Drilling 1/4" hole, 4" deep, into end grain of 3/4" hardwood

[Randy Viellenave]

I made something like this for poking holes in cribbage boards, should work for a cheese slicer too. The nice thing is you can get it aligned perfectly, then put stops and a clamp on it to make sure it doesn't move around.

drill_jig.jpg

[William A Johnston]

That's a cool jig. Thinking outside the box

[Bruce Page]

I wish you luck. I never had any success drilling that deep into end grain without the drill wandering significantly off center. You might get there by drilling from both ends but I still think it will be hit or miss depending on the grain. JMHO

[Edwin Santos]

Lee Valley sells some excellent drilling bushings that screw into a serrated sleeve that you tap into a pre drilled hole.
I can envision a jig where you have one or two of these drill bushings installed in a fence on one side of a base where you lay down each board, held down with one or two toggle clamps, and then drill away with a hand held drill and an aircraft bit through the guide bushings.
Flip open the toggle clamps, replace the workpiece with the next one, and do it. again.
The reason for two bushings is to keep your bit straight despite the long hole depth.
The jig might take $20 in parts plus the bushings and drill bit. The bit will get dull, so may you need a second one on hand. Do you have a method of sharpening a drill bit?
Anyway I think it can be done. I wish I had the skills in Sketchup to draw what I am trying to describe here. Hope it helps.
Edwin

[Bill Dufour]

I saw a horizontal dowelling machine for under $100. Since biscuits came out their price has nosedived. this had pneumatic clamping and travel. You could get a custom? bit made in 1/4" diameter. You might consider using a gun drill with air blast to complete the depth after drilling 3" with cnc. Drilling a deep hole straight is what gun drills are made for.
Bil lD.

[BrianD King]

I wish you luck. I never had any success drilling that deep into end grain without the drill wandering significantly off center. You might get there by drilling from both ends but I still think it will be hit or miss depending on the grain. JMHO

Even if you peck drill taking, say, 1/2" depth bites at a time?

[John K Jordan]

Even if you peck drill taking, say, 1/2" depth bites at a time?

Yes, still a problem if the bit is relatively long and a little flexible and the wood type and grain are working against you and the hole gets started badly. The bit can get deflected a tiny bit at the end grain surface, the reason for starting with a center drill. Once the bit starts deflecting it will continue and probably get worse as it gets deeper. On the lathe you can immediately tell if the drill is deflecting - since the bit is still and the work rotating, a deflecting bit (and often the rotating piece) will start visibly vibrating. When the bit rotates and the work is still the bit just bends as it drills and I usually can't tell until after the hole is drilled.

When the bit is deflected as the hole is started I can sometimes get a straight hole if I increase the speed and stop the bit advancement for a little while. This lets the spring of the bit push it towards true center and the sharp edges of the flute will cut into the opposite side of the hole until the bit is centered. When centered again then I continue, taking tiny bites, say about a bit diameter's depth at a time (baby it!) and stop each time to let the bit recenter. What a pain.

If after starting with a center drill, you use a stiff screw machine bit to drill a straight hole for the first inch or so, the chances of a straight hole for the rest of the depth are much better since that first straight section acts like a guide. Still have to drill slowly.

A rigid metal bit guide would probably solve the whole problem but I've never had one.

JKJ

[Keith Westfall]

Do you have a lathe? If so, I would make a jig that would set on the 'ways' which would put the board right at the right level. Then with a couple of alignment strips of wood to keep it straight. Then just lay the board on it an push it into the drill bit in the chuck.

Note: Not that I have tried this, but with your job at hand, I probably would!

[Bruce Page]

Brian, can you post a picture/sketch of what you're wanting to do? There might be better options.

[Frederick Skelly]

Do you have a lathe? If so, I would make a jig that would set on the 'ways' which would put the board right at the right level. Then with a couple of alignment strips of wood to keep it straight. Then just lay the board on it an push it into the drill bit in the chuck.

Note: Not that I have tried this, but with your job at hand, I probably would!

I was sitting here thinking "Gee, I wonder if I should look for a horizontal drilling machine?" And then, your clever idea reminded me that I already own one. Thank you Keith!

[John K Jordan]

Do you have a lathe? If so, I would make a jig that would set on the 'ways' which would put the board right at the right level. Then with a couple of alignment strips of wood to keep it straight. Then just lay the board on it an push it into the drill bit in the chuck.
Note: Not that I have tried this, but with your job at hand, I probably would!

That could save buying a drill press and make it easy to keep the part aligned. But keep in mind if drilling into end grain this method has the same potential problems with getting precisely straight holes.

[Jerome Stanek]

I would make a jig at the end of my cnc and peck drill them

[BrianD King]

I would make a jig at the end of my cnc and peck drill them

With what bit? My spindle's slowest speed is 9000 rpm, which is too fast for a drill bit. And I've never seen a 1/4" bit with more than 1.25" depth of cut.

Brian, can you post a picture/sketch of what you're wanting to do? There might be better options.

Here's the rough instruction image from the company that sells the wire cheese slicers. It's a basic 1/4" wide, 4" deep hole into the edge grain near the corner. People buy gazillions of these hardware pieces from this company, so it must work...

cheese_slicer_diagram.png

Do you have a lathe? If so, I would make a jig that would set on the 'ways' which would put the board right at the right level. Then with a couple of alignment strips of wood to keep it straight. Then just lay the board on it an push it into the drill bit in the chuck.

Note: Not that I have tried this, but with your job at hand, I probably would!

I don't have a lathe

[ChrisA Edwards]

Maybe a dowel jig that clamps and allows any centering or offset adjustment, might have to clamp piece of scrap on one side if you don't want the hole centered. A Dowel jig will get you 2" into the wood accurately, and that should be enough shoulder support between the dowel jig and the wood to allow the drill not to deviate as you go deeper.

As regards the drill bit, I'd start with a Brad bit, but if you can't find one long enough to complete the full depth, I'd switch to a Jobber bit ( I think this is what they are called) for metal and wood. You can get these in common diameters about a foot long at the big box stores.

This is the Milescraft JointPro Dowel Jig, about $60 online. All you would do for you project is to rotate the board 90 degrees so you are drilling into the end. And if you look at the guide block, there are two sets, used for when drilling two pieces that will mate accordingly. I'd get longer screws for the guide block and double up the top and bottom guide blocks to give yourself a longer guide surface.

[Bruce Page]

Here's the rough instruction image from the company that sells the wire cheese slicers. It's a basic 1/4" wide, 4" deep hole into the edge grain near the corner. People buy gazillions of these hardware pieces from this company, so it must work...

Brian, I was envisioning something different, I don’t think dead nuts accuracy is required in this case. As a one time machinist my brain sometimes goes to the extreme when someone says “relatively high degree of precision matters” I would run a few test pieces using a brad point drill and see how perpendicular they come out. If necessary, you may be able to tweak the ¼” rod to line up the wire with the slot.