Yet another workbench hole drilling thread

[Jeff Johnson]

A bit non-neander, but...

Like many, I'm working on a workbench, with 3/4" round holes intended. I'd figured on using a hand drill, as my drill press doesn't have the throat depth or spindle length to do all of the holes. A couple of weekends I was doing some mortising with a jet mortiser, and it occurred to me that of I set up a flat base and guides right, I could probably put a hss brad-point in the mortiser and use it to get good, straight holes. The math seems to work, with bit length, spindle run-out, etc.

If I set up a 3/4" index pin on a flat board to mount the mortiser to, I can probably get a real good spacing. I also figure a board underneath to cut back on spalling.

Thoughts?

[Jeff Burks]

If you are worried about your ability to drill plumb holes in the field of your bench with a hand drill then there is a really easy way to do this. Seeing how you have a small drill press, just square up a thick block of wood and drill a hole in it with the press. Then clamp that block to the work bench on your layout lines and use it to hold the bit in line while you begin each hole. Depending on the type of bit you use (auger sounds good), this can be a very accurate guide. You can also drill a series of holes for your layout in a longer stick and clamp that across the width of your bench with a matching piece below to stop blow out. Sliding this setup down the bench can give you nicely spaced rows of holes.

[Alex Shanku]

Not to say that there arent a myriad of ways to do it, but I used a pencil, tape measure and a 1/2" drill with an old beat up 3/4" spade bit. Drilled my holes and it works just fine...took all of 5 minutes. I pound holdfasts and dogs every day and they hold-fast and dog without incident.

[Joe McMahon]

I used a brace and 3/4" bit with tape at the point where the point of the bit just begins to come through the bottom. I then removed the bit and finished from the bottom. Nice clean holes. As for straight, I used two squares, one lined up on each axis to check front to back & side to side drift and it worked just fine.

Sometimes the simpler methods are the best & cheapest solutions.

Joe

[Paul Davis]

I wanted to make sure I bored orthogonal holes in my workbench top, so I made a guide block with my drill press in the way that Jeff Burks (and many others) recommends. I marked the guide block with center lines to line up with pencil marks on my bench, and even screwed a fence to the guide block to register with the front of the bench, to make sure all the holes were aligned. Then I used a good Forstner bit to bore the bench top, touching up the edges after every couple of holes, and waxing it as well.

That worked great until I was about halfway down the bench. I discovered that I had been relying on the guide block so much to keep the bit orthogonal that I was not minding to keep the pressure straight down. I was gradually enlarging the guide hole, so that I was tipping the bit a degree or two further each time. Yikes! I threw the whole guide away, just put the point of the Forstner on the mark, and eyeballed it. My eye was way better at orthogonal than a guide block with my brain disengaged.

Those increasingly tipped dog holes in the middle of my bench are a reminder to trust my own sense of square and true, and not hand over the job to a guide. I suppose they're even more effective than a sign hanging over the bench. :)
Paul

PS I shouldn't have to add that I'm not dissing Jeff or any others who have offered the suggestion of how to make a guide block. I've made scores of jigs and guides. I'm only acknowledging that I've learned I'm highly prone to overrely on the jig, forgetting the fact that only the actual operation on the workpiece really matters. If I employ the jig in a repetitive operation (which is all they are good for), my alertness drifts at some point and I introduce an error, then repeat it, until eventually I'm doing far worse work than if I were doing each operation without a guide. Workmen who are able to maintain their attention to the quality of their work throughout a repetitive operation, whether using a jig or not, will be okay either way.

[Jake Rothermel]

I just bought me a pair of holdfasts (TFWW, if you must know...) and am preparing to drill some holes with my newly refurb'd brace in my own bench and this seemed like a well-timed thread to ask a similar question.

Besides the innate "Aim For Perfection, Expect to Fall Slightly Short" aspect of unplugged work and of drilling perfectly plumb and square 3/4" holes in my work, how necessary is it really that holes made for holdfasts or bench dogs actually be perfectly square? I mean, if they're a degree or two off one way or the other, will it actually effect the holding power of something you hammer into place?

This is partially a philosophical question in much the same vein as "Do Your Dovetails Have to be PERFECTLY Matched and Evenly Divided" and partially one meant to reassure me as I've never attempted to drill a perfectly plumb hole through roughly 3 1/4" worth of wood by hand.

Again, sorry to hijack, but it seemed an appropriate place to ask the question without starting another Holes in My Workbench thread.

[Paul Davis]

I don't think it mattered at all that my dog holes drifted off plumb, other than I felt the shame of shoddy workmanship. If I extended the dogs 3" up from the benchtop, the out of plumb would be quite noticeable. But they work just fine at the usual 3/4" height and less. The top of all the holes is perfectly aligned, but if you look underneath at the exit holes, you'd be alarmed by the drift. Or I would, anyway.

I can't tell any difference at all in work-holding among my plumb holes and my shoddy ones.

[Gary McKown]

Probably too late, but the simplest way to get straight, plumb, perfectly spaced holes is to drill them with the drill press before the top is glued up. This requires careful consideration of later vise placement, etc., but the fence and an index pin set up on the DP makes it go really fast, too.

I had to drill a few holes after glue up, in which case I used one of those "plunge" bases that the drill mounts onto - first use for it in about 20 years, I think.

[Jeff Johnson]

Ya know, I'm probably over-complicating and over-thinking this, but... ya know... Engineer....

;)

[Steve Branam]

Since this is yet another workbench hole drilling thread, here's yet another link to where I drilled the 25 dog holes in my Roubo with a 150-year-old Spofford brace and bit :D. Scroll down to the third picture: http://www.closegrain.com/2010/02/my-roubo-part-13.html

There are also a few notes about the TFWW/Gramercy holdfasts.

I drilled from the top until the lead screw just poked through, then from underneath set the bit back in that hole and finished off (holes near the legs may need a ratcheting brace). That gives you a clean hole, leaving a nice little disk on the end of your bit. Then a little cleanout with a cylindrical surform rasp, since it's tough to keep it perfectly dead straight. But these holes now work just fine with my holdfasts.