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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 04-13-2015, 10:13 AM
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SVanderkolff SVanderkolff is offline
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drilling a centered hole ?

I need to drill a hole down through the center of a 1X1 block of wood that is 5" long. I have never ever been able to get it centered through the whole block. Is there a jig to do this or are there some methods that work for this. I have drill press with a 6" travel.
Probably something I should have figured out years ago but just never have.
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Steve


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Old 04-13-2015, 10:34 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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This may not help much if you don't have a cross slide vise but that's how I do it.

First, make sure the wood block is set perpendicular to the table. I use little bubble levels and a protractor set to 90 degrees but be careful with this as a lot of wood blocks aren't really squared up.

Then, crank the vise until the center of the block face (which you have already marked) is under the running drill tip (must be running to compensate for run out). That puts the drill where you think the center is on the top end. Turn off the drill and crank the vise in one direction only until the drill clears the block, then run the drill all the way down next to the block and see if it still looks centered on the bottom end. If so, you're good to go.

Not perfect, but its fast and the result should be very, very close and its no problem at all if your wood block is a little over sized, gives you some wiggle room. I couldn't make a knife without my cross slide vise....


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Old 04-13-2015, 12:17 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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This is the method that I got form Bill Moran's video on making handles. You will need to build yourself a jig. It's a board with the end of a screw poking through it at about the middle that you can clamp to the table of your drill. You can get fancier but you don't need to. I use a long bit chucked up into the drill to make sure that that end of the screw is directly under the bit to guide me as I clamp it in place. If you change the angle of the drill table much use a level to make sure that it's square with the travel of the bit.

Mark the centers on both ends of the block and center punch both ends. Place this one on the end of the screw and line up the bit on the other and drill down at least half way. Reverse the ends placing the hole over the end of the screw and drill down from the other end. Because the end of the screw will have to go into this hole you need to make your jig with a wide screw. As long as you line everything up with the tip of the screw and the tip of the bit you should be alright; two points determine a line.

Doug


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Old 04-14-2015, 06:44 AM
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Another thing that helps is to use brad point or fortsner drill bits. They are designed to drill wood without drifting. Doug's alignment thing works like a charm, but when I'm in a hurry I use Ray's method. Just watch the wood as you drill and make sure it doesn't move or shift on you.

I usually do a pilot hole first with a long 1/8" bit so I can make sure all is trued up before going to larger size.


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Old 04-14-2015, 01:39 PM
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Do you have or know anyone who has a lathe? Drilling a center hole is a pretty common thing for woodturners. The block is mounted in the clamp (or, more typically, glued to a block mounted in the clamp) and the drill bit is brought in to make the hole.

Might as well bring up any techniques that get the job done.


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Old 04-15-2015, 09:37 AM
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Thanks Guys.
I will try a couple of these methods and see what works for me.
Steve


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Old 04-16-2015, 10:27 AM
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Don Robinson Don Robinson is offline
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Steve, I always used the drill from both ends technique.
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