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12th May 2015, 06:06 PM #1GOLD MEMBER
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Hand Tool Replacement for Drill Press
I don't want to buy a drill press. I just don't. I'm tired of buying machines. I know it's a good one to have, and I guess my attempt to avoid it may go down in flames, but, for now at least, I want to pursue other options. It's not about money, but more about space and a genuine desire to understand traditional craftsmanship techniques
So I'm just kind of interested in what methods or jigs people use/used to drill straighter holes with their powered and/or hand-driven drills. I made a plane handle recently and, while it eventually turned out great, it took me a few attempts, which was totally a result of being unable to drill a hole straight through it. There was a time, before drill presses were affordable for everyone, when men drilled straight holes. How did they do it?
Related sidenote: I was considering a Stanley #59 dowelling jig. This seems like a step in the right direction. I know that it has a limited number of sizes, which are all imperial, but I think I could source others, or maybe some kind soul with a metal lathe (cough coughIan cough ) could help me spin up some more appropriate sizes.
Any feedback appreciated.
Cheers,
Luke
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12th May 2015, 06:53 PM #2
Should be a few ideas out there.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=d...w=1366&bih=631
I have used the bit of wood with a notch cut out and it was not too bad. That and practice gets you close.
That said for really strait holes you cant beat a drill press. It has a whole lot of other uses too. Mine gets used with sanding drums to shape things and as a mini thickness sander. Takes wire brushes for cleaning up old rusty tools and used with buffers to polish. It is one of the handiest machines.
Regards
John
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12th May 2015, 07:07 PM #3GOLD MEMBER
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12th May 2015, 07:39 PM #4
Not quite what you're asking, but - a while back I was looking to avoid buying a powered drill press, so I bought a blacksmiths post drill (which I suppose, technically, is still a drill press). Anyway, don't go down that road - I now own ~13 of the things (and one or two are nearly complete ).
Cheers, Vann.Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .
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12th May 2015, 08:02 PM #5GOLD MEMBER
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12th May 2015, 08:19 PM #6.
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It depends what you are drilling.
I avoided getting a DP for 20+ years. If I really needed to use one I had access to one at work which I used regularly for metal.
I used egg beater style drills, One my Uncle left me a nice one had 2 speeds and a leather padded breast plate that worked well even in metal with a sharp bit up to about 3/8"
My Dad and FILS braces and bits also got a workout. FIL's Brace came with had a nice set of short and long auger style bits down to about 1/4", If you start straight they go straight.
I bought a 1/2" power hand drill to drill metal at home but got tired of wrenching my hands on breakthrough with large bits so I relented and bought an MT3 DP.
I used it for about 2 minutes and all thoughts of not using it for WW immediately went out the window.
Neither the B&B nor the egg beaters were used since and eventually I gave them all away.
A couple of years back I fitted a 1.5HP 3P motor to the DP and a VFD making it even nicer to use.
it is just a really nice quiet machine to use especially compared to power hand drills .
The fact that is is quiet makes it one of the most un-machine like machines in a workshop.
They are WAAAy quieter than power drills
The DP has over time become THE most important and most used machine in my shed - I can tell that because at the end of the day I find I always have to turn the DP light off.
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12th May 2015, 08:24 PM #7GOLD MEMBER
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I have a drill press, couldn't live without it. I dont have a horizontal borer. When i need to drill dowel holes in the ends of long rails which won't fit under the drill press, I just clamp the rail to the edge of the workbench, sighting the drill bit along the table gives vertical alignment, and then i use a piece of timber square to the end of the rail to give horizontal alignment..all just eyeball stuff, so long as the dowel enters/exits the rail pretty close to the right spot it will be ok, i always ream out the entry anyways because dowels can bend a small amount, but they cant step sideways without breaking or blowing out the rail walls.
The dowel jig you mention is the way to go. whether it be a store bought item, or a block of wood which you have managed to freehand a perfect straight/square hole.
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12th May 2015, 08:39 PM #8GOLD MEMBER
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I have a drill press. It is one of the few machines I have and would only swap it for a better one.
However I do have a couple of Big Gator Drill guides for when I'm out and about.
Handy for drilling accurate holes in tubes.
http://www.biggatortools.com/products.html
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13th May 2015, 12:56 PM #9
I'm another DP tragic - like Hiroller, I would only part with mine if someone offered me a better machine to replace it! Much as I love hand tools, that's one machine I would cling to, possibly even above the tablesaw. And they can do more than just make holes in bits of metal or wood.
With practice, you can make holes very accurately with hand-operated tools like 'eggbeaters' or B&B, and I've seen some ingenious jigs & fixtures over the years. Before I had a DP I used a variety of workarounds, including one of those gadgets you attach to a hand-held 'lectric drill to allow vertical or oblique holes to be drilled. Indeed, there are many ways of getting by without a DP, but they are often difficult, and rarely return the same easy accuracy. It's a machine that easily earns its keep and takes up so little shop space, imo. I probably could make the concentric bolt-holes in sawhandles sufficiently accurately with hand-tools if I put my mind to it, but it would be a hassle. A minute or two at the DP, & a handle is done. And as Bob says, if you need to drill metal (sooner or later everyone must! ) then the DP is far & away the easiest, quickest & safest way to do it.
If you want a DP primarily for woodworking, I suggest it's a good idea to get the longest quill travel you can find/afford, commensurate with tolerable accuracy. The longer the throw, the better built it has to be to minimise runout, but in some ways having a longer throw is more useful in woodworking than zero runout at full extension, so there is room to compromise. I don't think you really need to drop 5 grand on an industrial machine, if it's solely or mostly for woodworking. My drill has 80mm of travel, which is not bad but it's amazing how often I wish for a bit more.....
Cheers,IW
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13th May 2015, 01:47 PM #10
Hi Luke
Well I guess there's a pretty consistent message coming trough to shatter your thoughts.
A few years ago I too did not want to buy a drill, but for different reasons. I couldn't find one that had decent quill travel (80mm is pathetic for woodworking purposes), reasonably accurate run out, and that would fit into the confines of my shed. My solution was to bring in a fairly fancy drill stand from Germany to which I added a good quality power drill. Well, as it turns out the only thing German about it is the grinding of the column, and you can probably guess where the rest of it is actually made. Furthermore, I was severely gouged by the freight forwarders once it arrived here - they charged more for entering a few lines into their computer than it cost to air freight 65kgs from Germany to here. It ended up a very expensive exercise for what I got.
I ran a thread on it and the subsequent customisation, but all the pics have disappeared from it during a forum upgrade a while back. This is the first version of it:
Since then I have made many other changes to it. It has served reasonably well, but I am now about to embark on a shed extension which will add 150% floorspace.
Guess what the first new machine on the list is?
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13th May 2015, 03:52 PM #11
I would seriously injure anyone who tried to take away my drill press, and especially its x-y vise.
But you asked, "How did they do it?" Most likely with lots of practice. And then more practice.
Before I got my drill press, I could drill reasonably straight holes by eyeballing the forward position, and placing a shaving mirror (adjustable mirror in a wishbone stand) off to the side. Alternate eyeball direction between forward and the mirror. And proceed slowly.
Cheers,
JoeOf course truth is stranger than fiction.
Fiction has to make sense. - Mark Twain
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13th May 2015, 05:20 PM #12GOLD MEMBER
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13th May 2015, 07:20 PM #13
Now c'mon lad, admit it, it's kind of what you wanted to hear, isn't it? What self-respecting bloke would turn his nose up at another bit of gear for the workshop, eh?
We're a strange lot, and we all have our quirks & blind spots. I consider myself a 'hand tools person' for many operations, and know full well that only practice & perseverance bring the required skills to do things well with them. But there are some operations where I don't even consider a hand-tool approach, and drilling holes in wood & metal is obviously one of those. Fortunately, I don't seem to be alone in this. I'll have to go away & think up a list of convincingexcusesreasons why I don't need to learn to drill accurate holes manually......
Cheers,IW
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13th May 2015, 09:13 PM #14
I own a drill press but still use an egg beater and brace quite alot. I find using a brace pretty easy to drill reasonably straight becuase the length gives yiu a good visual guide I have used the "corner" jig two pieces of wood at 90 degrees for assistance.. Another trick when drilling through timber is to drill half way from both ends so any misalignment is in the middle of the piece (obviously won't work for all applications)
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13th May 2015, 09:16 PM #15GOLD MEMBER
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Hah, you drive a hard bargain, Wilkie. Well there's another reason which I left out because it requires a bit of 'splainin. Given that I will eventually move to the U.S., where we use (admittedly ridiculous) 110v power, I will inevitably have to sell the DP. I've just reached a point where I'm tired of buying sub-par machines that I'm willing to take a loss on to use temporarily. I want a good drill press if I'm gonna have one, so I don't want to go buying one for big bucks an subsequently losing big bucks. I guess this post was a bit of an effort to avoid the situation while still being able to drill straighter holes and develop a bit of skill and intuition in the meantime, and possibly void the purchase altogether.
Back to to the drawing board...
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