|
|
 |
|
|
|
Drilling concentric holes in dowels?
From Walt Hammers, via e-mail
I'm trying to duplicate the toothpick holders I've seen for sale at The Cracker Barrel restaurants. They're 1/2-inch in diameter with a 3/8-inch hole, bored concentrically, lengthwise. I'm using a Shopsmith MARK V but have been unsuccessful. I've tried horizontal boring as well as using two chucks in a lathe-type set-up. Do you have any suggestions?
My suggestion would be to make a drilling fixture from a piece of thick, scrap stock. If your finished toothpick holder is to be 3-inches long, make your fixture from a piece of 3-1/2-inches thick stock. Attach this fixture FIRMLY to your MARK V tabletop, directly below your drill chuck.
Install your 1/2-inch Brad-Point Drill Bit. Check to be certain your bit and table surface are perpendicular to one another. Bore a 1/2-inch hole in your fixture stock (to within 1/2-inch of the bottom).
Without moving any set-ups, exchange your 1/2-inch bit for a 3/8-inch brad point bit. Cut your dowel blank to 1/2-inch longer than finished size (in our example, 3-1/2-inch). Drop your dowel into the hole you just drilled in your thick stock. It should protrude above the fixture surface by about 1/2-inch.
Drive a screw through the side of your fixture so it bites into the extra 1/2-inch of your dowel blank, near the bottom of the fixture -- to keep the blank from turning while you bore the hole. Be very careful, advancing the bit very slowly as you drill because the remaining walls of your dowel (after you drill the 3/8-inch hole) will be thin and fragile.
After you drill your hole, back the screw out, cut off the extra 1/2-inch of dowel and assemble. |
|
|
