boring holes

[Michael Thuman]

I need help only one of my four holes came out center on the mortise.

The mortise is centered.

Evidently my marking was off and now I need to fix it.

The final hole size is 9/16"  with a CB of 1 1/8" on other side.  I also accidently made that 1.25 but in hindsight it may have just saved me.

What you see from the pictures is that I am off center.  how best to recenter?

gule in the dust from the first drill press DP operation and then redrill?

The first picture is centered  the next 2 are not by about 1/8" of an inch?

For reference that hole is 1/4" and the mortise are 3/4"

 

 

 

 

[lew]

Maybe you could make some plugs, matching the grain and redrill 

[Michael Thuman]

2 minutes ago, lew said:

Maybe you could make some plugs, matching the grain and redrill 

How to make plugs?

[lew]

https://www.woodcraft.com/search?q=Plug+cutter+&button=search

 

There are special plug cutters 

 

 

[John Morris]

Michael, take a piece of steel, 1/6" to 1/8" thick more or less, drill a 1/4" hole in the steel, cut some strips of wood 1/4" square, and then cut the strips about an inch long, or however long you need to fill those holes depth, take a hammer and pound the pieces of wood through that hole you bored into the steel, now you got some plugs.

Here is the little jig I made from an old router collet wrench, note the holes drilled into the steel.

 

 

 

[John Morris]

1 minute ago, John Morris said:

Michael, take a piece of steel, 1/6" to 1/8" thick more or less, drill a 1/4" hole in the steel, cut some strips of wood 1/4" square, and then cut the strips about an inch long, or however long you need to fill those holes depth, take a hammer and pound the pieces of wood through that hole you bored into the steel, now you got some plugs.

 

By the way, the side the drill bit exits out of the steel, you'll have a ragged edge, keep the edge, it cuts. And ram those 1/4" sticks through the hole from the ragged edge side.

 

You can also chuck those 1/4" sticks up in your drill, and drill them through that hole in the steel, and you'll have some nice dowels/plugs.

[Michael Thuman]

20 minutes ago, John Morris said:

 

By the way, the side the drill bit exits out of the steel, you'll have a ragged edge, keep the edge, it cuts. And ram those 1/4" sticks through the hole from the ragged edge side.

 

You can also chuck those 1/4" sticks up in your drill, and drill them through that hole in the steel, and you'll have some nice dowels/plugs.

Thanks home made dowel.

Certainly less expensive

 

 

[John Morris]

Just now, Michael Thuman said:

Thanks home made dowel.

Certainly less expensive

 

And quick, you get em today.

[Michael Thuman]

6 minutes ago, John Morris said:

 

And quick, you get em today.

I may work on them tonight and the holes it turns out is 3/8" but the process is the same.

As for the CB turns our it is 1 3/8 supposed to be 1 1/8 so the misalignment should not cause the trouble as the holes of off by 3/32 but the counter bore is 1/4

But for appearance sake I may get a 1 3/8 hole dowel from wood craft.

 

[John Morris]

14 hours ago, Michael Thuman said:

I may work on them tonight and the holes it turns out is 3/8" but the process is the same.

As for the CB turns our it is 1 3/8 supposed to be 1 1/8 so the misalignment should not cause the trouble as the holes of off by 3/32 but the counter bore is 1/4

But for appearance sake I may get a 1 3/8 hole dowel from wood craft.

 

 The really cool thing about making your own dowels or plugs like I showed, or any method for that matter, you can use any species of wood, you match your wood your working with to hide those holes. You are not restricted to the dowels they sale at the store, typically birch or poplar.

[Larry Buskirk]

 I always thought plugs were cut cross grain, and dowels were cut with the grain. 

[John Morris]

1 hour ago, Larry Buskirk said:

 I always thought plugs were cut cross grain, and dowels were cut with the grain. 

Sure.

Whatever

[Michael Thuman]

This process worked out great.  As he said drill a hole in some steel with the bur side up.

Clamp the steel so the hole is centered in the DP and lock it down.

Center the blank in your drill press and taper the end to fit inside the hole.

Set the drill press so a slow speed.  

I cut 3/8 x 3/8 wood then cut to about a inch longer than I needed.

Cut off the corners with a razor.

Put the thick end in the DP and in the hole.

Advanced the drill press until the jaws barely miss the steel.

Remove the wood from the DP then turn it end for end and re insert it.

Cut off the tails that form.  

taper that end just slightly so that it centers itself in the hole.

Then advance the DP until tails separate from the shaft.

Now cut it to length and dab some glue in the hole you are plugging then put glue on the blank.

Then drive it home with a hammer.  

I think I am going to purchase a 1 3/8 pluger so that I can plug my CB and start over.

Worked great thanks much for the tip.

 

[Michael Thuman]

1 hour ago, John Morris said:

 The really cool thing about making your own dowels or plugs like I showed, or any method for that matter, you can use any species of wood, you match your wood your working with to hide those holes. You are not restricted to the dowels they sale at the store, typically birch or poplar.

Well my material is quarter sawn red oak.  So the plug cutter for the 1 3/8 CB will be expensive but worth it. as it will also cut in the grain direction.

The blanks i made are in tight but are perpendicular to the grain direction.

 

[PeteM]

It happens.  Almost always to me!  I keep pine dowels in 3/16, 1/4 and 3/8 on hand.  Since one end is buried in the mortise, the appearance of that end isn't critical.  Most of the time, the other end isn't critical either, but if I wanted, I could leave the dowel 3/8 short and fill the end of the hole using a plug cutter with compatible material; before spending a lot of time on perfect restoration, remember that you're going to drill another hole through that same country, and not much of the plug may remain visible. 

I've found several reasons the hole is off:

--bad measurement on the other side, as you mentioned

--the workpiece not being square with the drill press bit 

--if using hand held drill, might not be drilling straight

--drill bit will always drift off the planned path, at least a little, because wood isn't a uniform medium; emphasize "least"

--hard wood will make drill drift off more than soft, natch

--the longer the hole, the greater the drift

--unless clamped very firmly, the workpiece can shift when the drill point hits a hard patch:  "hard" is relative in the middle of wood:  the bit will take the easy way

Remedies:

-drill a 1/8 pilot hole:  see that it "daylights" at the right point before running the big bore through

-drill from both sides:  drift is proportional to drill path length; cut the path in half, the drift is half

-brace the workpiece more firmly; to a drill bit, a little wiggle, perhaps almost microscopic, can push the path into the "easy" way

-drill from the mortise side:  easier to see that you're centered, and the far end will rest flat better than the narrow edge of a mortise