Drilling holes for cabinet puck lights.

[Steve Schoene]

Upper kitchen cabinets arrive tomorrow before next week's install. I need to drill 2 1/4" holes in the tops of these eurostyle cabinet boxes to accept LED puck lights. I've got the right size forstner bit, but... Is there a way to safely drill these holes by hand, or to maneuver them to be drilled on my drill press. The boxes are 42". I do want to drill from inside out to get clean holes on the visible side. I'm looking for any experience or ways to jig this to make this a comfortable task. Thanks in advance.

[George Bokros]

I know of no way you could maneuver them to use the drill press. Drilling by hand I would stand the cabinet on its top so you can drill down instead of up. There are drill guides for use with hand held drills. If they can accommodate the 2 1/4" drill it will keep you vertical.

Here is one example http://toolmonger.com/2008/06/10/accudrill-drill-guide/

[Peter Kelly]

Could always use the new ultra-thin LED puck lights: http://www.outwatercatalogs.com/lg_display.cfm/catalog/Master_Catalog_Vol_42/page/696
They're just over .25" thick so no mortising required, just a small hole for the power cord.

http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2014/02/12/11580747/gI_136297_LED%20Venus%20Ultra%20Bright%20Puck%20Li ght-1a.jpg

[Bill White]

Can't use a hole saw?
Bill

[Peter Quinn]

Router. Make a hole in a piece of plywood, route the holes from the inside.

[Jerry Thompson]

+Router. I have done this but not in a cabinet. I had to place vents in my soffit. I used a hole saw to cut the right sized hole in a scrap. I then used a pattern bit to make the hole and all went better than my expectations.

[Erik Christensen]

take a piece of hardwood scrap - drill a hole through with the forstner bit - clamp the scrap where you want the hole in the cabinet case and use the hole in your scrap as a guide for the bit - not as accurate as the drill press but for this purpose it will be good enough

[Judson Green]

+1 more for the router.

I've done em with hole saws (going half way though from each side) not much fun and sometimes not a very good fit. Make template for a router and you'll have very nicely fit lights.

Or use what Peter mentioned, that's what I'd do and forget all this routing, drilling nonsense.

[Jerry Miner]

Router would probably be my #1 choice, but if you really want to drill it from the inside, I would cut a piece of scrap plywood---maybe the whole length of the cabinet interior, drill it with the Forstner bit, place it in the upside-down cabinet, and use it to guide the Forstner bit through the cabinet top.

[Leo Graywacz]

Can't use a hole saw?
Bill

Ding ding. Drill half way through and then come from the other side. Clean, chip free on both sides.

[Jim Becker]

If your DP allows, you can lower the table down to the floor and position the cabinet accordingly.

That said, rather than pucks, the latest LED strips are a lot easier to install under cabinets and are less obtrusive. They also provide even light all the way across the cabinets, something the pucks cannot do. Check Lee Valley for examples... That's what's going in my kitchen to replace the old halogens when I have the money to do the retrofit.

[George Bokros]

If your DP allows, you can lower the table down to the floor and position the cabinet accordingly.

That said, rather than pucks, the latest LED strips are a lot easier to install under cabinets and are less obtrusive. They also provide even light all the way across the cabinets, something the pucks cannot do. Check Lee Valley for examples... That's what's going in my kitchen to replace the old halogens when I have the money to do the retrofit.

Jim, I believe he wants the lights mounted in the tops of the cabinets shinning inside the cabinets. He could still use strip lights but inside.