best way to drill shelf supports?

[Jay Yoder]

I have a bunch of melamine panels i need to put shelf pin holes in. I have the jig (unfortunately a short one) and the drill bit, but my drill gets so hot, So i was looking for a different way of doing it. How do you'all do it? I have a bushing that I could use in my router, but don't have the 5mm bit.

[glenn bradley]

My Rockler jig has 3/8" holes. I use a plunge router with a template collar.

[Bill Huber]

1+ for the plunge router... its fast and easy.

You can make your own jig in about 30 min.

This is the one I made.
Draw a straight line, set a compass to the center to center of the holes and lay them out, drill them and then use a large counter sink on the top of each hole to make it easier to plunge the router.

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/image/91796523

[sean m. titmas]

Find a machine shop to drill a 1/4"x2"x 40" strip of aluminum with 5mm holes set 32 mm apart and 37mm from one of the edges.

if you start your first hole at 70mm from the end of the guide and place the guide at the edge of the panel you can than drill the hinge bore on the door at 3.25" or 83mm from the cabinet outside. this sets up your door for a 3mm reveal on the top and bottom edges.

when you drill your hinge hole at 32mm spacing this will help you in alinging your hinges and slides and the 37mm back set will position the hinge plate at the correct location. 40" long will allow you to drill holes for base cabinets and wall cab's too. you dont need to drill all the holes into the plywood panel but just 3 or 4 holes centered on the shelf location.

[Denny Rice]

1+ for the plunge router... its fast and easy.

You can make your own jig in about 30 min.

This is the one I made.
Draw a straight line, set a compass to the center to center of the holes and lay them out, drill them and then use a large counter sink on the top of each hole to make it easier to plunge the router.

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/image/91796523

Nice looking jig Bill. :)

[Tom Veatch]

Jay, my experience has been that using a template/jig such as the Rockler jig (or one of similar design) that is shorter than the row of holes has enough tolerance/uncertainties that the holes in all the rows don't have an acceptable alignment after shifting the template a couple of times. I wound up having to plug and redrill a bunch of holes in a set of half a dozen bookcases because the upper shelves rocked too much on the supports.

I recommend that you get a piece of scrap that is long enough to cover the entire row of holes, use the "Rockler type" jig to make a template that includes all holes in the row. The spacing may vary a little from top to bottom, but if you use the full length template - either with a drill or a plunge router - to locate the holes, they will all align and the shelves won't rock on the supports. Just keep the bottom of the template at the bottom of the row for all 4 rows.