drilling.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/corey012778/Mobile%20Uploads/34B09C8D-EE84-4258-BFC3-FCF004B44A36_zpsdo3bee9m.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/corey012778/media/Mobile%20Uploads/34B09C8D-EE84-4258-BFC3-FCF004B44A36_zpsdo3bee9m.jpg.html)

[JSnover]

Center drills come in smaller sizes, you might be able to use one of them to start the hole and finish with a larger stub drill.

[EDG]

To drill on center the work piece should be chucked on center in the spindle. The drill should be in the tailstock. Then the drill will seek to find the center of the spinning work piece.

[country gent]

shorten the drill up as much as possible. Split the point web and sharpen it with a gage keeping the angles equal and even and the web centered. A lot of lead drilling is done with spade drills ( d reamers here) also. the smaller center drills are short and stiff and don't wander a lot. It is better to spin the workpiece as the drill tends to follow center, spinning the cutter it follows its path

[rbuck351]

I use a HF 7x14 minilathe for this. Just chuck the boolit then use a center drill. I do this before sizing and lubing the boolit. It works very well.

[corey012778]

little update.
order 4 more of the supports that are being used for the tail stock, started making a collet system for the workpiece, and a micro drill chuck with a 3mm shaft adaptor (mainly for the shaft adaptor).

worst comes to worst I switch out the motor and chuck for a standard drill chuck and its motor. means change in the whole setup to fit.

[corey012778]

think I will keep what I have. a few failures later and two worn out drill presses later (both old and saw better days before I got them). just improve on what I have. only thing I really want to improve on is to make an guild for the tail stock but have no idea where to place the screws and nuts.

[W.R.Buchanan]

As stated above by EDG and Country Gent,,, You need to put the boolit in the lathe spindle and the drill in the tail stock. Also mentioned was holding the drill as short as possible. In fact if you had the drill chucked up with only the amount necessary for the depth of the hole sticking out you would have a built in stop so they all would come out the same.


What you have now is a Horizontal Drill Press not a Lathe,, if you are going to use it like that you need a drill bushing to locate the hole in the work, since you are drilling into a flat surface the drill will go wherever it hits the work.

If the work is spinning the drill will tend to center itself. This should be more like what you want?

Randy

[corey012778]

Once I get another project done, I am going to work on a proper set up.

[David2011]

It’s hard to add much to what has been said. Just reiterating that center drills are the right tool for the job. I chuck the center drill in the tailstock and put the boolit in the 3 jaw. Set depth controls for consistent metal removal.