Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 22, 1999 07:09am | #1

   *
   Eric

   I've never had to do
   i exactly
   what you're facing, but I've had to drill precise, deep, plumb holes, and for this I bought a jig that turns your 3/8" drill into a sort of drill press. It is a stationary stand that I added a larger plywood base to so it can be clamped in place. I think it's simply called
   i a drill guide.
   I also didn't have to drill a 1.5" diam hole, but a good quality (and there are cheap ones-$25.cdn, and expensive ones-$85.cdn) should be able to handle it.

   -pm

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 22, 1999 10:24pm | #3

   *Eric, I've done a few doweled newels. I bought an 18-in. long, 1/4-in. diameter bit for drilling pilot holes. I guided it with a jig composed of two 1 x 4 scraps screwed together at a right angle, like a box corner. I placed this jig on the bottom tread so that the inside of the angle lined up on the newel's center. Then, I shimmed the jig until it was plumb in both dimensions and clamped it to the tread. Don't count on the tread to be level, often as not, I found it to be out. Guiding the pilot bit on the jig's inside corner got me off to a reasonably plumb start, and I followed with whatever size bit the dowel called for. I found construction adhesive to work better than carpenter's glue because it doesn't flash-set when the newel is half-way into a tight hole. If your tread is way out of level, test fit the newel,if possible. A plumb newel with square-cut shoulders will not sit well on an out-of-level tread. There may be an obvious gap. This too has a simple solution. Temporarily set the newel in place and scribe its perimeter on the tread. Pull out the newel and cut a shallow mortise in the tread-it only needs to be deep enough to hide the gap. A straight bit in a router does this well, just clean up to the line with a sharp chisel.And BTW, I regularly found that the newels themselves were warped, bringing, as Kipling might say, all my hopes to naught. Good luck,Andy

2. 
   Erik_Kolb | Jun 22, 1999 10:24pm | #2

   *
   Does anyone have a good technique for setting the type of newel which has a 1-1/2" diameter dowel on the bottom which gets drilled into the starting stair? How do you drill the 1-1/2" hole through the tread, middle support and bottom support of the starting stair perfectly plumb? I see no way to shim if a mistake is made.