Evenly spaced holes w/ drill press???

[Wright Woodall]

I'm planning on drilling about 64 holes tomorrow night for dowels in the side rails of the crib I am building. (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=89250)

Does anybody have any tricks for drilling evenly spaced holes w/ a drill press? I am envisioning some sort of stop block that comes over the top to hit the previously drilled hole??? It's too late for me to get any farther than that tonight.

later...

Wright

[Jason Beam]

You could go that route, sure. I've had trouble with it myself, though. It works reasonably well, though. My trouble was with attention to detail and flex. The "over the top part" means you'll probably have to hinge it somehow - and I just couldn't get something to hinge without flex. I just wasn't patient enough, though...

Instead - try a piece of scrap with two holes drilled the distance apart you're after. Stick a dowel in one of 'em and slap on a piece on the side to ride against the edge of your board. This will give you a perfectly straight line of holes, the same distance apart from each other (once you get the first hole drilled and that can be done by removing the dowel and using a clamp of some kind). I've had much better luck with this method, myself.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hello Wright, you're going to laugh, however when I have a job that needs a lot of holes, such as a bookcase, I use the following method;

- install a fence on the drill press that's taller than the workpiece

- accurately mark a vertical line on the fence that lines up with the drill bit

- mark your work by measuring and drawing small lines at the edge

Now you line up the two marks and drill the holes. I know it seems odd, however you can easilly line up the two marks by eye to very good accuracy, and it's much faster than you might imagine.

Regards, Rod.

[Joe Scharle]

Drill a hole, insert a peg, push up to a stop, drill a hole..........

[Bruce Gray]

Any of the techniques that use one hole as the reference for the next hole can suffer from an accumulated tolerance buildup problem. For example, if a jig gave an error from hole-to-hole of only 1/64", then after 16 holes, the error is 1/4". I assume that you want the holes centered on the rails, with equal spaces at each end. My example of a 1/4' error would be pretty noticeable. On top of that, more than likely any hole-to-hole jig that you build will cause you start the line of holes from the opposite end of the top and bottom rails. Then you can have a situation where the holes don't align vertically. So, if you use a hole-to-hole jig, I suggest that you be very carefull to tune the accuracy very well. You could also leave the rails long, and cut them to length after the holes are drilled (to match the hole pattern.)

Personally, I prefer the Rod Sheridan's suggestion of marking the holes, and using a fence. That's the approach that I have used in the past.

[Wright Woodall]

Thanks to all for suggestions, I definitely have a better picture in my head now. Only problem is I made my fence shorter than the workpiece, so I may have to do some other minor mods to it before I can try these methods. I like the idea of using a stop and not laying out each hole, but I will probably put some witness marks on the first piece at least to make sure nothing shifts. As I said in my project thread, I misfigured the BF I needed, so I don't have any room for mistakes now. Of course it is going to be painted, so anything can be fixed, but I absolutely hate redoing things.

[Jim Becker]

Stop blocks along the fence on your auxiliary DP table is one way to do it. You might also consider jigging up a plunge router to do this task...cleaner holes and probably faster. Once you drill the first hole, assuming they are equally spaced, you use a shop-made sub-base on the router that has an index pin to fit in the previous hole and guides to keep it the correct distance from the edges as you move down the rails.

[Wright Woodall]

Any of the techniques that use one hole as the reference for the next hole can suffer from an accumulated tolerance buildup problem. For example, if a jig gave an error from hole-to-hole of only 1/64", then after 16 holes, the error is 1/4". I assume that you want the holes centered on the rails, with equal spaces at each end. My example of a 1/4' error would be pretty noticeable. On top of that, more than likely any hole-to-hole jig that you build will cause you start the line of holes from the opposite end of the top and bottom rails. Then you can have a situation where the holes don't align vertically. So, if you use a hole-to-hole jig, I suggest that you be very carefull to tune the accuracy very well. You could also leave the rails long, and cut them to length after the holes are drilled (to match the hole pattern.)

Personally, I prefer the Rod Sheridan's suggestion of marking the holes, and using a fence. That's the approach that I have used in the past.

Bruce,

I think we were typing at the same time, so I missed your post. good point on the accumulated error. That is something I have had to take in to account in the past doing construction surveying work. I thought about starting from the center and working both ways to cancel it out, but that would require more accuracy for the bit being centered on the piece. The rails are 1 1/8" wide and the holes are 3/4" so there isn't much reveal to hide even the slightest offset. Rod's suggestion is looking even better since IIRC the pieces are already cut to length. I'll check when I get home, maybe I'm smarter than I remember and left them long.


Stop blocks along the fence on your auxiliary DP table is one way to do it. You might also consider jigging up a plunge router to do this task...cleaner holes and probably faster. Once you drill the first hole, assuming they are equally spaced, you use a shop-made sub-base on the router that has an index pin to fit in the previous hole and guides to keep it the correct distance from the edges as you move down the rails.


Jim,

I don't have a plunge router... YET.;) It is high on my want list and i'll remember your suggestion.


Thanks again all.


Later...

Wright

[glenn bradley]

I made a little do-jobber that clamps to my DP fence. It hold a dowel sized to my hole-size and in a position to drop into a hole. I drill the first hole, slide the piece over till the dowel drops in, drill the second hole, lift up the dowel, slide over, etc.

Another method I have used is to take a piece of shelf standard, double tape it to the edge of my piece and use a small pin in the fence to step between the bracket holes . . . that didn't come across very well. I'll see if I have some pics when I get home tonight.

This isn't mine but it will give you the idea:

[John Thompson]

I measure and mark the drill point holes with the stock on the work-bench to get them accurate. Then I pilot them with the tip of an old ice pick I use just for that these days. Set up the fence by lowering the drill tip bit into the now piloted hole.

Position the stock on the fence and lower the bit to be sure of dead-on alignment with that hole. Then clamp the stock down and drill. When finished take the clamp off and slide the stock down to the next hole. Lower the bit while off to assure dead on.. If so.. clamp and dirll..

May be a bit slower than a stop.. but it is dead accurate as you assured it with a quick test on each individual hole before you pulled the trigger.

Good luck big guy....

Sarge..

[mreza Salav]

What Joe said; is simple and works.
No error accumulation etc.

[Wright Woodall]

Once again, thanks for all the suggestions. I will have plenty of options if my first attempts doesn't work. Here is a picture of the DP and table/fence. I put countersunk 1/4" phillips head bolts in the table, with washers and miter bolt nuts on the bottom. One hand under the table and a screwdriver on top makes for quick adjustments in and out. Oh and i glued rails to the bottom of the wood table that fit on either side of the CI table to keep it relatively square while adjusting. Pretty simple, but it went together quick and worked great on my test piece.

94637

[Clifford Mescher]

I attatch a length of pegboard and use my self-centering vix bit. The holes are 1 inch apart and I usually use every other hole. It is fast and none accumulative. What you get on one side you will get on the matching side. Clifford

[Tony Bilello]

When I was new at woodworking, I read a lot and made a lot of jigs that just didnt work like others claimed.
It wan't until I met Frank. my mentor, that I found why my jigs didnt work. It was my attitude toward jigs. To me, they were something that you just slap together and rock n' roll. Was I ever wrong.
A jig should take all of the care of a fine piece of furniture, and then some. In order for it to work precisely, it must be built precisely. I can assure you that if you can design and make your jigs so that they are adjustable so that they can be used for other projects, they will be. And, this dill press jig comes in that category.

I have made many jigs that are incredibly accurate. If you look at them they look like a 30 minute project when in fact they probably took 4 or 5 hours.

You can either spend a lot of time marking and make each hole accurate with a little touch-up or you can spend a lot of time making a jig that can give quick and reliable repeatablity for many projects down the line.

Tony B

[glenn bradley]

Drill a hole, insert a peg, push up to a stop, drill a hole..........

Even better! No jig. Thanks Joe.

[Greg Hines, MD]

I have used the fence and mark lines before with good results. However, I have found Norms jig for routing them to be repeatable, and easy to set up.

Doc

[Bill Wyko]

if you attach a flat board to your drill press table then drill a hole for a dowel pin in the proper location. Then drill a hole, move that hole over the pin, drill the next hole, move that hole over the pin, drill the next hole. etc. etc.:D

[Jason Whelehon]

I got to thinking as I was drilling out shelf pins not too long ago.. Ole Norm had it dead on... Use a router with a bushing. He FLEW through making shelves.

[Wright Woodall]

I tried marking lines and using a reference line on the fence first, since it seemed quickest. I only got the 15 holes on the first rail done, but it worked fine. Only 45 more to go. Going fishing this weekend on the company trip, so it may be Monday before I get back to it if i don't do anything on it tonight.

Later...

wright