I need help !!!! I want to drill a 3/16 hole in the end of a treated 2×2(1 1/2 x 1 1/2) and it need s to be straight!!! I haven’t had any luck in finding a jig. Help!!!!!
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L.J. Smith "Centaur" boring jig. A good yard that sells L.J. Smith stair parts should stock them.
Ditch
Flip the table verticle on a drill press, clamp your work and bore on. Or a doweling jig might give you enough suggestion of being straight. How deep a hole and how straight is straight?
__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
thanks for your reply! i'm going 2" deep.can the head on 10 inch delta table press be turned to side,clamping base to table? i'm routing a 2x4 with a 1 1/2 grove to insert spindles for deck railing. grove is so they won't twist. i'll drill 2x4 on press for straight hole, then want to drill end of 2x2 with straight hole top and bottom).
I'm guessing that your table-press is not going to work on this. If you're doing a bunch, then it's worth it to make a little jig.
I hope these instructions are enough. Use your table-top drill press to drill a straight hole 1.5" from one side of a 2x4 through the long (3.5") dimension. Screw that to a piece of scrap flat-good (ply, OSB, masonite, particle board, etc.). Screw any straight piece of material at 90º to your drill guide at 1.5" from the centre-line of the hole you previously drilled. Put each spindle into the jib and drill through using a brad-point bit (if you have a short brad-point, just use a narrower drill guide). Between the guide and your eye, this should give you a close-enough-for-government-work hole. .
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
2" for a deck rail.......just grab the drill in one hand and the 2x2 in the other....Jeff.......Sometimes on the toll road of life.....a handful of change is good.......
Jeff,
I'm with you....this is becoming way more complicated than it has to be. I've assembled large rail upeasings with less thought put into it than this.
Make a jig if you can't drill a shallow hole straight enough to accept a dowel or pin.
The jig can be a block of 4x4, mortised out to fit snugly over the baluster end, with a hole in the center and a length of metal tube or long bushing inserted thru the center of the jig to keep the bit plumb.
Ditch
A floor press would work. Turn the adjustible table (what the work usually sits on) up, perpendicular to the floor, adjust it's location so the chuck centers out to the spindle center. Clamp up some stops to the inverted table to keep the spindle in place and quick clamp the spindle each time you drill. A benchtop I'm not sure of. You might be able to spin the head around off the edge of the bench and proceed as above.
Or, tape a torpedo level to a hand drill and have at it or if the volume exists, make up a jig.
If grooving the bottom rail, I would consider water sitting in there.
Best of luck.__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Dear DJ13VJ,
You're in luck. The Enco flyer just came today and on page35 they offer a 15" gap bed lathe for only $12,495 [just imagine what you can do with your savings of $500].
The spindle bore diameter is 2.2" so you can stick your stick in the chuck, insert your 3/16" drill bit in the tail stock and drill away. I would suggest using a four jaw chuck [which is extra].
Is this precise enough for you? [Part number #AX240-7136] [I am not affiliated with Enco in any way except they just sent me this flyer.]
-Peter
I haven't seen one in a long time but there used to be something called, what we called it anyway, a lamp bit. It looked like a steel spitzer bullet, sharp point and long taper in front and a sharper taper in the back, with a spiral groove around it and welded to a 2' long shaft. We used it to make the center hole through a wood lamp base.
The unusual design was to prevent the bit from following the grain and emerging prematurely from the wood. We chucked it into a lathe and fed it into the end grain with the tail stock. It did seem to remain centered better than conventional bits even after 18" or more and wandering grain. Maybe one of the woodworking cataloges would carry it.
got a plunge router? Now there's precision. Won't go 2" though, but it 'll get you started.
no turn left unstoned