Here’s one that probably makes the rounds here from time to time.
To make a second guitar stand, I need to bore two 1/4” holes, only about 3/4” deep or so, into the end grain of a (42” long) 5/4 bubinga board — the vertical arm of the base. Into these will go threaded inserts for attaching the stand’s base to its vertical arm from below.
The last time I used mahogany and it was a struggle. I’d like to use the drill press if possible. The drill press table rotates, but it doesn’t swing out of the way of the quill and bit. The head does not swivel. And even with a full-height floor mounted drill press, the table won’t go down far enough to mount the arm vertically. So, I could not figure out how to use a sturdy drill press setup.
I wound up using a Forstner bit in a corded hand drill, with the board propped up and clamped down on the bench and the drill supported to come horizontally into the board. I didn’t like the imprecision of this setup. The end grain still gave me more resistance than I’d like, and I was barely able to push the drill in a straight line. I hesitate to return to that setup with bubinga, which I think is a harder species.
I’m now wishing I could use my plunge router and my mortise jig (Young Je, YouTube — you know the one?). I suspect this would make the holes easy to bore. But my bench (and its vise) isn’t 42” off the floor.
But am I missing some drill press wisdom? Is there a way to clamp a 7/8”x5”x42” board endwise onto a drill press?
Or something else I haven’t considered?