drilling hole jig for axles for toys?

[Brian Sommers]

I don't have long enough drill bits and a deep enough drill press to go through 3.5 inches of wood.

So... I'm planning on going with the peg/cap method. Gluing the axle in and a slightly larger hole in the wheel and let the wheel roll on the axle instead of gluing the wheel to the axle and letting the axle roll/move.

Is there a trick to drilling exact holes on each side of a block of wood?

I've been measuring my distance from the bottom and then in from each edge and go from there.

Any advice would be great. Thanks.

[Dan Rude]

You need a longer bit, to do this. Swing the head to the side of your bench. Drill down stop and reposition the toy. You can also predrill your blocks before shaping them. Depending on the diameter HD by me has a lot of the Milwaukee bits on clearance that would be long enough. Dan

[John K Jordan]

If the sides of the toy body are parallel you can try indexing the hole like this:

- Make sure the drill press table is perpendicular to the quill axis.
- Drill all holes 1/2 way through on one side of each toy
- Clamp a flat piece of board or MDF on the drill press.
- Drill a hole part way into the board
- Fasten a short pin into the hole on the board (steel, alum, brass if possible)
- Fit a hole in the toy over the pin
- Drill the other 1/2 way through the body

Should meet up with the first hole if everything is aligned.

But I would buy a longer bit. The big box stores carry them, but maybe too long. If you can sharpen bits just cut it off at the right length and resharpen. If the bit wanders it may not come out the other side in exactly the right place but the tolerances on a toy might not be critical.

JKJ

[Jim Finn]

I make a lot of toys with wheels. I just make the toys narrower to fit my equipment limitations. I like axel pegs but I still drill the hole all the way through the toy.

[Lee Schierer]

If you are going to use commercial axle pegs and wheels, there is no need to drill the wheels. The wheels on this truck 325989 are attached with axle pegs and they roll nicely.

[Steve Peterson]

If the sides of the toy body are parallel you can try indexing the hole like this:

- Make sure the drill press table is perpendicular to the quill axis.
- Drill all holes 1/2 way through on one side of each toy
- Clamp a flat piece of board or MDF on the drill press.
- Drill a hole part way into the board
- Fasten a short pin into the hole on the board (steel, alum, brass if possible)
- Fit a hole in the toy over the pin
- Drill the other 1/2 way through the body

Should meet up with the first hole if everything is aligned.

But I would buy a longer bit. The big box stores carry them, but maybe too long. If you can sharpen bits just cut it off at the right length and resharpen. If the bit wanders it may not come out the other side in exactly the right place but the tolerances on a toy might not be critical.

JKJ

I like this idea the best because the hole should exit the body at the same spot on both sides. The pin lines everything up.

I have used the same trick to drill holes in the center of dowels before I got my lathe. Drill a hole in a block of wood the same size as the dowel. Insert the dowel in the hole. Change to a smaller diameter drill bit and drill a hole in the center of the dowel.

Steve