Jig for drilling centered axle holes in wooden wheels (no lathe) ?

[Eben Fourie]

Hi,

I would like to drill holes into discs cut from large wooden dowels, to use as wheels for toys.

The dowel diameter I get is not always exactly the same, so using a hole-saw to cut a similar sized recess to "seat" the wheel does not give consistent results.

What are my (shop made) options for using a bench drill to try and get centered holes for the axle ?

V-notch cut into a piece of MDF and moving that around on the bench drill table until the point of a brad point bit hits the same spot when rotating the disc ?

The wheel diameter is typically around 45mm and the axle is 8mm

Thanks in advance,
Eben

[johnny means]

Could you "balance" the wheels after drilling the axle hole? You could use a circle cutting or sanding jig that references from the hole.

[Brian Tymchak]

Would this jig help you out? I haven't tried it, just googled it up after reading your post. Should work for any size dowel that would fit inside the frame. It only finds the center of the dowel, it doesn't actually seat the bit on the center.

http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/2006/09/08/wb/

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I use this to find centers on round or square objects: http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Measuring___Layout___Zero_Center_Finder___zero_fin der?Args=

Then make a jig a piece of wood/plywood with 2 pieces attached to form a corner.

Find the center on the wheel with the "center-finder".....place on jig.....align the center of the bit with the center of the wheel. Clamp jig to table and drill.

[Eben Fourie]

guys, thanks for the replies

the dowel sizes vary depending on supplier and wood shrinkage etc, so one dowel could be 45mm and the next 44mm. I cut batches of wheels (75 to 80 wheels per 1m length of dowel)

johnny - nope, not really what i want to do, just looking for a quick way to drill centered holes in discs of slightly varying diameter

brian - yup, i've made something similar in the past, that's why i am thinking of putting a 90-degree v-notch onto the drill press table, move it around until things line up and then clamp it. should hopefully be able to make repeatable holes fairly quickly.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I picked up a jig like Ken linked to from God only knows where and for God only knows how much. It was an impulse buy since it was on closeout at where ever I was at.
It works well.
Mine is a bit smaller than the one in the link.

[Carl Beckett]

Those marking tools will 'mark' the center, but you have to draw a line from more than one side (meaning, strike two or three lines and drill at the intersection). If you go that route, you can just drill by eye at the intersection.

You wouldnt want a fixture to do this, because since its different diameters you have to constantly re-position the fixture for each piece. (the angled corner to align against doesnt get you centered in one direction - only two and you need three for this method)

You need something that locates on at least three points - and all three points would have to move simultaneously as it came in and clamped the piece. So you basically end up with a lathe chuck (like a three jaw chuck) that you clamp on center in your drill press and then you can use any diameter piece.

Maybe look on craigslist for some type of used lathe chuck (you can find them cheap sometimes)

Or maybe a drill press chuck would also work?? (depends on the diameter of the rod you are wanting to drill). Just mount it upside down on center (maybe have a wood base - drill a hole that fits the spindle - then drop the chuck spindle into the hole - you now know its centered)

[Charles Lent]

I use a forstner bit of a size that will form a pocket for the wheel to fit in. I then clamp a piece of scrap on the drill press and drill the pocket into the scrap just deep enough for the wheel to seat well. I then change the bit to a drill of the size needed and drill the axle hole into the wheel, which has been placed and centered in the hole made by the forstner bit. Carefully choosing the right forstner bit makes the axle holes come out very closely centered in the wheels.

Charley