I have been looking at mass produced bedroom furniture.
They use what is termed as a cam lock to join sheet material (MDF) at 90 deg to each other. This is a steel insert screwed into one of the sides and then inserted into a clearence hole in the cross member. This is then locked in place by a cam, that fits into a hole drilled to co inside with the hole in the cross member.
If that is confusing then I just hope some one knows what I am talking about…..
I can make a jig using MDF to drill the location holes…but I am worried about the accuracy. If the holes are not exactly co ordinated then the cam will either not sit flush or it will not locate onto the steel insert.
If by now you are completely confused sorry but the question is…….
Where can I buy a metal jig that will accuratley drill these holes? If anyone has a better way I would appreciate some help. (and please go easy on me, more help than criticism!!!)
I am in the UK but most US suppliers ship here. I have tried over here but with little luck.
Mike
Replies
I'm not aware of a jig, but if you get some of the cam locks, you can drill a hole in a piece of MDF (or whatever) and measure the distance from the screw shoulder to the center of the cam. Then, you can make your own jig and
A) save some money,
B) make it do exactly what you want/need
If you use extremely hard wood or plastic, it will have less of a tendency to mar the wood you're trying to drill into but will still survive drilling through. If you use it a lot, I would install a sleeve to drill through to make it more durable (like a Kreg Jig for pocket screws).
Hafele and I'm sure other make fixtures to drill the mini-cams. We used to use these on contract office furniture and had a Morbidelli construction boring machine that could drill the holes in succession without moving the piece. Hafele shows a simple jig in their catalog and it's not rocket science to make something similar. You might consider a metal bushing for the wear factor.
All the makers of hardware are more in your area. You should be able to contact industrial hardware sources locally. I know they have international websites. Search hafele, grass, blum to name a few. They catalogs have application guides and would list any specialized tools they would offer.
A little late
Hey Mike,
I realize I'm almost five years late in answering your post, but perhaps you're still looking or if anyone else happens across this post (as I did) they might save some time and hassle. After many hours of searching I found a cam lock connector jig by a company called Rockler...here's the link; I hope it helps:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=337
Best of luck,
Aj
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