# Drill jig



## Cwalker935 (Sep 2, 2018)

I am working on a dedicated drilling jig to mount on my lathe to enable me to drill holes at different angles into pieces mounted on the lathe.  If all goes as planned it will cost under $50 with a dedicated drill.  I do not want to shell out $100+ for a jig and hat does not include a drill. I bought a 4” long 3/4 in galvanized pipe nipple and a floor flange.  The galvanized nipple has an OD of just over 1” so I mounted it on my lathe and used an angle grinder with a flap disk to mill it down to 1” so that it will fit into my tool rest base.  I have mounted  the floor flange onto a board and screwed it down on to the nipple. This gives me a flat base that is parallel to my lathe bed. I also used some coupons and took advantage of Harbor Frieghts labor day sale to buy a drill.  I have mounted the drill on a second board so that the bit will be parallel to the mounting board. I have ordered a 10” heavy duty drawer slide from amazon and will use it to attach the mounted drill to the flat base.  The drawer slide will enable me to slide the drill forward and back. I can use the tool rest base to adjust the height of the drill and to adjust the angle that I want to drill into my work piece.  This should enable me to make stools, braced legs, etc.  Does anyone see a problem  with my plan?


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## magpens (Sep 2, 2018)

Possible wobble (for lack of a better term) in the drawer slide ??

 Also, it would be nice to have some kind of depth stop in order to make reproducible non-through holes ... just my opinion.
I don't like the annular on-bit depth stops because they never have the right size hole for the bits I use most.


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## Curly (Sep 2, 2018)

I would have skipped the drawer slide altogether and just cut a groove in one board and made a stick to fit and glued it to the other board much like a table saw sled. A little wax and it would slide back and forth easily. For stool seats, stretchers and legs I would use a drill press but your gizmo will be useful should you want to make decorative plugs in bowls and platters.


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## dogcatcher (Sep 2, 2018)

I built one similar to David Reed Smith's tutorial. Drill Guide

I used a 3/8" threaded drill chuck using a bolt with the head cut off as the shaft, with a block of homemade HDPE according to these instructions.  https://www.instructables.com/id/HomemadePlastic/   It all mounted on a piece of 1" steel rod.  

Cost of rod about 50 cents, bolt less than 10 cents, drill chuck came off a dead electric drill, cost zero, cost of homemade HDPE, zero.  My time at a $100 an hour, about 1 hour.  Total cost, about $101, total real cost, less than a buck.  Value, PRICELESS.


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## jttheclockman (Sep 2, 2018)

I use my router sled and a router. No need for a drill.   I know you are looking to save money but they do make a drill attachment from One-Way that will take a drill. Ed Davidson (aka Yo Yo Spin ) shown it here before a long time ago.


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## BRobbins629 (Sep 2, 2018)

Here’s one I recently finished. One jig for parallel and one for perpendicular.  Use Fordom tool.


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## Curly (Sep 2, 2018)

jttheclockman said:


> I use my router sled and a router. No need for a drill.   I know you are looking to save money but they do make a drill attachment from One-Way that will take a drill. Ed Davidson (aka Yo Yo Spin ) shown it here before a long time ago.



Thanks John, they call it the DrillWizard. For the $120Can ($92US) I'd buy it rather than mess with trying to make one, but thats just me. 

https://oneway.ca/DrillWizard?search=drill


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## dogcatcher (Sep 2, 2018)

The problem with some of the suggestions as I see it is the OP wants to drill holes to insert dowels.  I cannot see how that would be done safely with a router.  And  a Foredom handpiece would limit the size of the drill bits to 1/8". 

To recreate the Drill wizard you need to add a cross slide to David Reed Smith jig, easily done and for less than $35 by using a 2 way macro camera slider.


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## jttheclockman (Sep 2, 2018)

dogcatcher said:


> The problem with some of the suggestions as I see it is the OP wants to drill holes to insert dowels.  I cannot see how that would be done safely with a router.  And  a Foredom handpiece would limit the size of the drill bits to 1/8".
> 
> To recreate the Drill wizard you need to add a cross slide to David Reed Smith jig, easily done and for less than $35 by using a 2 way macro camera slider.



For me no problem with a router. I can drill down to 1/16" Depth can be a restriction. Other than that these pens were done with a router. You can buy extra long length router bits.  If I were doing stool legs and things of this nature I would do it on a drill press. May have to make some jigs being I do not have a radial drill press.


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## dogcatcher (Sep 3, 2018)

jttheclockman said:


> For me no problem with a router. I can drill down to 1/16" Depth can be a restriction. Other than that these pens were done with a router. You can buy extra long length router bits.  If I were doing stool legs and things of this nature I would do it on a drill press. May have to make some jigs being I do not have a radial drill press.


Using this jig 
Drill Guide
with one of these on the base. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Way-Macr...068106?hash=item3b1a2a928a:g:r0EAAOSwz2lXBx3p

With  my built in lathe indexer it makes drilling holes about as easy as it gets.  I used a drill chuck off of a dead drill, no cost, a homemade block of HDPE, no cost, a 1" bolt with head cut off for the post to fit my banjo about $1,  a 3/8" bolt with the head cut off, about 15 cents.  Using my drill that I had, with the macro camera slider, less than $15.   I can use any size drill bit up to 1/2" or 1" with a reduced shank.


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## jttheclockman (Sep 3, 2018)

My point was you said it is unsafe to use a router and I say it is not. any tool is unsafe in the hands of a novice or someone who does not know how to use them and that includes your set up. With my jig I can do many things with it along with drilling holes. I spent a couple bucks for material myself and as for router heck I have over 20 routers. I pick them up at yard sales. Just wanted to prove to you that yes a router can be used to drill holes on a lathe. In case you do not remember my jig here is the thread where I introduced it many years ago. Many ways to get things done.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f179/my-jig-104253/


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## BRobbins629 (Sep 3, 2018)

dogcatcher said:


> And  a Foredom handpiece would limit the size of the drill bits to 1/8".


 Not true with a little machining.


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## Charlie_W (Sep 3, 2018)

The Master Carver flex shaft unit has a handpiece with a keyed chuck which will accept up to 1/4” bits. Also good for burrs, sanding drums, etc.  Also having the variable speed motor for the flex shaft is a plus.


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## dogcatcher (Sep 3, 2018)

We will have to agree to disagree.  But I cannot see how either the router or Foredom handpiece can be as efficient of drilling holes through larger blanks for game calls or peppermills.   I used both over the last 50 plus years.


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## Curly (Sep 3, 2018)

The boys, maybe they are really girls  , are drilling into the side of the blanks to add decorations not thru for mechanisms et cetera. They still have the tailstock for that. The OP wants to be able to drill bigger holes for among other things, stool seats and legs, furniture, chair legs. He can also do bowls, platters and vessels. For that he needs bigger drill bits with the power to drive them but still not in the ends of his work. Same principles, just scaled differently for the work they want to do. 

It nicely shows the problem solving and adaptation of the members creating what they need to accomplish the vision they have for the work they want to do.


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## jttheclockman (Sep 3, 2018)

dogcatcher said:


> We will have to agree to disagree.  But I cannot see how either the router or Foredom handpiece can be as efficient of drilling holes through larger blanks for game calls or peppermills.   I used both over the last 50 plus years.




It all depends on what you are doing and no way I have been doing it for 50 years and if I do please someone shoot me. Have not owned a lathe half that amount of time If you are talking about end drilling then I use the tailstock for that and can drill 4"" holes if I want to and even enlarge them with tools. But any angle I can drill just as well. If I am drilling all the way through on face grain I am using a drill press. Efficient is in the eye of the beholder. As said there are so many ways to do things and no one way is right or wrong if done safely. Have fun.


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## dogcatcher (Sep 3, 2018)

I used my jig to drill 3/4" holes through the 2" thickness of a 2x2x8 blanks.  4 holes at a 45 degree angle, each hole is then plugged with a maple dowel. then the next hole is drilled and so on through the fourth dowel.  All the dowels cross at the same point in the middle of the blank.  When turned the dowels look like 8 inlaid ovals.   I also had a similar set up that I used on a drill press, but it was the blank that was angled instead of the drill bit.  

I sold my first game calls in 1964, my first lathe was an AMT lathe with the 1.125" square tube powered by a washing machine motor.  They were sold out of Popular Mechanics ads for about $15.   I still have the lathe, along with a few other stuff that I have bought through the years.


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## mark james (Nov 10, 2018)

dogcatcher said:


> When turned the dowels look like *8 inlaid ovals.*   I also had a similar set up that I used on a drill press, but it was the blank that was angled instead of the drill bit.



May not be available, but I'd love to see a picture of that finished.  Great concept.


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