multiple hole drilling .

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JFC

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I need to drill out around 600 holes for shelf supports , anyone got a good idea to stop me having to mark every hole out ? I thought maybe a jig with a block at every 100 mm but dont think this will get every hole in the exact same place . :-k
 
Norm built a jig once to do this with a router and collar for the holes, and a registration pin for doing long runs.

I'm sure I read somewhere about it being done with pegboard as well, but I can't remeber where.

Something like this should give a few ideas
 
I have a strip of MDF with 10mm holes at 32mm centers that I clamp to the side of a carcase, just make sure you register the template from the same place (bottom of carcase) each time and all the holes will come out in the same place.

I cut the holes by plunge cutting with the router using a 5mm dowel drill and 10mm guide bush.

Jason
 
Ive tried the mdf jig before but i drilled the holes by hand and redrilled back through so it didnt last long :lol: didnt think about using the router :oops: I like the idea of the self centering bit and the perspex , sounds like a good jig for on site aswell as for the workshop . Now the router has been mentioned its reminded me i could use the erm ........ 8-[ Legacy 8-[ I would imagine this would be perfect for the job .
 
Trend also do a Self Support Jig (Part No. TEMP/SS/A) for about £32. This allows drilling at 32mm centres using a 9.5 mm guide bush. There are also 5mm shelf supports for glass etc. £32 includes the bush, and index pin and 12 shelf support pins. See page 121 of the 2005/6 catalogue.
 
I looked at the trend one at kempton as i knew this job was coming up but their jig is to small and i need a 7mm hole for my preferred shelf support sockets
 
I use this one from LV. Works great.

Veritas Shelf Drilling Jig

05j0303s1beta.jpg


Do be aware the link is set to US dollars.

Take care, Mike
 
JFC":38xhl1su said:
I need to drill out around 600 holes for shelf supports , anyone got a good idea to stop me having to mark every hole out ?
Some of the kitchen guys I know use an acrylic sheet with rows of holes drilled in it . These are used in conjunction with a Vix bit - similar to the sort of thing sold by Trend for in-situ hinge screw drilling (called a Snappy), but they are available in sizes up to about 4 or 5 mm.

Getting the spacing right for these is fairly easy, I used to make these by taking a scrap of MDF/plywood as a baseboard and naiiling another scrap strip onto one edge so that it looks like an "L". Mark the centre line of your row of pins relative to the edge fence, then drill two holes on that centre line spaced out by ruler/dividers using your drill press at the centres you require. After drilling the second hole clamp this baseboard onto your drill press and insert a twist drill/dowel/steel rod into the other hole (a chamfered dowel or steel pin works best - even better if it is slightly undersized. A piece of acrylic/plywood/etc can then be drilled using the pin/dowel as an end stop. Each time you drill a hole lift out the stop pin, slide the jig along until the just drilled hole aligns with the baseboard and drop the stop pin through the jig and into the hole in the baseboard before drilling the next hole. If your holes are big enough you might want to consider getting hold of some Record #148 dowel jig bushings (assuming they're still available) or even looking for a complete #148 jig and adding some silver steel extension bars to inbcrease the range of the jig.

BTW the reason I know about the acrylic jig is because I rout them on our CNC from time to time... and at the price of that American jig maybe you should be talking to me! :lol:

Scrit
 
Yeah, the LV jig is spendy (that's a relative statement), but it also enables one to not have multiple acrylic sheets for different width units--it's flexibility is its strength.

I use to make my own drilling guides per job, which often meant I was remaking the wheel, so to speak.

Once I broke down and bought the LV jig, I haven't had to relayout for each (and different) job on a fresh sheet that has come up. Making and modifying jigs when they are similar to the previous one...but the previous one just won't quite work is a pain and a waste of time.

By the time one has laid out and made one's own jig, one would be done with the LV one. And I don't know, but does Vix make a 7 mm version?

Anyway, it was money well spent for me and I only do jobs that require shelf pins a few times per year. But I know it'll be right everytime.

ymmv, Mike
 
I've just done exactly the same job using a home made perspex sheet. I had to move it down the bookshelf to make the complete set of holes, therefore, clamped it the first time and then simply held it in place by using a couple of the shelve support (i.e. pushed through the perspex hole and in to the workpiece). All drilled using a handheld drill with a 4.8mm bit for 5mm shelf pegs.
 
Mike

I've just looked and you're right - no 7mm Vix bits :cry: . Bit of an odd size, though. Only thing I've ever come across that uses them is the KD fasteners made by Salice (the hinge people).

As to the LV jig, I don't think it does anything that couldn't be done by a Record dowel jig, some steel rod, maybe a few extra guide bushes and a bit of ingenuity - at a fraction of the cost 8)

The acrylic jigs work well if you're constantly dealing with the same sizes/offsets over and over like the kitchen guys do - 37 mm in from front edge, 32 mm vertical spacing, 720 mm overall height of carcase. Takes me longer to saw and flame the acrylic than drill one on the P2P.

Just had a quick last-minute scoot through the Hafele catalogue - most of their stuff is for 3, 5, 8 and 10mm. However there is a jig for a fastener called the Minifix GV which uses a 7mm drill. Their part number is 001.27.202. Don't know how suitable it will be for the task, however

Scrit
 
It's the size (7mm) JFC needs.

As for a working shop (well, maybe former as far as woodwork goes) making jigs that will be reused is expensive...often more expensive than purchasing one if it is flexible in use and well made, which is what the LV one did for me.

Take care, Mike
 
Les Mahon":1uacsrc1 said:
Norm built a jig once to do this with a router and collar for the holes, and a registration pin for doing long runs.

I'm sure I read somewhere about it being done with pegboard as well, but I can't remeber where.

Something like this should give a few ideas
You saw the pegboard with Norm again.
He used a hinge drill for the starter holes
 
Hi guys
I use a very low-tech for this job.
First I get a length of 18mm MDF, about 100mm wide and as long as the height of my column of holes.

I then drill out a row of holes in this strip, marking them out with dividers and drilling them on the drill press. I try to get them exact, but it doesn't matter too much if I miss by a bit.

I mark one end and one edge as a datum.

When the cabinet is built I clamp the jig inside the cabinet, datum end on the floor, datum edge flush with the cabinet.

I wrap some masking tape around my twin-lip-and-spur drill so I don't drill through the cabinet, and drill them all by hand.

The other 3 columns are done in the same way, and provided I keep the datum end on the floor, all the holes will match, even if the spacing is not to CNC accuracy.

The row only need marking out once, on the jig, after that it just flies. I believe this is a much better way than Norm's nice-looking jig, as that requires turning over end-for-end. Any discrepancy is therefore doubled.

And cost zero.

My ha'p'orth.
Cheers
Steve
 
Thanks for all the ideas :D ive decided to go with using a router with a guide bush and heres the jig i made today
jig011.jpg
 
surely if you are only going to do this particular job once,
the simplest way must be a router jig.

if you use the same jig as routing slots, i.e two strips set apart the same
width as the router with right angle bits at either end.
then what you do is use a 7mm bit, and then put a dowel in the
hole and move the jig down. if your spacing is small,
then you can drill a hole in the jig itself, and thus move the
dowel into that hole.

since you are not drilling though the holes, you should not
wear it out either.
paul :wink:
 
Hi JFC

I realise that you've done the job now but this jig has to be the fastest in town. You don't have to lift the router when you move from hole to hole, it's just plunge and on to the next one.

Apparently it came about when the guy had to drill 1,800 holes.

Cheers
Neil
 
The job changed a little and i ended up doing 1602 holes !
Neil , the jig you posted does look fast ! Maybe i could have a hole drilling race with him :lol:
 
Hi JFC

JFC":7znadmha said:
The job changed a little and i ended up doing 1602 holes !
Neil , the jig you posted does look fast ! Maybe i could have a hole drilling race with him :lol:

This is my jig of the year, a great find.

I think it's brilliant.

Cheers
Neil
 

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