I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

Thanks.

MM

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember MM saying
something like:

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

Experience.

"MM" wrote in message
...
I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

Thanks.

MM

Align the drill bit against a set-square.

On 1 Sep, 11:46, MM wrote:
I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

Thanks.

MM

Some ideas I have heard:
clamp something with a right angles to the workpiece, and use it to
guide the drill bit downward
Fix a spirit level to the drill in a suitable place
If drilling horizontally, put a washer over the drill bit. If the
drill is level it should not slide along the drill bit.

And experience ;-)

Simon.

Simon wrote:
On 1 Sep, 11:46, MM wrote:
I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

Thanks.

MM

Some ideas I have heard:
clamp something with a right angles to the workpiece, and use it to
guide the drill bit downward
Fix a spirit level to the drill in a suitable place
If drilling horizontally, put a washer over the drill bit. If the
drill is level it should not slide along the drill bit.

And experience ;-)

Simon.

This kind of thing works quite well. I fixed the collar to an old drill
because IIRC it was a bit of a pain clamping it on every time.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...95&src=froogle

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:13:01 GMT, Stuart Noble
wrote:

Simon wrote:
On 1 Sep, 11:46, MM wrote:
I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

Thanks.

MM

Some ideas I have heard:
clamp something with a right angles to the workpiece, and use it to
guide the drill bit downward
Fix a spirit level to the drill in a suitable place
If drilling horizontally, put a washer over the drill bit. If the
drill is level it should not slide along the drill bit.

And experience ;-)

Simon.

This kind of thing works quite well. I fixed the collar to an old drill
because IIRC it was a bit of a pain clamping it on every time.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...95&src=froogle

Ah, now THAT looks the business! And cheap, too. Thanks.

MM

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:50:22 +0100, MM wrote:

This kind of thing works quite well. I fixed the collar to an old
drill
because IIRC it was a bit of a pain clamping it on every time.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...95&src=froogle

Ah, now THAT looks the business! And cheap, too. Thanks.

Yep, I have one bought for drilling through the bottom of a 4" thick
gate hinge post for the 1" dia hinge bolt. 13' gate wouldn't fit in
the garage let alone under the drill press. Worked a treat. Mines
from Wolf but looks very similar.

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article ,
MM wrote:
I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

Drilling into wood often wanders at the start as the bit tries to follow
the grain. Drilling a hole in something hard - like steel - then clamping
that in the correct place to act as a guide should help stop that. And use
a set square both ways to check you're drilling at right angles to the
surface.

--
*The statement above is false

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

MM coughed up some electrons that declared:

I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

Thanks.

MM

Obtuse:

Get a scrap of 2x4" or similar and drill a perpendicular hole in that using
the methods others have described.

After n goes, when you're happy with one of the holes, clamp that to the
piece and use as a re-usable guide.

I did something similar when I needed to drill 2 perfectly aligned holes in
the wall to take studs - I also used the timber to hold the studs whilst
the resin cured.

I did have a cheap "press" that takes a normal drill to help with the guide
hole, but if not, at least you get to practise until it's right without
messing up your target pieces

Cheers

Tim

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:46:59 +0100, MM wrote:

I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole?

I take it you have a hand drill already? If not, my DeWalt one has a
spirit level built into the end which is quite useful for this kind of
thing. Not as good as a drill press, but better than nothing, and buying
something like that might be an option...

(of course I don't know what you're making, but U-shaped metal straps*
nailed or screwed to wood work well for securing pram axles; maybe that's
an aternative to drilling?)

* commonly sold for securing plumbing to joists

cheers

Jules

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:13:17 -0500, Jules
wrote:

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:46:59 +0100, MM wrote:

I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole?

I take it you have a hand drill already? If not, my DeWalt one has a
spirit level built into the end which is quite useful for this kind of
thing. Not as good as a drill press, but better than nothing, and buying
something like that might be an option...

(of course I don't know what you're making, but U-shaped metal straps*
nailed or screwed to wood work well for securing pram axles; maybe that's
an aternative to drilling?)

* commonly sold for securing plumbing to joists

cheers

Jules

This is to make my armchair easily movable. I aim to attach the pram
wheels (two at the back) when I need to move the chair. At present I
lift the chair and carry it. It weighs a fair bit. It's an IKEA
squarish pine chair anno 1980-ish with removable cushions. I don't
want castors, as they leave indentations. So I want to drill a hole
through each "leg" at the rear (approximately 10cm wide) and mount the
pram wheels on demand using 130cm 8mm bolts. The chair is only moved
out of the way so as to get the hoover in. Having hoovered, I wheel
the chair back and remove the wheels! Okay for another week.

MM

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:55:34 +0100, MM wrote:
This is to make my armchair easily movable. I aim to attach the pram
wheels (two at the back) when I need to move the chair. At present I
lift the chair and carry it. It weighs a fair bit. It's an IKEA
squarish pine chair anno 1980-ish with removable cushions. I don't
want castors, as they leave indentations. So I want to drill a hole
through each "leg" at the rear (approximately 10cm wide) and mount the
pram wheels on demand using 130cm 8mm bolts.

Interesting! As the wheels are only temporary, can't you make a couple of
wooden dollys with some castors on the bottom and just use those each
time? They won't sit in any one spot for any length of time, so getting
around the 'indentation' issue.

cheers

Jules

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:50:43 -0500, Jules
wrote:

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:55:34 +0100, MM wrote:
This is to make my armchair easily movable. I aim to attach the pram
wheels (two at the back) when I need to move the chair. At present I
lift the chair and carry it. It weighs a fair bit. It's an IKEA
squarish pine chair anno 1980-ish with removable cushions. I don't
want castors, as they leave indentations. So I want to drill a hole
through each "leg" at the rear (approximately 10cm wide) and mount the
pram wheels on demand using 130cm 8mm bolts.

Interesting! As the wheels are only temporary, can't you make a couple of
wooden dollys with some castors on the bottom and just use those each
time? They won't sit in any one spot for any length of time, so getting
around the 'indentation' issue.

cheers

Jules

Yep, I thought of exactly the same thing. But then I thought, well, by
the time I have sourced the wood for the dollies, if I don't happen to
have anything among my offcuts, then bought the castors (I already
have the pram wheels), and so on, it would be lot easier just to drill
two holes, job done! It's something I've been meaning to do for
months, but I am now finally getting around to it. I bought the bolts
yesterday.

MM

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:50:43 -0500, Jules
wrote:

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:55:34 +0100, MM wrote:
This is to make my armchair easily movable. I aim to attach the pram
wheels (two at the back) when I need to move the chair. At present I
lift the chair and carry it. It weighs a fair bit. It's an IKEA
squarish pine chair anno 1980-ish with removable cushions. I don't
want castors, as they leave indentations. So I want to drill a hole
through each "leg" at the rear (approximately 10cm wide) and mount the
pram wheels on demand using 130cm 8mm bolts.

Interesting! As the wheels are only temporary, can't you make a couple of
wooden dollys with some castors on the bottom and just use those each
time? They won't sit in any one spot for any length of time, so getting
around the 'indentation' issue.

cheers

Jules

I finally drilled the holes! I ended up using a dowelling jig, which
I'd forgotten I have. This is quite a nice aluminium Wolfcraft one I
bought in Germany about 30 years ago. I clamped one of the brackets
with the 8mm guide hole to the leg of the armchair and that was enough
to start the drill off going straight. I tried it for the first time
today, pushing the pram wheels on to the "axles" and these through the
holes. What joy! I was pushing the chair all over the place, knowing
what a pain it was to carry it before. Amazing things, wheels.

MM

On Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:54:12 +0100, MM wrote:
I finally drilled the holes! I ended up using a dowelling jig, which
I'd forgotten I have. This is quite a nice aluminium Wolfcraft one I
bought in Germany about 30 years ago. I clamped one of the brackets
with the 8mm guide hole to the leg of the armchair and that was enough
to start the drill off going straight. I tried it for the first time
today, pushing the pram wheels on to the "axles" and these through the
holes. What joy! I was pushing the chair all over the place, knowing
what a pain it was to carry it before. Amazing things, wheels.

Ha! Success! Now you need to video it and shove it on youtube - seems to
be the done thing these days :-)

MM wrote:

This is to make my armchair easily movable. I aim to attach the pram
wheels (two at the back) when I need to move the chair. At present I
lift the chair and carry it. It weighs a fair bit. It's an IKEA
squarish pine chair anno 1980-ish with removable cushions. I don't
want castors, as they leave indentations. So I want to drill a hole
through each "leg" at the rear (approximately 10cm wide) and mount the
pram wheels on demand using 130cm 8mm bolts. The chair is only moved
out of the way so as to get the hoover in. Having hoovered, I wheel
the chair back and remove the wheels! Okay for another week.


just buy a cheap trolley jack.....

Steve Walker wrote:
MM wrote:

This is to make my armchair easily movable.

just buy a cheap trolley jack.....


Drench the carpet with WD40 ...

--
Adrian C

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:26:13 +0100, Adrian C wrote:

Steve Walker wrote:
MM wrote:

This is to make my armchair easily movable.

just buy a cheap trolley jack.....


Drench the carpet with WD40 ...

.... and the bottom of the armchair with water. Instant anti-gravity*
effect.

* no doubt already claimed by the manufacturers on their website.

Adrian C wrote:
Steve Walker wrote:
MM wrote:

This is to make my armchair easily movable.

just buy a cheap trolley jack.....


Drench the carpet with WD40 ...

Now you're talking...


--
Dave - WD40 Liberation Front.

On 1 Sep, 12:46, MM wrote:
I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

Thanks.

MM

A few ideas (untried) for a guide:-

a) It doesn't have to be solid. Make a sturdy rectangular tube out of
scrap wood, then mark out and drill two opposing sides, or

b) If you know someone who _does_ have a drill press, get them to
drill some 2x4 for you, or

c) Mark it out and drill from both sides to the centre, or

d) I wonder how perpendicular the holes are in those bricks that use
them instead of a frog? Pack with a bit of tubing or a few spills if
the wrong diameter.

Chris

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:46:59 +0100, MM wrote:

I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

If you have the necessary experience and skill, just do it. You don't
have to be THAT accurate.

Otherwise, you're going to mess it up. Take it to a friend who DOES
have the right tools.

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:29:12 +0100, Laurence Payne
wrote:

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:46:59 +0100, MM wrote:

I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

If you have the necessary experience and skill, just do it. You don't
have to be THAT accurate.

Otherwise, you're going to mess it up. Take it to a friend who DOES
have the right tools.

What, schlepp an armchair in the back of the car instead of just
asking for tips on the internet?

MM

In message , MM
writes
I need to drill several holes through a 12cm thick piece of pine. The
holes will contain axles for pram-type wheels and need to be drilled
accurately.

I don't have a drill press. How else can I achieve a straight hole? I
may have to use a brace and bit, because I don't think I have an
ordinary twist drill long enough.

Stay off the gerstensaft

--
geoff