On Fri, 07 Apr 2006 10:37:30 +0100, graham wrote:
I've got my neander bench base almost built, hurrah!, just need to bolt
the stretchers to the legs. (Common knock-down construction: 10mm hole
through leg into stretcher end grain, with a perpendicular hole in the
stretcher to take a nut (tapped pieces of 8x18x35mm steel)).

Anyway, how do I make sure I drill this long leg-and-stretcher hole
straight?

The only way I've thought of is (1) drill the holes into the legs first.
Don't know how I'm going to ensure it's perpendicular to the leg -
trestle legs too big to put on a pillar drill;
(2) use the holes in the legs as a guide to drill into the stretcher end
grain. What sort of drill bit do I need to use here? Is there any danger
of it wandering off course in the end grain?

Or is this simpler than I'm making it and that actually judging it by
eye and using a long twist drill straight through from the leg in one go
is sufficient?

Insights gratefully received

Graham,

I used a very long drill bit, in a hand drill. The legs and stretcher were
assembled, using a long pipe clamp to hold it all together. I had a helper
hold a square against the leg at the entry point for the bit, while I tried to
stay in alignment with it. I drilled the through hole in the leg, and the hole
into the stretcher end grain, in one go.

Drilling into end grain will result in the bit wanting to wander. A small
diameter bit will flex. I used a somewhat larger diameter drill and hardware
(half inch). I started out going slowly, and held the drill as steady as I
could. Once I was through the leg and into the stretcher an inch or so, that
helped to guide the bit, and it worked out OK.

I used a router and a template to make the cross hole in the stretcher.

--
Art