Drilling a simple little hole

[mtrager]

How would you drill a simple hole straight and centered on the end of a 7' 4x4 post? Going to be a bed post. Hole is for the finial. Have thought about about it and can't come up with a solution. No lathe available and I am not sure a 7' post would even fit on all but the longest ones.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.

Mitch Trager

 

[Sully]

Make a similar dimensioned hardwood drill guide 4"x4x4. Center mark it, center punch it, and drill through it with same sized bit using a drill press.

Then clamp the guide to the bed post and use it to guide the drill on the end of the bed post.

There's probably more clever ways to do this, just one option that came to mind.....

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Make a similar dimensioned hardwood drill guide 4"x4x4. Center mark it, center punch it, and drill through it with same sized bit using a drill press.

Then clamp the guide to the bed post and use it to guide the drill on the end of the bed post.

There's probably more clever ways to do this, just one option that came to mind.....

Yup, that's the ticket!

Rather than clamp it, I would make sides on it so you can just slide it over the end of the post. You will need to make a trade-off between guide thickness (thicker is better to keep drill aligned) and the length of your drill and how deep you need to make the hole- I assume the finial just has a 1/2" - 1" long bottom dowell. A Forstner bit would result in the least wear and tear on the guide, but they often have short shanks.

Now on the other hand- most finials I've seen are loose fit so they can be removed- soooo . . . . 'X' marks the spot and drill away! :lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

[Gotcha6]

This looks like a job for a Shopsmith!. Just tell the missus you gotta have it to make your new bed look right.

 

[Gofor]

I agree on the guide.
Countersink the bottom of your guide with the Forstner bit, if the dowel is larger than the drill capacity. Drill the shanksize in the guide to fit the bit shank.
If the dowel is a drill size that does not exceed the chuck, use the guide but finish the bottom of the hole with the Forstner if you don't have a brad point bit the right size.

Go

 

[mtrager]

Thank you!

A nice straightforward solution!

 

[Nativespec]

I saw Norm mount it to his drill press with clamps after plumbing it. If you post is too long, then you have a challange. I have a Triton cordless drill that has a "plunge" attatchment that plumbs the drill to the surface. I paid about $130 through International Tool-not sure they sell it anymore:

http://www.amazon.com/Triton-TDC100...9-0019843?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1190651448&sr=1-18

 

[froglips]

I second the Shopsmith solution. Its just the best solution

Or a drill guide block.........

Jim