1 3/8" holes without a drill press?

[alex grams]

I am doing a few doors and using euro hinges on them. I have no drill press, but need the hole for the hinge. What would be the best suggested way to do this? All i can come up with at the moment is make a collar for a router bit and use the plunge base.

Any other ideas?

I suspect a drill press will be on the list sometime down the road, but I just don't have the need for it at the moment.

Thanks in advance.

[Chris Padilla]

Lottsa ways to skin this cat but Rockler, Lee Valley, and some others all have jigs for cutting these holes and you don't need a DP or router for it, only a handdrill. Google is your friend. :)

[Bob Durgin]

I suspect a drill press will be on the list sometime down the road, but I just don't have the need for it at the moment.

Thanks in advance.
You do now :D

[Greg Hines, MD]

Get a forstner bit the proper size, and drill a hole in a scrap of 2x4. Clamp that jig in place, and then use a hand drill to bore the holes. You will have to fashion some kind of depth stop.

Doc

[Steven Wilson]

The Rockler jig works very, very well

[Joe Scharle]

I've used a Port-a-line type drill guide for things like this. Start the forstner slowly so that it doesn't wander; after the hole has an edge then drill at regular speed.

[Cary Swoveland]

Alex,

If you have a Fine Woodworking on-line subscription (or the Mar-Apr 2001 print issue), you may want to look at the article, "Seven Jigs for Drilling Cup Hinge Holes". All the jigs tested used a portable drill. Among those selling for less than $150 (all but two), the reviewer seemed to like the jig sold by Rockler the best. Note that Rockler also sells a jig that's used with a router. That jig was not reviewed in this article.

I noticed that one of the reviewers of Rockler's jig (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5878) complained that, until he received the jig, he was unaware that a long-shank Forstner bit was required. A standard-length Forstner bit may possibly work OK with a bit extener.

Cary

[Randal Cobb]

Here's my opinion... if you can go out and spend $150 on a jig (nothing personal Cary), then you can spend $65 on this http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=38119 (cheap drill press) and get a nice Forstner bit set and you accomplish a few things... you have a working drill press for small projects (BTW, I have one of these drills and it's been used and abused for close to 12 years and it still runs and works great)... you have a set of bits to cut any hole you need now and later... and, you didn't spend $150 on some jig that you may never use again.

[Cary Swoveland]

Just to clarify, Randall, the Rockler jig is only $40. Their router-based jig is just $14. The latter was reviewed favorably by one buyer. The jigs in price evaluated in the FWW article ranged in price up to about $250.

Cary

[Randal Cobb]

Cary, respectfully, I'm not disputing that there are very good jigs out there for relatively inexpensive prices. I also never have had the opportunity to read the article you mentioned. But, from your post, I deduced that most were in the $150 range that you were referring to. I was merely trying to show the OP that there were other options that could be more useful after this initial project. For less than $100, he could have a (albeit a lower-end) decent quality drill press and a decent set of bits to use on future projects. If I was posed with the same problem, I would try to maximize the return on what I was spending. I've spent hundreds on jigs that I only use every-so-often. Had I other options and still accomplish the same task effectively, I would try to take it. That's all I was trying to say.

[Joel Goodman]

If you take the time to make a simple jig the plunge router with collar can be very accurate. I haven't used it for euro hinges but needed to drill a few very accurate stopped holes with flat bottoms 1 1/4" wide at an exact angle for a project -- the plunge router with a homemade jig worked well. A larger circle is cut (using the router) and then a collar is used and a smaller bit.

[Paul Simmel]

I'd go for the low end drill press, myself.

[John Keeton]

I would vote low end DP as well, but in order to replicate the hole location, you will want to make a simple jig in any event. On the subject of a drill press, although I can not speak for the HF model, it seems that the one or two cheaper ones that I have had in past years had bad runout. I would want to check that before purchase.

I am certainly no expert on this, but a little goes a long way on a DP. My first "decent" DP was a Craftsman, and after a couple of projects using it with a sanding drum attachment, it had so much play and slop it was unusable. I guess that would be my caveat on a cheaper DP. Nonetheless, I think having the DP for other projects would make up the difference on this particular question, and the $65 HF would pay for itself quickly.

My vote would be different if money was not a concern - does that ever happen in real life???

[William OConnell]

I am doing a few doors and using euro hinges on them. I have no drill press, but need the hole for the hinge. What would be the best suggested way to do this? All i can come up with at the moment is make a collar for a router bit and use the plunge base.

Any other ideas?

I suspect a drill press will be on the list sometime down the road, but I just don't have the need for it at the moment.

Thanks in advance.
Ive done alot of them with a good cordless and the bit. It works fine. Thats it no jig necessary.

[Jim Becker]

As a related note, most Euro hinges require a 35mm bore...be sure to use the correct size for a snug fit.

[alex grams]

the freud forstner bit worked out well with a hand drill. My concern that the bit would tend to walk on me was pretty well alleviated. I would feel pretty comfortable making a jig out of wood for it for the doors I am doing.

Thanks again for all of the advice.

[Lee Schierer]

As a related note, most Euro hinges require a 35mm bore...be sure to use the correct size for a snug fit. 35 mm is so close to 1-3/8" that it isn't worth the extra cost for the 35 mm bit. The difference in diameter is only.0029", which should be plenty close for wood.

[alex grams]

the difference between the 1 3/8" and 35 is just enough to make the hole snug where i can push it in with my hand and it holds it tight while I am mounting them.

[Chris Padilla]

35 mm is so close to 1-3/8" that it isn't worth the extra cost for the 35 mm bit. The difference in diameter is only.0029", which should be plenty close for wood.

3 mil might be the difference but a little runout on the DP, or an unsteady hand, or worn bits or bits with a wide tolerance can change that number.

However, overall, I agree. In a pinch or if you don't feel like it, the 1.375" forstner bit will work fine. I happen to have standard and metric of just about everything because I got tired of dealing with some of the minute differences that turned out to be not-so-minute at times.... :)

[Lee Schierer]

3 mil might be the difference but a little runout on the DP, or an unsteady hand, or worn bits or bits with a wide tolerance can change that number.

Wouldn't the same problems exist with a 35 mm bit? A worn 1.375 would most likely be undersize which would make it even closer to 35 mm. Most likely the tolerance on the cups isn't held closer than +/-.005 which would be fairly tight for mass production tolerances.

[Nissim Avrahami]

Correct me if I'm wrong but...
1" = 25.4 mm
3/8" = 9.525 mm

1-3/8" = 34.925 mm....
It looks like 1-3/8" is smaller than 35 mm....

I have a drill press but sometimes, the door is too big to be supported on the DP table so I'm using Drill-stand

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Regards
niki

[Greg Cole]

Ive done alot of them with a good cordless and the bit. It works fine. Thats it no jig necessary.

I did 28 doors in my kitchen that way too. I had all intentions of using the scrap wood jig I was going to make... but never got 'round to the building the jig part.
If you can drill a straight hole all ya need to do is control the depth which isn't tough either.

Greg

[Lee Schierer]

Correct me if I'm wrong but...
1" = 25.4 mm
3/8" = 9.525 mm

1-3/8" = 34.925 mm....
It looks like 1-3/8" is smaller than 35 mm....



You are quite correct, I forgot that I converted mm to inches not the other way around. 35 mm = 1.3779 inches. so 1-3/8 is about .003 smaller.

[Nissim Avrahami]

You are quite correct, I forgot that I converted mm to inches not the other way around. 35 mm = 1.3779 inches. so 1-3/8 is about .003 smaller.

No problem Lee

If I had $1 for every mistake that I made, I would not post in this forum but in the "Millionaires" forum (if there is such a thing) :)

Regards
niki

[Art Travers]

Use 1 3/8" forstner ..they work fine for euro hinges ...If you are so concerned run a few holes in scrap to make sure..