Creating pen kits, bottle stoppers, ornaments and projects requiring handles like ice cream scoops, pizza cutters and various garden/kitchen kit utensils are made easier for prepping the mandrel with this WoodRiver Pen Drilling Vise with 7mm Drilling Guide & Stop Collar.
Out of the box, and featured in our Mid-Winter 2020 Woodcraft Catalog the WoodRiver Pen Drilling Vise, Woodcraft Item #168480, comes with all that you see here with one exception! Included are: a clamping block, clamping base, 4 base screws, 7mm drill guide, 7mm stop collar, 7mm guide collar, 4mm hex key wrench and socket head clamp screw.
You will need a few more items that you most likely already have in your shop. A set of Metric Hex Key Wrenches always comes in handy for any project, woodworking, household or automotive use. Use the 2.5mm wrench from the set for any of the WoodRiver Drilling Guide/Stop Collar items for various wood turning projects of your choice. Add your appropriate size-required Pen Maker's Bit or Brad Point Drill Bit.
Additionally, you will need a clamp for vise to bench or table top placement. We suggest at least a 12" clamp. Measure from the underside of your bench top to the top of the pen vise with choice blank inserted. Finally, a cordless drill or corded hand drill is needed for blank drilling.
Follow along in this video for details on using the WoodRiver Pen Vise which comes with a 7mm Drilling Guide & Stop Collar.
Practice Makes Perfect!
This blog writer used this WoodRiver Pen Vise, going through a learning curve, blank by blank. I used some scrap blanks before drilling my final wood choice. I suggest going through the same process to those of you who may use this product. Due to the clearance between the outside diameter of the drill and the inside diameter of the drill guide, as well as the blank possibly not being completely square, you may want to get use to the feel of using the product as you are drilling. Carefully drill the hole and relieve the saw dust as you drill, staying level and square to the blank with your hand drill as possible. I suggest using a drill bit long enough to drill completely through the blank. But if that is not possible, then practice makes perfect for a two sided matched hole when drilling from each side of the blank. Rotate your blank horizontally (see video) so that the same sides of the blank remain in contact with the "V" groove surface of the base. This may still not provide a perfectly matched hole the first time, however with practice, I was able to accomplish a matched two-sided drilled hole consistently after my first try, just as if I drilled clear through or used a drill press set up. You can see my progress from left to right in the above photo right. Six out of seven's not bad! That being said, I should have done two out of three instead. That way I could have referenced the Meat Loaf song, "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad"! Turn up the fun in your shop!
