Lining Up Holes on Flute !

Mike Turner

Member
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361
Location
Laurinburg NC
I make flutes. I turn my tubes and then I have to locate 6 holes on the flute body. I have been eyeballing this so far. I do my measuring and place the holes where they need to be but then you can sometimes be off on the tube a little. I have learned to start small so I can move it a lil if need be. But I have wondered if maybe I should get a cross slide vise where I could move the flute on the x-y axis sort of. I want to be more accurate on this step but not be over kill either.....And then if you look at the array of cross slide vises out there you wonder what is good and what isnt...I would love to try one for
about $100 but I wonder how accurate those are?
 
I have a $45 special from HF. Useful for some things, but I'm not convinced that it's the answer to you're problem here. I'm sure higher end ones are better, this one has a solid 1/4"+ of fun out so there is a lot of fiddling to get things lined up. The big problem I see even with a good one is that you still have some fiddly bits to get the piece centered on it unless you diameter is really really consistent.

I think Jonathans suggestion may be better if you made a jig that ran in the ways of you're lathe with a drill on it, it might be easier to line up on the middle of the piece consistently. I assume you have some sort of template for the hole spacing?

Cheaper and simpler would be a self centering V block that just rides on a fence on your DP table.
 
I could see how drilling on the lathe, with a jig would be a way of getting the holes centered down the flute but I don't understand how indexing on the lathe would fit in.[/Q

Paul & Mike

How would it work to use the lathe index system & make a system where the main frame is clamped to the lathe bed & over the flute & the sliding part sets on top & down over the sides of it with a bushing to drill down through & on the side in-between the fixed part & the movable top part there would be the bullet part from a bullet latch & detents in the fixed part to preset the hole spacing?
 
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The idea on having a drillpress that rode on a jig that ran in the ways of the lathe would work. And use the indexing system.
I might go with the simpler idea for now.

Ryan how do you make the V block self centering?
 
I don't know what the dia. of your turning is, but could you make a drill jig from PVC pipe that fits snug, or close to your turning? Or, if not perhaps you could bore the ID of some PVC pipe, or suitable material, that suit different size turnings. Once turned, you could drill the holes in the PVC pipe using a V-Block to centralize the pipe & set the hole spacings. Then you would have however many drill jigs available for future applications.
 
I have a low end xy vice from Grizzly. It meets my needs but I would not reccomend for anything precise or repeatable.
Assuming you bore before turning, how about drilling small diameter pilot holes in the square stock before turning? Just a thought.
 
I'd love to see some pictures of your flutes. I made a Native American style flute once. It was a very fun build. I had to laugh when I was investigating how to make one. I watched many you tube videos about them. The videos all use hand tools "doing it the traditional" way. Than I ordered a CD and book authored by a Native American on how to make one. The NA sets up his band saw, router table and modern power tools to make his.
 
I am going with Ryan V block and a fence on the DP. The V block will center the round just by setting it in and clamping the round to the V
block will keep you lined up in the block and then run along the fence on the DP. As far as clamping the round in just taping it to the V block should do the trick.
 
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I am going with Ryan V block and a fence on the DP. The V block will center the round just by setting it in and clamping the round to the V
block will keep you lined up in the block and then run along the fence on the DP. As far as clamping the round in just taping it to the V block should do the trick.

Yup - you would want to center the DP to the bottom of the V in the block once, but then anything round put into the V block is correctly centered as well. I would put a long/thin piece of drill stock into the DP center the V block on that and then bump the fence into alignment with the block and clamp the fence in place. Re-check the alignment (cause moving the fence may have shifted things) and you're good to go.

For testing the idea tape works well for "clamping" as Chuck noted. For long term a couple pieces of inner tube could be easily rigged up so they caught on some hooks and held the piece down which would be fast, easy and re-usable (maybe I'm cheap :D).

Another self centering vise idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuVqrkd3UrQ Looks like it would be pretty easy to replicate

I like the lathe jig idea from a gizmosity perspective cause I think it would be fun to build but I'm unconvinced its a practical solution here for a couple of reasons. I think the most common setup would be something not altogether unlike this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COsdJKt7NgM except drilling from the side.

This has a few problems I can see from a production setup in that you have to assemble/disassemble it every time you want to use it. This means re-aligning it and making sure that it is true on all axises. Having a dedicated setup on a DP seems like it would be less hassle and would allow you to quickly move from one station to another without having to get everything realigned with a fussy setup. Remember that the most accurate form of measurement is none at all, so if your setups can be self aligning or easy to align you're way ahead of the game.

If you did a deep V block (glue on higher side walls) you could set it up with a template that sat on top for your hole pattern as well. Basically have a stop at one end of the V so the flute self aligns to the hole pattern sitting over it, spring clamp it down, slide it into place on the DP table and drill through the plate with pre-drilled holes in it. If the plate was made out of mild steel it would last basically forever. This would remove almost all of the measuring and setup from the process. That assumes of course that you don't have to adjust the hole spacing on individual flutes (I suspect not, but am not an expert - I just read a couple of books a long time ago so waves hands)
 
Wow Guys ya poured out some good ideas for me. I probably will go with the fence and V blocks. Blokkz centering jig looks good too as does the Oneway drill wizard...Now to the shop....well tommorrow. Thanks....Ill post some pics when I get some new ones made up.....
 
I was thinking of the old drill press for a corded hand drill. It could stand on the ways of the lathe and drill a straight line with the index locked. Sorry I wasn't 100% clear ( would have required me to finish my line of thought!!) Sorry.
 
You might want to contact Cooperman Fife and Drums, or explore their web site http://www.cooperman.com/fife-news/ . Although they are dealing with fifes rather than flutes, they hand turn the wooden instruments and have to precisely position the holes. I vaguely remember a discussion of the holes, either from someplace on their web site, or from a talk by a member of our woodworking club who visited their facility. The impression I got was that they are likely to be helpful, if you have some specific questions.
 
I could see how drilling on the lathe, with a jig would be a way of getting the holes centered down the flute but I don't understand how indexing on the lathe would fit in.[/Q

Paul & Mike

How would it work to use the lathe index system & make a system where the main frame is clamped to the lathe bed & over the flute & the sliding part sets on top & down over the sides of it with a bushing to drill down through & on the side in-between the fixed part & the movable top part there would be the bullet part from a bullet latch & detents in the fixed part to preset the hole spacing?
*****My comment to this is, "You do and you have to clean it up."

Enjoy,
JimB
 
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