Direct drive minibot - output diameter?

[AndrewN]

Originally Posted by boomergeek

Has anyone drilled the shafts without using a lathe? I would be curious as to how to get it accurately centered enough and straight in without a lathe.

Using a drill press and a table vice: turn the drill bit upside down and place into the chuck of the drill press, tighten the chuck and make sure it spins without wobble. Turn off the drill press. Lower the spindle so that you can position a vice and clamp the drill bit, clamp the vice into place on the table. Loosen the chuck and raise the spindle. You now have a drill bit clamped into the vice dead center of the spindle. Put the shaft into the drill chuck and tighten. Drill out center of the shaft.

The shaft spins, the drill bit remains stationary.

Take care, plan out all the steps, make sure that the shaft can be placed into the chuck without moving the vice and drill bit.