My First Tote

[Paul Fisicaro]

I think it came out ok for my first one. I totally screwed up the inset 7/16 hole (its about an 1/8 of an inch off center) at the top so its most likely useless. I drilled a perfect 5/16 bolt hole but then when I tried to get the 7/16 forstner bit centered on top of that, it drifted on me and thats it.. TOAST. Major screw up... un-fixable. I need to drill the bigger hole first, I think but Im not really sure. I made it out of poplar scraps because that's the only semi-hard wood I had laying around. It was really just an experiment to see if I could actually do it. No power tools we used in the making of this tote. It was brutal cutting it out with a coping saw, ooof!

I read the tote tutorial on Don's website (timeTestedTools.com), Hardwarecitytools.com but mostly went with Clint Jones Tote Making thread in this forum since I had no power tools. I learned a lot from each one.

PS. My drill press only drilled about half way through the piece, I had to flip it and drill a few inches then flip it again so on and so forth until it broke through in the middle. I think the margin of error is much greater this way. It seems my drill press should be able to drill 5 inches in one pull down motion but I can only get about about 2 inches.... Is that normal for a drill press?

329536

[Tony Shea]

Looks very nice. Bummer about the missed hole. It usually works out best to drill the large hole first and use the point left inside the hole as your starting point for the through hole.

[Paul Fisicaro]

It usually works out best to drill the large hole first and use the point left inside the hole as your starting point for the through hole.

Yup! I should of thought of that but oh well. Lesson learned, I guess. It wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't cut the whole thing out with a coping saw. Its a major pain and very time consuming. I dont enjoy that part one bit.. LOL.

[Phil Mueller]

You did a beautiful job on the tote. I'm a bit drill challenged, but found going to a hand brace has helped a lot...much slower and controlled. When I need accuracy, I sometimes start the hole with a drill press and then use that as a pilot guide to finish with a hand brace.
Have you considered filling the existing holes with dowels and giving it another go?

[Paul Fisicaro]

I dont have a hand brace but maybe I should consider getting one and I guess I could fill the holes but Im sure you would be able to tell that it was plugged, no?

[Jim Koepke]

You may be able to plug the hole with some matching wood. It will be under the blade and lateral adjuster, so who will notice?

That is a very nice looking tote to toss.

I tend to keep my mistakes as reminders and look at them before doing a similar operation. It helps me to keep what went wrong from going wrong again.

As to the drill press not cutting deeper, my experience is the flutes on the bit get full of compressed wood shavings and stop the bit from cutting. Draw the bit out of the work so the shavings can escape and you will be able to go a little deeper.

Also as Tony said, drill the bigger hole first, then use its center to align the smaller drill.

jtk

[Joe Beaulieu]

Don't toss it Paul. Put a chain on it and wear it around your neck! It is way too pretty to toss. Keep it and use it as a tracing model or try and fix it and use it on one of your beaters or something. Put it to use. It looks like a lot of painstaking work went into that piece. Around your rear view mirror? Anything but toss it.

Joe

[Derek Cohen]

a lot from each one.

PS. My drill press only drilled about half way through the piece, I had to flip it and drill a few inches then flip it again so on and so forth until it broke through in the middle. I think the margin of error is much greater this way. It seems my drill press should be able to drill 5 inches in one pull down motion but I can only get about about 2 inches.... Is that normal for a drill press?

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=329536&d=1453000847&thumb=1 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=329536&d=1453000847)

The trick is to start with a hole before any sawing and shaping. That way the hole goes where you want it to be.

The other point is to start the hole with the drill press, then use this as a guide when drilling out the remainder by hand.

It looks good.

Regards from London

Derek

[Paul Fisicaro]

THanks Joe. Ill definitely think about wearing it around my neck. I really like this idea. I was quite proud of it until the bone head mistake though.

Jim, I guess I didn't describe my drill press problem too well. Forget there being a piece of wood that I'm drilling, if I just turn my drill press handle one full rotation, it doesnt seem to go very far down. This is the only drill press I've ever owned so im not sure if certain types of drill presses have more cutting depths or not. I have a grizzly baby drill press, this one (http://www.grizzly.com/products/5-Speed-Baby-Drill-Press/G7942). I assuming its because its a "baby" drill press is why I cant drill 5 deep in one shot. I will drill the bigger hole first, for sure.

[Paul Fisicaro]

Thanks Derek, I did drill the holes before I did any shaping. It started out as a completely square piece of wood in the drill press. My problem was that I tried to center the bigger 7/16 drill bit over the small 5/16 hole. I figured Id have a harder time figuring out the depth of the larger hole if I did it first. but no worries, Ill get it right the next time.

[Phil Mueller]

+1 on what Jim says. Find some poplar dowel at the Borg and try to match any grain lines when you plug the misaligned Forstner hole. Should be very passable.

[Paul Fisicaro]

I was just thinking (can you see the smoke??) I wonder if making a jig for my drill press is the way to go. Any ideas about that? I would just be easy to place the wood in the jig, cut one hole, flip, cut the other hole and then flip again to drill the bigger hole especially since I have this little drill press. Im not good at making jigs or at least coming up with an idea for one so any suggestions would be great. Off to the wood shop I go for now, I guess.

[don wilwol]

here is how i typically do it, http://www.timetestedtools.com/making-a-bench-plane-tote.html

I've also made a spade bit for centering the larger hole. I use it when adding just the horn. Just taper a spade bit so its to a point and all the way to the 7/16 ". Since its a full taper it stays centered untill the hole is the right size. Once its started, switch back to the regular bit.

As for your popular bit, I'd plug it and try again.

[Pat Barry]

You did a nice job with the shaping so my vote would be to go ahead and make a new one. I doubt that the dowel approach will be satisfactory. +1 to what Jim said - peck your way through with the drill press clearing chips frequently. Stop and clear the bit manually if you have to as the flutes get filled with debris increases the likelihood of drill wander. Also +1 to what Tony said - large hole first.

[Dan Duperron]

Paul, if you look at the specs for your press it lists the spindle travel at 2". That is extremely short and limiting, as you have discovered.

I think your tote looks very nice. I need to make one for an old plane that belonged to my grandfather some day.

[Paul Fisicaro]

Thanks guys and thanks Dan for the info on the drill press. This drill press was a gift from a friend so I didn't really have a choice although I like it and use it for lots of different things, I just don't think it's suitable for tote drilling.

[Jim Koepke]

I have a grizzly baby drill press, this one. I assuming its because its a "baby" drill press is why I cant drill 5 deep in one shot. I will drill the bigger hole first, for sure.

Ah yes, the specifications lists the spindle travel at 2".

jtk