The long-hole boring post reminded me of a real pain that I am dealing with. I’m building a set of wall mounted saddle racks. The design calls for a 4×4 timber with 1x8s over the top and a decorative end cap. The attachment is a 3/8 eye-bolt that angles through the 4×4 with a nut at the bottom. The eye-bolt then hangs off a serurely mounted 3/8 hook.
I have now finished eight out of nine of these, hung them, and they work well. . At some point I need to finish the project, and then possibly make a matching wall of racks.
The challenge is that the the hole has to go into the edge, the “point” of the 4×4, and come out on the edge or “point” opposite, but a few inches further down the beam. (It hangs edgewise so that the 1x8s are at 45 degrees to form a rest for the saddle). I have a good, low runout drill press with a fairly long stroke. I have notched the entry point for a flat entry. I have tried various ways of jigging and aliginig the wood. So far, only two of the holes have actually come out on the point of the beam on the far side of the hole. Sad to say, I am not sure why those worked. All the rest are off by a quarter to a half an inch.
Fortunately, they are painted and don’t look bad. Everyone seems to like the design and the racks themselves. But they bother ME.
Any suggestions?
Joe
Edited 5/2/2007 6:33 pm ET by Joe Sullivan
Replies
Hi Joe,
Would you give us some more information on the types of jigs you've tried? That might save us from suggesting something you've already tried. Or we might come up with a way to tweak it.
Offhand, the first thing I would try is a jig. (helpful, I know...)
Leave the DP at 90 and then create a wedged / angled jig that holds the 4x4 at the angle you need the bolt to go at. You'll end up with two angles there. The first to put the 4x4 so you can drill the diagonal. The second angle will elevate the 4x4 so you get the boring angle you were looking for.
Hope I read your post right and that I understand what you're trying to do.
Glen
I set the table at the angle for the bore, and attached the 1x8 wings, clamping hem down and adjusting as well as can tfor a straight shot through the wood. I Started the holes by hand so as to the them right on the point, then shifted to the press. The bore hole is about 9" long; I suspect that some flex in the bit or some runout is causing it to be diverted slightly by uneven hardness in the wood -- with the result that it is off on the far end. At 3/8ths, it is kind of a thin bit for 9" of hole.
You need a pair of v-blocks attached to the table of the drill press.
Attach the v-blocks with the table level, lay a 4x4 in the v-blocks and make certain the line between the blocks is at 90-degrees to the tile axis of the table, and get the center the drill on the edge of the 4x4.
Now rotate the table. If the axis of the head and table are true, you should still be lined up on the edge, and pointed at the off-side edge you're trying to hit.
Bore the hole through the 4x4 first then attach the rest of the parts.
Makes sense. Kind of like checking a leve, for true.
Joe
I would make a jig that clamps to the 4 x 4 on the outside where you want to be perfect, and drill from that side.
I would start by drilling through the center of something like a 3 x 3 with the slant that you want, then tilt the TS to 45ยบ and rip a V notch right through the middle of the hole. With this, you can clamp it onto the corner, and start the hole right where you want it with a hand held drill. Even if you can only drill the first two inches with the jig on, you can easily finish the holes when you remove the jig.
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