drilling holes

[marcros]

I have always struggled to get holes nice and vertical with a cordless drill. I figured that if I was to use a brace and bit, it would be more controllable and nice and slow.

Having chosen a stanley model and a bag of augor bits from a couple of sellers on ebay, i gave them a trial at the weekend. I cannot express how much easier they were in use than a chunky 3/4" bit- almost as quick as my cordless and much easier to keep the hole nice and plumb. An additional plus was that the battery didnt run out part way through either!!

 

[MIGNAL]

If I wanted a super accurate hole (pinion drill) I used to drill through a flat piece of hardwood, say 1 " thick. I would then poke the drill bit through this drilled hole and with the aid of a little engineers square and block plane, plane the upper surface of the wood until the drill bit was square to that surface. That then became the registered surface. Simple and cheap.
Alternately wait for the hugely expensive, finely engineered Veritas version!! :wink:

 

[bugbear]

If I wanted a super accurate hole (pinion drill) I used to drill through a flat piece of hardwood, say 1 " thick. I would then poke the drill bit through this drilled hole and with the aid of a little engineers square and block plane, plane the upper surface of the wood until the drill bit was square to that surface. That then became the registered surface. Simple and cheap.

I thought I was the only person who needed to do that! Only downside is you need a separate guide block for each size drill.

BugBear

 

[matthewwh]

A simple block with a 90 degree V shaped notch cut into it and clamped in place will serve to register the bit in two axis and give vertical alignment for any diameter.

I picked this tip up from Richard Maguire, who I believe uses it to drill dog holes in his workbenches. Works like a charm!

 

[Trafalgar]

I have always struggled to get holes nice and vertical with a cordless drill. I figured that if I was to use a brace and bit, it would be more controllable and nice and slow.

Having chosen a stanley model and a bag of augor bits from a couple of sellers on ebay, i gave them a trial at the weekend. I cannot express how much easier they were in use than a chunky 3/4" bit- almost as quick as my cordless and much easier to keep the hole nice and plumb. An additional plus was that the battery didnt run out part way through either!!

There's a trick that I've never tried, but I believe timberframers use it -- one drills through the hole in a music CD and the image of the drill reflected on the playing side of the CD will align in a certain way when the drill is being held perfectly upright. A little dodge I suppose.

Maybe something to play around with on a slow day... like today!

 

[bugbear]

There's a trick that I've never tried, but I believe timberframers use it -- one drills through the hole in a music CD and the image of the drill reflected on the playing side of the CD will align in a certain way when the drill is being held perfectly upright. A little dodge I suppose.

I recall people suggesting a mirror on some forum or other.

A quick google gave this;

http://finelystrung.com/tag/drilling-vertically/

It's a good exposition, and also has a reference to the trick being published in a magazine in 1934.

If modern magazine practise is anything to go by, it'll be older than that.

BugBear

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Quite interesting - but I usually get vertical ok going from side to side, but drift out towards and away from me - which of course still show in a mirror as a straight line. I'd need a second person to look at it from the side.

 

[Mike.S]

I cannot express how much easier they were in use than a chunky 3/4" bit- almost as quick as my cordless and much easier to keep the hole nice and plumb. An additional plus was that the battery didnt run out part way through either!!

That chimes with my recent experience. Just chopped a few small trees down in the garden and needed to drill holes in the stumps to inject the 'stump killer' fluid. Batteries on both cordless drills were flat Couldn't be bothered to wait for them to charge or get the corded drill and extension lead out so :idea: dug out the restored (months ago) brace, inserted a bit and used it in anger for the first time. Wow - so much easier than I thought and a nice gentle workout of muscles that had withered as I pushed a pen across a desk!