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Thread: Cutting large holes
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16th February 2015, 10:04 PM #1
Cutting large holes
I want to make a wooden drill press table and I had a Thick MDF off cut from a job a forum member had worked donated to me for this purpose.
I intend to fit a few rows of T track and maybe some nice red gum edges.
The plan is to have the table surround the drill pillar like a yolk. So I'm wondering what would the best way to cut a nice clean round hole ¾ off the into the board??
I don't have any hole saws and I think the column too large a dia. No bandsaw or jigsaw to use. Would a jigsaw cut 40mm mdf?? What about those old fashioned adjustable bladed hole cutters or are they for sheet goods?
Also what is the usual finish for mdf??…..Live a Quiet Life & Work with your Hands
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16th February 2015 10:04 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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16th February 2015, 10:10 PM #2
Hi,
Make or buy a template and use a router and guide or template following bit.
RegardsHugh
Enough is enough, more than enough is too much.
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16th February 2015, 10:24 PM #3SENIOR MEMBER
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Suggestion - rough as guts chain drill or holesaw to hog it out, then finish and tidy up with a router either using a circle cutting jig or make a circular template out of very thin material and follow it round with one of those router bits with a bearing on them or make a very big template and just follow it round the inside with the edge of the router base ?
Circular template could be made with circle cutter on drill press ? to cut template from very thin material
You might get lucky and find a big holesaw exactly the right size - I have seen some huge ones
............ and watch out for the mdf dust ............
if you google router circle cutting jig you will find heaps of ideas from simple to horribly complex
Manually - draw a circle and use a fretsaw then tidy with flappy sandpaper on drill press ?- by the time you've made a jig and mucked around to get it to your satisfaction you may be better off doing it manually
Bill
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16th February 2015, 10:31 PM #4.
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Do you intend to use the same drill press for metal?
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16th February 2015, 11:06 PM #5
I have never done any template routing before but it may be worth investigating, thanks for the suggestions.
Bob, No I am going to use the drill press my grandfather built for wood work and the old waldowdn I'm restoring for metal work. One oily drill one dusty drill, and no mixing! I'm also building a dividing wall down the middle of the shed to separate the two mediums.…..Live a Quiet Life & Work with your Hands
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17th February 2015, 08:00 AM #6
Steamingbill's manual method will be more than adequate and you can use your jigsaw with a narrow blade. Just be real careful with the huge amount of noxious dust that the flapwheel will generate.
I like the idea of the red gum edging! For a useable finish I use thinned down varnish only on MDF, it soaks in to the surface without leaving a layer so you can cut your slots for the tracks, coat it and the tracks will still slide into the slots.
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20th February 2015, 09:50 PM #7
Second for the router
It's pretty easy too
Call out if you need a hand
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21st February 2015, 12:30 PM #8
Dale stop don't do it. I did that with my small drill press years ago and found it ARPIA.
Why??
Because with it being around the tube so tight you can not tilt the table so I with both larger tables I did this which allows tilting
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21st February 2015, 12:36 PM #9
That is a point! Although Im not sure how often I'd need to tilt the table for wood work
…..Live a Quiet Life & Work with your Hands
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21st February 2015, 12:59 PM #10
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21st February 2015, 01:16 PM #11SENIOR MEMBER
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A decent set of hole saws is a wise investment for woodworking and metalworking for that matter.
This is certainly the easiest way to do your yoke.
Just wondering if it is really necessary to permanentky fit a sub table around the drill press column anyway.Suppose It could be handy at times but my machinery is crammed in a small workshop so anything overhanging could be a pain.
I have a radial arm drill press with a head that can be angled and so never need to angle the table anyway.
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