No- certainly don't hold the work or vice by hand!

I assume you mean these for using on the lathe.

I have a couple of the V-form drill-pads with Morse taper shanks , and often wondered the same question. I would use tool-maker's clamps to hold the work on the pad. They are shown in old books on using the lathe, but not much more than brief notes on their use.

The V-pad is for drilling across the diameter of a rod, e.g. for split-pin holes. With care the drill should just about break through without cutting the pad itself, but without rigid clamping that is the most likely time for the drill to snatch and pull the work out of control, risking broken drill, damaged work and damaged you.

The flat pad needs protecting by a sacrificial pad between it and the work, unless it has a central hole or recess.

I had to look in Percy Blandford's Metal Turning (published in 1953), and based around using a Myford ML7 or similar) to glean anything about these tools. Essentially I've given it all here as the one thing missing is advice on holding the work or vice safely to the pad. You could use a hand-vice but it would be very awkward and you are still putting yourself rather close to things going round…

Larger work-pieces still within the lathe's capacity could be clamped in a 4-jaw chuck or to the faceplate, with the drill in a tailstock chuck. Balance the assembly it or use it at only low speeds. If you have a vertical slide that gives another option.

It occurs to me the V-pad could be a very useful accessory, if with some way to hold the work properly to it.

As per my post on this recent thread: **LINK**

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=139671

==========

Nice exaple of one in use here: **LINK**

https://watchmaking.weebly.com/collet-holding-block.html

… on a Cowells 90CW lathe.

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MichaelG.

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Edit: __ it’s a rather busy page; so if you are in a hurry, look for the caption:

The spindle was mounted on the tailstock drill pad (with vee slot).  Toolmaker's clamps assist in holding the work in place.  The position for the register key was center drilled.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 24/02/2021 09:18:28

Not any more!

When the drill caught in this bit of brass strip I was surprised at the violence unleashed. Tore the vice clean out of my hand and the whole jumped and spun. Now I loosely bolt the machine vice to the table so the vice and work can't go far when there's a snatch!

I reckon it's ability to surprise makes the Drill Press the most dangerous tool in a metal workshop.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 24/02/2021 10:19:35

Yep. Drill press is the No. 1 cause of industrial accidents. Or was when industry involved making things from metal and not coffee grounds and scalding water.

That does look nasty there. You did a good job on it.

Edited By Hopper on 24/02/2021 10:36:54

Curiously enough l used my v version for the first time yesterday, I've had it close on 50 years and never had occasion to use it until now. I needed a couple of cross holes in a piece of 15mm dia stainless which was too big for my cross hole drilling jig, I only used a centre drill with the drill pad and then transferred the job to the drill press where I was able to clamp it securely for drilling the 6mm hole. TBH I was feeling quite apprehensive whilst using it but it did work OK.

Phil

Bo'sun…'Just wish they did one with larger stock holding capacity up to around 30mm dia'.

Could you possibly machine the 'V' to accommodate your larger size 24 – 30 mm is a 3 mm face cut ea. side of the vee ? looking at the Arc page it looks as though there's just enough material left on ea face to do it.

George.

While I personally don't own a drill pad and if I did would use clamps as suggested in this thread, a quick internet image search does in fact show several instances of work being held against the pad by hand.

Have had mine some time now and one of the first things I did was to make a “Holding strap” to keep work in place. Will try to post a picture.

Never heard of or seen one. Pics on the net look like the modern equivalent would be a pair of vice grips or perhaps a toolmakers vice. I still would not use one in conjunction with a tailstock pad unless the handle was long enough to rest against the bed or carriage to guarantee non-rotation as even innocuously small drill bits can grab, especially on brass. I might be rather attaching small jobs to a longer piece of wood or steel flat bar to provide a safe long handle that cant possibly spin around. By which time you are probably as well off to do something like this:

Attach the job to the faceplate or a sub plate and drill it that way. The hole through the middle was drilled first, with two more retaining clamping bolts in those empty holes before the shown facing op was done.

On the other hand I have seen small Chinese drill presses at garage sales for as little as $25 and they are a bit sloppy in the quill but useable as a starter machine and easier than all this.

Edited By Hopper on 26/02/2021 01:13:12

Edited By Hopper on 26/02/2021 01:16:04

That now looks very similar to the "MT2 Tailstock Vee Adaptor" that I mentioned earlier from ARC. Wouldn't be without it.

While looking for something else I found this image in the South Bend pamphlet 'How to run a lathe'