Suggestions for drilling straight holes?.....

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happycat

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Joined
Dec 11, 2007
Messages
14
Location
Windsor, NY, USA.
Hi. I'm pretty new to this but am loving it. I've been doing pretty well so far, but am not quite happy with my drilling technique yet. I'm using a wooden clamp with cut outs in the jaws for a jig. I have that sitting on a piece of scrap wood to prevent problems when the drill exits. I've squared up my table on the press, but I'm still getting blanks that are off center on the "exit end" of the hole.
Any suggestions? I'm curious to know how other people here handle the drilling.
Ed
 
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marionquill

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Joined
Nov 25, 2007
Messages
164
Location
Fort Belvoir, VA, USA.
I had a terrible time with that issue when I first started - I was able to correct my problem by using a level:

1. On the base of the drill press, put the level on it to ensure the whole drill press is level, if not, use a shim until it is.

2. Put the level on the drill press table to ensure it is level. If not, use a shim under your blank vice until it is level.

3. Put a blank in the vice and put the level on top of the blank to once again ensure it is all level. Use shims under the blank vice until it is.

4. Drill your blank.

This works for me, no guarantee it will work for you but it drastically reduced the off-center holes I was making.

Good luck â€" let me know if that helped any…

Jason
 

wickford

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Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
160
Location
Canton, Ohio, USA.
I've had the same problem and switched to drilling my blanks on the lathe (i guess it would be called boring horizontally?) with a 4 jaw chuck. My results have been much better this way...

Good luck!
 

mwenman

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Joined
Nov 17, 2007
Messages
153
Location
Buena Vista, Colorado, USA.
how far out of center on the bottom side are you?

I know that when I first started out drilling blanks that my bit would enter the top centered and come out the bottom a bit off regardless how careful I was making sure the table was level and at 90 deg to the bit. In my eagerness and excitement of my new found hobby, I hadn't realized that I was putting too much downward pressure on the DP and that was causing the bit to flex just a bit.

Just a thought for you to consider as well.
 

Rudy Vey

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Joined
Jan 26, 2004
Messages
2,032
Location
South Plainfield, NJ, USA.
Even with everything nicely squared, and using a PHD vise, you may find once in a while off-center holes. The reason is that wood is not uniform dense, and the harder, denser and figured the wood is, then more is a chance that the drill bit will (can) wander off a bit. Good quality, and sharp (!!) drill bits drill also straighter holes.
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Messages
8,206
Location
Tellico Plains, Tennessee, USA.
Like Jason, I use a level every time I put a blank in my drill vice.. I made sure my drill press table is perfectly level, also checked my work desk because I set up the drill vice there, then check the vertical in the drill press with a level, in both directions... if it's a small tube, sometimes if I go too fast I'll still get a little drift, but usually that's my fault... most of the time I get straight through holes. I don't usa a PHD (as much as I would like one), but a good vice that is true and if you check the verticals, should get pretty consistent drilling.
 

Dan_F

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Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
959
Location
Spokane, WA, USA.
It's nice to have the drill press level, but the only thing that really is important is to have the drill bit at 90 degrees to the base of the table in both planes. To get this relationship, you will need to check with an accurate square, such as an engineers square, or a Starrett combo square. Yoor drill press probably has a table that will tilt from side to side, check to see that is perpendicular to the bit. To ensure the table is true to the bit front to back, the table must be locked after adjusting the table in the up and down direction. If it's not locked tight, it will tend to tilt down, which will affect your drilling accuracy.

As for technique, take very tiny bites with the bit as you are starting. a heavy hand will force the bit to wander as it enters the wood. I make about three or four initial very light "pecks" to get the bit started accurately, then proceed from there with a light touch, taking only a quarter to half inch at a time, clearing the chips in between each advance.

Other possible sources of your problem could be that your improvised vise may not be true, thus it may not hold the blank perpendiular to the bit. If your backer board has any warp or cup, that could have the same effect.

I tried the wooden clamp at first, realized that it was not very accurate, and buit this for very little cost: http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31715

Dan
 

JWW

Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2007
Messages
85
Location
Johnson City, Tennessee, USA.
I had your same problem when I started. I use a homemade jig (hinged jaws) with a bottom. I was getting holes off center even though everything was square. I finally figured out that some of my blanks were not exactly square on the ends and I had been resting the blanks on the bottom board and then applying the jaws which didn't allow the blank to square up on the sides. I started lifting the blank off of the bottom board slightly and the problem disappeared.
 
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