Hi,

I'm about to put up a curtain pole, but the size I wanted wasn't
available, and the one I have is quite a bit too long. It has
pre-drilled holes down either end into which the finials screw.

The instructions say to cut it square and re-drill the hole. How do I
go about drilling into the pole making sure the hole is parallel? I
don't have a lathe

Thanks
- Ian

--
Ian Chard, Senior Unix and Network Gorilla | E:
Systems and Electronic Resources Service | T: 80587 / (01865) 280587
Oxford University Library Services | F: (01865) 242287

On 24 Jan, 10:33, Ian Chard wrote:
Hi,

I'm about to put up a curtain pole, but the size I wanted wasn't
available, and the one I have is quite a bit too long. *It has
pre-drilled holes down either end into which the finials screw.

The instructions say to cut it square and re-drill the hole. *How do I
go about drilling into the pole making sure the hole is parallel? *I
don't have a lathe

I've done this - I just went by eye - possibly more accurate if you
use someone else's eyes as well. From memory being out by a few
degrees shouldn't matter, though it will depend on the pole and the
finials.

Edward

On Jan 24, 10:33*am, Ian Chard wrote:
Hi,

I'm about to put up a curtain pole, but the size I wanted wasn't
available, and the one I have is quite a bit too long. *It has
pre-drilled holes down either end into which the finials screw.

The instructions say to cut it square and re-drill the hole. *How do I
go about drilling into the pole making sure the hole is parallel? *I
don't have a lathe

Thanks
- Ian

This is quite easy if you've a friend to help.
Clamp the pole horizontal ant postion your drill so that you're
looking down onto it. You can now get it in line in the horizontal
plane.
Now get someone else to sight it up from the side. They can position
the drill in the vertical plane.
Then drill the hole.

John

ps, I'm near Abingdon. pm me if you need help.

It's one of those jobs that may go better using a hand drill (i.e. you
spin the handle round, and the bit goes round).

Have an assistant watch and direct you to stay parallel.

Reason for a hand drill is things go wrong more slowly and your
assistant has time to correct you before you're "in too deep".

You might be able to use the hole in the original cut off bit as a
drilling jig instead (say cut off a 1" slice to act as your guide) -
giving you both the centre and direction.

Remember also, for a good fit, that saw cut must be square - chop saw,
mitre box or a fair bit of handsawing skill.

"Ian Chard" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm about to put up a curtain pole, but the size I wanted wasn't
available, and the one I have is quite a bit too long. It has
pre-drilled holes down either end into which the finials screw.

The instructions say to cut it square and re-drill the hole. How do I
go about drilling into the pole making sure the hole is parallel? I
don't have a lathe

Thanks
- Ian

--
Ian Chard, Senior Unix and Network Gorilla | E:
Systems and Electronic Resources Service | T: 80587 / (01865) 280587
Oxford University Library Services | F: (01865) 242287

As I have a range of these its probably not viable option to you?

I had the same scenario when I bought curtain poles,they had to be cut and
needed the finals rescrewing so...

I got a scarret cutter from my tools that slotted over the near enough
thickness of the pole,inserted a drill bit shorter than the scarret cutter
so that it did not protrude outside the scarret cutters body.
Slipped the scarret cutter over the pole and then carefully started to drill
the hole,the scarret cutter acted as a guide over the pole to keep the drill
from wandering off center.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
John wrote:

On Jan 24, 10:33 am, Ian Chard wrote:
Hi,

I'm about to put up a curtain pole, but the size I wanted wasn't
available, and the one I have is quite a bit too long. It has
pre-drilled holes down either end into which the finials screw.

The instructions say to cut it square and re-drill the hole. How do I
go about drilling into the pole making sure the hole is parallel? I
don't have a lathe

Thanks
- Ian

This is quite easy if you've a friend to help.
Clamp the pole horizontal ant postion your drill so that you're
looking down onto it. You can now get it in line in the horizontal
plane.
Now get someone else to sight it up from the side. They can position
the drill in the vertical plane.
Then drill the hole.


If you use a drill with a built-in spirit level, you can do it
single-handed.

First mark the centre position in the cut end [1]. Then clamp the pole
horizontally in a workmate. As stated above, you can see that the drill is
in line in the horizontal plane by looking down from above. And if you hold
the drill so that its built-in spirit level reads level, you'll be in line
in the vertical plane too.

[1] There are various geometric ways of doing this, but the simplest is
probably to use a pair of compasses to draw a circle the same diameter as
the pole. Then cut it out, place it on the end of the pole and stick a
pencil point through the centre hole.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

wrote:
On 24 Jan, 10:33, Ian Chard wrote:
Hi,

I'm about to put up a curtain pole, but the size I wanted wasn't
available, and the one I have is quite a bit too long. It has
pre-drilled holes down either end into which the finials screw.

The instructions say to cut it square and re-drill the hole. How do I
go about drilling into the pole making sure the hole is parallel? I
don't have a lathe

I've done this - I just went by eye - possibly more accurate if you
use someone else's eyes as well. From memory being out by a few
degrees shouldn't matter, though it will depend on the pole and the
finials.

Edward

Tape a 2ft length of 1/4" dowell to the top of the drill so it's parallel
with the drill bit and clears the curtain pole. That should make it easier
to align the drillbit by eye.
--
LSR

"Ian Chard" wrote in message
...
The instructions say to cut it square and re-drill the hole. How do I
go about drilling into the pole making sure the hole is parallel? I
don't have a lathe

Clamp the pole perfectly horizontal and confirm it with a level. Fix a level
on the drill such that it shows level with the drill bit level, then just
keep the bubble level as you drill - for the side to side part just use your
eye to ensure it goes in straight.

George wrote:
"Ian Chard" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm about to put up a curtain pole, but the size I wanted wasn't
available, and the one I have is quite a bit too long. It has
pre-drilled holes down either end into which the finials screw.

The instructions say to cut it square and re-drill the hole. How do
I go about drilling into the pole making sure the hole is parallel?
I don't have a lathe

Thanks
- Ian

As I have a range of these its probably not viable option to you?

I had the same scenario when I bought curtain poles,they had to be
cut and needed the finals rescrewing so...

I got a scarret cutter from my tools that slotted over the near enough
thickness of the pole,inserted a drill bit shorter than the scarret
cutter so that it did not protrude outside the scarret cutters body.
Slipped the scarret cutter over the pole and then carefully started
to drill the hole,the scarret cutter acted as a guide over the pole
to keep the drill from wandering off center.

Excellent! What a cunning plan.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message

As I have a range of these its probably not viable option to you?

I had the same scenario when I bought curtain poles,they had to be
cut and needed the finals rescrewing so...

I got a scarret cutter from my tools that slotted over the near enough
thickness of the pole,inserted a drill bit shorter than the scarret
cutter so that it did not protrude outside the scarret cutters body.
Slipped the scarret cutter over the pole and then carefully started
to drill the hole,the scarret cutter acted as a guide over the pole
to keep the drill from wandering off center.

Excellent! What a cunning plan.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257



TA

Thats the old way I've found a new way now for different thickness poles...

Take a 2x2 piece of square wood about 4" long,mark an X across each end to
give us the center of the wood.
At one end drill out the dowel size using a bench drill to keep it true and
go in about 3".
At the other end drill a 1/16th or 1/8th hole so it comes out of the inner
larger hole on the other side,again using the bench drill for trueness.

Fit piece of wood over dowel then drill the hole at the other side.

A range of sizes can be made using this method.

"George" wrote in message

Thats the old way I've found a new way now for different thickness
poles...

Take a 2x2 piece of square wood about 4" long,mark an X across each end to
give us the center of the wood.
At one end drill out the dowel size using a bench drill to keep it true
and
go in about 3".
At the other end drill a 1/16th or 1/8th hole so it comes out of the inner
larger hole on the other side,again using the bench drill for trueness.

Fit piece of wood over dowel then drill the hole at the other side.

A range of sizes can be made using this method.



http://www.20xx20.myby.co.uk/dowljig.jpg

Here's the jig for getting a perfect drilled centerd hole in a curtain pole
or any other wooden pole.
various sizes can be made providing you have the(auger) drillbits.

The large black rectangles represent the auger bit sized drilled out of the
2x2 wood and the smaller rectangles represents a 1/16th or 1/8th drilled
hole.

To do this you need a bench drill for a perfectly aligned drilled holes.