Guys, what am I doing wrong? I really need your help!

[Vorpal]

Hey Everyone,

Straight to the point: I'm struggling to drill numerous holes in a straight line. This is the detailed process that I'm using, but somewhere I'm going astray...

I have a stencil made up of where I want to the center of the holes to be. The holes on the stencil are 2mm and I'm simply using a nail and hammer to mark out this holes on the work piece.

357274

I firstly starting out using a 10mm forstner bit to drill the holes, but the one I had was really crappy and it was spinning too much in the drill press. (May have had the speed up too high?)

357275

I then figured it was the crappy forstner bit and proceeding to go my local woodworking shop to get a better quality one. They were out of stock, so instead I picked up a brad point drill bit. I tried this in the drill press, at a lower speed, and still it wasn't coming out 100% accurate when I had finished drilling all my holes.

Finally, and where I am at the moment. I simply tried the brad point in a power drill and simply clamped down the work piece, put the center of the point in the punched hole and drilled away.

Needless to say, It's still not accurate....

357276

Where am I going wrong? I really don't know which stage....I really need you help.

'You're my only hope'...

Thanks guys,

Ryan

[robbygard]

Hey Everyone,

Straight to the point: I'm struggling to drill numerous holes in a straight line.

357275



Where am I going wrong? I really don't know which stage....



Ryan

i am not sure if i understand properly but i have a false (MDF) table bolted to teh drill press table .. to do similar things, i clamp a fence so that the position for the first hole is correct (from a side of the long piece of timber) then just move the piece along cutting the holes where needed ... that should keep them straight

if the timber is too large/long to put on the drill press, i make a jig with a piece of about 3 x 2 about 6 inches long with a cleat screwed to the bottom and the hole drilled on the drill press (so that is vertical), clamp my subject timber to a bench and use the jig to position the holes using a hand drill

regards david

[Vorpal]

i am not sure if i understand properly but i have a false (MDF) table bolted to teh drill press table .. to do similar things, i clamp a fence so that the position for the first hole is correct (from a side of the long piece of timber) then just move the piece along cutting the holes where needed ... that should keep them straight

if the timber is too large/long to put on the drill press, i make a jig with a piece of about 3 x 2 about 6 inches long with a cleat screwed to the bottom and the hole drilled on the drill press (so that is vertical), clamp my subject timber to a bench and use the jig to position the holes using a hand drill

regards david

Hey David,

Thanks for your response. So you think a drill press table with a fence should fix my issues?

Ryan

[robbygard]

Hey David,

Thanks for your response. So you think a drill press table with a fence should fix my issues?

Ryan

i reckon .. i have a couple of different fences ... they can be just a strip of straight wood or (one) i have is six inches high (joined and buttressed) for an end grain application i have


here is a picture of (a much more flash) jig that i was describing too ... i use this type of approach as well but just have a vertical hole drilled (to size) instead of a bushing

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=72602&cat=1,41637

regards david

[robbygard]

i just put up a couple of p[hotos on flickr (as i cannot work out how to get them in here) ... it shows my false table with two different fences ... one the straight piece that i think would work for what you want and the other where (a repetitive job) i want the holes the same distance from two sides




https://www.flickr.com/photos/132842758@N06/?

regards david

[Vorpal]

Thanks David.

Just realised you were from Australia as well. Was thinking of getting the drill press table from Carbatec. I know I should make my own, but not sure I can be bothered at the moment. Really appreciate you putting up those images.

This may be a silly question, but the table on my drill press moves around quite easily. Will putting a drill press table and fence actually throw anything out when I'm drilling?

[robbygard]

Thanks David.

Just realised you were from Australia as well. Was thinking of getting the drill press table from Carbatec. I know I should make my own, but not sure I can be bothered at the moment. Really appreciate you putting up those images.

This may be a silly question, but the table on my drill press moves around quite easily. Will putting a drill press table and fence actually throw anything out when I'm drilling?

it shouldn't make any difference .. if your table moves around a lot then that could also be your problem ... mine does and i am looking at upgrading my drill press as a result ... i cannot guarantee with mine that the drill will come down in the same place two times running ... i have fixed this by drilling a few holes through the table bracket into the column, tapping them and using a hex head bolt to stop the slop of my table ...

the drill press tables from carbatecx et al have channels built into them ... i don't think you need to spend the money for them ... i have just countersunk bolts through the false table and onto the drill press table .. if you look closely, i acutually havce a second one clamped on top which can then be thrown away when it gets too many holes etc in it

regards david