Todd M

You will likely need to use a Carbide tool instead of High Speed Steel. Use short bursts at high RPMs, pull back out, leave it spinning to cool, then drill another 1/16th of an inch.

How they big boys de-fat/de-grease/de-oil organic tissues.... Xylene.

I ended up starting a batch of 4 spindles on the lathe. The spindle will accept plates as thin as 3/16ths of an inch, and as thick as 1/2 inch. There was a spindle which was available on another site, but it did not look robust. All surfaces are true relative to each other within 1/1000 of an inch. The spacer which rests on the abrasive side is a friction fit on the shaft, to enhance trueness. Below is a comparison picture between the old and the new style. I wanted a longer shaft on this spindle, so the quill on the drill press didn't have to be cranked down so far.

Several look like specialty planers. One looks like an offset style, for cutting a channel which is offset from the edge of the board. This could be used for inlays, or for a sliding groove for a box/drawer.

I have the 8 inch diamond tool polishing plates with the 1/2 inch hole in the middle for a spindle. They are roughly 3/8 of an inch thick. These spinning plates to shape the carbide gravers on a drill press. Does someone make a precision pre-made spindle which chucks up in a drill press for these plates? I am prepared to machine a few for myself if no product exists. But, I don't have a strong desire to re-invent the wheel if there is a great product which exists. Currently, I am using 1/2 inch bolts as my spindles, which have had the head cut off them, but the threads are not perfectly concentric with the shaft. This induces a small amount of "wobble" in the plate as it spins. I realize some of it may be bearing run-out on the drill press, but that is not the majority of the wobble. Two pictures. One is of what I currently use. The second is a drawing of what I *could* machine to replace it.