  To start off with, make sure your chuck is turning true. Then make certain your tailstock center is in alignment with your chuck center. And yes, we check our chuck and tail stock each time we install a joint pin. That's how important it is for everything to turn true. Now that everything is on center, place the cue in the lathe and chuck down. You will need a back chuck or something to hold the other end of the cue on center within the spindle. Assuming you already have a 60 degree center drilled in the joint end, just re-drill it again to be certain it's on center. Depending on what pin you are using determines the drill bits to use. It really doesn't matter as most pins are around the same diameter. You want to drill the hole using at least three (we use 4 which is definitely overkill) drill bits with the third bit being the final diameter size. Why three? You don't want chatter or resistance. Going in slowly and with three, you will remove the lease amount of wood and stay true. Each smaller size will assist the larger size in staying true. Ok, we'll provide a little more info at this point. If you really want to be dead nuts on center with the joint pin hole, you should use a boring bar to bore the hole. That's the most accurate method. However, we do not recommend this method until you are familiar with dimensions and using a boring bar correctly. If you cut the hole too large your goose is cooked, as in well done. We've found that a good set of drill bits, checking your centers and a real good chuck will deliver the same results. There are many ways to achieve and build a precision cue as you will come to find out. And yes, that's Brian once again. There is certainly something wrong with him. Why would someone be so happy with what they're doing. Did you ever see someone so happy drilling a hole! :-) |