In my stereo cabinet I have adjustable shelves. The walls are AC Fir
plywood. I was drilling in the holes with my cordless B&D drill. The
plywood kept ripping around the hole.

I tried starting with a small bit, then working my way up. But once I
got to the 1/4" bit, it almost always ripped the surface wood

I imagine a drill press would have done a much better job?

If so, ill probably pick up an ultra cheap one on ebay. What features
should I ensure I have so I don't get ripping in plywood?

I wonder if I could have drilled a hole through a 2x4 and clamped it
over the plywood to stop the rip? Would I have to do that on the drill
press?



--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16

"dnoyeB" wrote in message
...
In my stereo cabinet I have adjustable shelves. The walls are AC Fir
plywood. I was drilling in the holes with my cordless B&D drill. The
plywood kept ripping around the hole.

I tried starting with a small bit, then working my way up. But once I got
to the 1/4" bit, it almost always ripped the surface wood

I imagine a drill press would have done a much better job?

If so, ill probably pick up an ultra cheap one on ebay. What features
should I ensure I have so I don't get ripping in plywood?

I wonder if I could have drilled a hole through a 2x4 and clamped it over
the plywood to stop the rip? Would I have to do that on the drill press?



--
Thank you,

try using a piece of pegboard as a template

dnoyeB wrote:
In my stereo cabinet I have adjustable shelves. The walls are AC Fir
plywood. I was drilling in the holes with my cordless B&D drill. The
plywood kept ripping around the hole.

On the front or the back? If it's tearing out the front, then the
problem is likely the drill bit. For a nice clean cut, consider using
brad-point drill bits, with spurs that outline the cut.

I have a set of these, they work well:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,180,42240

I imagine a drill press would have done a much better job?

Probably not. The drill press is most useful to get a precisely
located/angled cut, not necessarily a better one.

I wonder if I could have drilled a hole through a 2x4 and clamped it
over the plywood to stop the rip? Would I have to do that on the drill
press?

For the cleanest cuts in ply, try clamping a board (2x4, scrap ply, mdf,
whatever) behind where you will drill the hole. Then drill through with
a good brad-point bit. The backer board will keep the thin veneer on
the exit side from tearing out.

Chris

I wonder if I could have drilled a hole through a 2x4 and clamped it
over the plywood to stop the rip? Would I have to do that on the drill
press?


Or you could lay down a strip of masking tape, mark the holes on that,
then drill. Or you could make a jig stick with the holes prespaced
and do that. Or get a strip of 'peg board' that has the holes
prespaced every 2".

dnoyeB (in ) said:

| In my stereo cabinet I have adjustable shelves. The walls are AC
| Fir plywood. I was drilling in the holes with my cordless B&D
| drill. The plywood kept ripping around the hole.

Three FYI's:

I've gotten excellent results with a 1/4" straight bit in a plunge
router.

I've also had good results using LV carbide-lipped brad-point drill
bits in a 2500 RPM corded hand drill from HF. IMO, for any given bit
type, higher RPM seems to give best results in wood. I bought the HF
corded drill just because of the high RPM and have been pleased with
the result.

The old trick of drilling through masking tape works fairly well.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Morris Dovey wrote:
dnoyeB (in ) said:

| In my stereo cabinet I have adjustable shelves. The walls are AC
| Fir plywood. I was drilling in the holes with my cordless B&D
| drill. The plywood kept ripping around the hole.

Three FYI's:

I've gotten excellent results with a 1/4" straight bit in a plunge
router.

I've also had good results using LV carbide-lipped brad-point drill
bits in a 2500 RPM corded hand drill from HF. IMO, for any given bit
type, higher RPM seems to give best results in wood. I bought the HF
corded drill just because of the high RPM and have been pleased with
the result.


This is kind of what I thought so I almost got out my corded drill. But
its hard to rev up the RPMs before the drill is in contact with the
wood. When I touchdown the bit has been walking a little.

I was using a standard drill bit. I'm going to get a set of those
brad-point bits from LV. Looks like lots of folks use LV. Good store?


The old trick of drilling through masking tape works fairly well.


Its hard to imagine a extremely thin piece of tape preventing a powerful
drill from ripping strips of plywood up. Maybe there is "woodworkers"
tape or something?


--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto




--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16

"dnoyeB" wrote
Morris Dovey wrote:
dnoyeB (in ) said:

| In my stereo cabinet I have adjustable shelves. The walls are AC
| Fir plywood. I was drilling in the holes with my cordless B&D
| drill. The plywood kept ripping around the hole.

Three FYI's:

I've gotten excellent results with a 1/4" straight bit in a plunge
router.

I've also had good results using LV carbide-lipped brad-point drill
bits in a 2500 RPM corded hand drill from HF. IMO, for any given bit
type, higher RPM seems to give best results in wood. I bought the HF
corded drill just because of the high RPM and have been pleased with
the result.


This is kind of what I thought so I almost got out my corded drill. But
its hard to rev up the RPMs before the drill is in contact with the wood.
When I touchdown the bit has been walking a little.

I was using a standard drill bit. I'm going to get a set of those
brad-point bits from LV. Looks like lots of folks use LV. Good store?

One feature of the brad point drills is that they have a nice little point
to place on your mark. It doesn't wander. You can fire up the drill and ease
it into your stock.


The old trick of drilling through masking tape works fairly well.


Its hard to imagine a extremely thin piece of tape preventing a powerful
drill from ripping strips of plywood up. Maybe there is "woodworkers"
tape or something?


Another thing that I do is to just use some some hardboard. I put the
textured side down because it doesn't slide around. I mark and drill tiny
pilot holes on the hardboard. When I fire up the drill with the brad point
bits, it just cuts cleanly through. The hardboard stabilizes and prtects the
wood underneath.

And yes, Lee Valley is an excellent source for tools. But brad point bits
should be vailable just about anywhere.

dnoyeB (in ) said:

| Morris Dovey wrote:
|| dnoyeB (in ) said:
||
||| In my stereo cabinet I have adjustable shelves. The walls are AC
||| Fir plywood. I was drilling in the holes with my cordless B&D
||| drill. The plywood kept ripping around the hole.
||
|| Three FYI's:
||
|| I've gotten excellent results with a 1/4" straight bit in a plunge
|| router.
||
|| I've also had good results using LV carbide-lipped brad-point drill
|| bits in a 2500 RPM corded hand drill from HF. IMO, for any given
|| bit type, higher RPM seems to give best results in wood. I bought
|| the HF corded drill just because of the high RPM and have been
|| pleased with the result.
|
| This is kind of what I thought so I almost got out my corded drill.
| But its hard to rev up the RPMs before the drill is in contact with
| the wood. When I touchdown the bit has been walking a little.

This problem is handled by the center spur in a brad-point bit. For
twist bits you can solve the problem by using a center punch to make a
small "dimple" at the center of the hole before drilling. You should
be able to pick one up at your local hardware store. You can see a
picture he http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=891-7230.

| I was using a standard drill bit. I'm going to get a set of those
| brad-point bits from LV. Looks like lots of folks use LV. Good
| store?

LV sells pretty good stuff. I buy from them and have been happy with
both merchandise and service. They have a _pretty_ catalog that
requires a certain amount of self-discipline on the part of the
reader. Robin Lee, LV's president visits rec.woodworking from time to
time.

|| The old trick of drilling through masking tape works fairly well.
|
| Its hard to imagine a extremely thin piece of tape preventing a
| powerful drill from ripping strips of plywood up. Maybe there is
| "woodworkers" tape or something?

If the drill is sharp, the tape keeps the fibers at the surface from
pulling away from each other. If the drill bit is dull, all bets are
off. One of the reason I like the lipped bits is because the "lip"
scores the circumference of the hole to prevent this tearing.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

On Thu, 09 Feb 2006 09:44:43 -0500, dnoyeB
wrote:

In my stereo cabinet I have adjustable shelves. The walls are AC Fir
plywood. I was drilling in the holes with my cordless B&D drill. The
plywood kept ripping around the hole.

I tried starting with a small bit, then working my way up. But once I
got to the 1/4" bit, it almost always ripped the surface wood

I imagine a drill press would have done a much better job?

If so, ill probably pick up an ultra cheap one on ebay. What features
should I ensure I have so I don't get ripping in plywood?

I wonder if I could have drilled a hole through a 2x4 and clamped it
over the plywood to stop the rip? Would I have to do that on the drill
press?


Try a Forstner bit. These slice the perimeter as they cut, unlike a
twist drill.

Phisherman wrote:

Try a Forstner bit. These slice the perimeter as they cut, unlike a
twist drill.

A brad-point bit with lips or spurs scores the perimeter as well and
clears chips better. They're also available in much smaller sizes than
forstners.

For large shallow holes, Forstner bits are worth considering.

Chris