Drilling straight w/o Drill Press

[kliu]

What's a good tool/jig for drilling perpendicular holes without a drill press?

I just dont trust my hand-eye freehand. I'm really just looking for straight drilling, like bench dog holes.
Ideally, it could double for drilling dowel holes.

thx

[crokett]

Something like this:
http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=2405&sid=AF078

I had a similar one a while back. Had some runout problems with it. The rockler one might be better.

[RayintheUK]

Ken,

A couple of ways to do this that may work for you, using a mains-powered drill with a standard 43mm collar. The first is to obtain a plunging drill guide, like this one:


These have had a bad press but actually do what they're designed to do quite well. You can certainly drill for dowels with these, plus use them to drill a perpendicular hole almost anywhere - even to a set depth or (with the better guides) to a set angle.

If you want to drill longer than this, then a universal clamp might be an answer, like this one:

You would need to have the workpiece on its side, shimmed up in order to center the bit and with some sort of fence behind to ensure it remains on-center when propelling the piece slowly into the drill bit. Can work, but takes a load of setting up and some practice pieces.

HTH

Ray.

(Edit): David posted his reply while I was searching for pics. The difference between the guides is one uses the "whole" drill, clamping it by the collar, the other looks like an "extension" of the drill, so you could use that with a cordless.

[kliu]

Doesnt look that sturdy. Might check out the local big lots for the drill press. The cost looks about the same

[LarryG]

Have you tried the old trick of standing a combination square up on end to serve as a visual guide? By aligning the drill's body and bit with the square's blade, you get a good reference in both directions.

For dowels, you really need a doweling jig with a bushing that puts the bit in the same place every time. Dowel holes must be precisely located in order to get a satisfactory joint ... one in which the faces of the joined materials are even, one piece isn't twisted out of alignment, etc.

[JimD]

I have a guide I think is called a "portalign" that isn't made anymore but similar tools are. You attach the drill to the guide by the chuck and the guide has it's own chuck for the bit. It works somewhat like the guide illustrated above except it attaches to the drill by the chuck. I think that would make sure it is aligned correctly better. It works pretty well.

My new 18V Ryobi cordless drill and my old DeWalt corded drill have bubble levels in the back. If you are drilling straight down, they work pretty well to help you get lined up. It's cruder than a guide but far better than nothing.

Jim

[RodKirby]

I bought this specifically for Bench dog holes (yet to be done!).

Expensive solution, but I can see many other uses.

Details here: http://www.triton.net.au/products/pd.html

[germdoc]

You aussies are so clever! I want one!

I got a similar portable drill press from HF for ~$20--identical to one sold by Lee Valley (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...311,42321&ap=1) for $30:



It actually works very well. I use it a lot for drilling shelf guide holes, among other things.

[LCHIEN]

If you have access to a DP but can't use it on the workpiece for some reason then try this:

I use a drill press and drill a thru hole (the dia. of your final hole)in a two by four,
thru the 2" side. A 1x4 will work if the verticality is less critical.

Then I put the 2x4 and its hole over the place I want to drill, with the bit chucked in the drill, thru the 2x4.
you can lift up the 2x4 a little to set where the bit falls. Hold the 2x4 flat to the table and drill away!


Some hints: The hole wears out fast because its only wood, if you need a bunch of holes and the verticality is critical, drill several holes in the 2x4.
Also drill the holes about 3/4" from the edge, it'll help you find the center with the bit.
A pilot hole that just penetrates the workpiece can help center the bit since its hard to see.

[Nick Keenan]

quote:Originally posted by kliu

What's a good tool/jig for drilling perpendicular holes without a drill press?

A plunge router.

quote:Ideally, it could double for drilling dowel holes.

I've had pretty good luck with the dowelling jigs that you clamp onto the edge of the wood and drill through the guide hole. It just takes a long time because you have to move the jig for each hole. A horizontally mounted router would work very well.

I've never had luck with the drill attachments that are supposed to hold the drill perpendicular. I got one at Home Depot that looks like the one Germdoc has, but it has too much play to be reliable.

I have the cheapest HF drill press, which I think I paid $40 for, and it does a great job of drilling straight clean holes. I made a jig for dowelling face frames and found I was consistently able to put holes within 0.01" of the center of the board. The drawback is the same as the dowel jig, it's slow going. The most common problem I have is that the throat is only 4" and it seems almost every hole I need to drill is 4 1/4" from the closest edge. It's on sale right now for $39.99 (ITEM 44506-1VGA) which is in the same price range as dowelling jigs and drill gadgets, and a much better value.

Nick

[sweensdv]

One "frugal" way would be to take two pieces of stock and screw/glue them together to form a 90° corner. Once you've done this, you can use the inside corner as a guide for the drill bit.

[kliu]

I wish I had a plunge router (or any router!). How deep can you get with them? Router is probably my next purchase, unless I can find a cheap DP.

For doweling jigs (non-centering), I thought they worked for the flat side of a board (in addition to the obvious edge side). So you just clamp it down and get good perpendicular hand drilling. About the same solution as drilling a guide block, but it wont wear and doesnt require a DP.

[hardihood1]

germdoc has the right idea. iv bin using the same thing for a couple years. cheap and easy. make perfect holes, easy set up. store away when not in use. doesnt take up alot of space. i used one before i got a drill press.

[leehljp]

I have had three different versions over the years and the only one that really worked real well for me was the one that Jeff "Germdoc" posted. I still have it and use it when needing to drill in the center of a board or plywood piece that is too large to use on a DP.

Rod's looks nice too!

[Wilbur4321]

quote:Originally posted by RodKirby

I bought this specifically for Bench dog holes (yet to be done!).

Expensive solution, but I can see many other uses.

Details here: http://www.triton.net.au/products/pd.html

Uhm, Rod. Don't you have a router?

Actually, truth be told, I drilled my bench dog holes with a 3/4" spade bit and my dewalt drill, which has a bubble level on the end. Did the job plenty well ... bench dog holes need not be at a perfect 90 anyways

--randy