# template help please, Jig for a drill press, drill small hole and lots of them



## trina_mac (May 19, 2012)

I am building knitting boards for my wife, below is a pic of what I am building.

I am building them in different sizes. 12 inch, 28 inch and 48 inch.

The problem I am having is drilling the holes. I am drilling a 1/16 in hole every 5/16 of an inch. I'm having a hard time keeping the holes lined up. I need to drill 500 to 750 holes. See below pics.

I have built a template out of Plexiglass.

I find that every time I drill the holes get a little larger. I have even tried using a mechanical pencil and marking the holes using the template and still the holes are are not lining up. Any suggestions on what to do? 

Here is a pic of the 48 inch board.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*use a fence*

The fence will determine the distance front to back, but not the spacing. Make an accurate jig to have say 6 holes, but very precise. Put a 1/16" pin in hole number 6 and use that to register the next 5 holes for spacing. If you need two rows, then make it the proper width for the rows and use 2 pins from the starter hole. The jig should register/sit against the fence. :thumbsup: bill

BTW use a scribe and a prick punch to make the template. Plexi 1/4" should be fine.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Does the project have to be made out of pine. The drill bit will tend to follow the soft part of the board and avoid the hard grain and knots. This alone will cause the drill bit to drift. If you used a wood like basswood or poplar which had a more constant grain it would help. Also what I've done drilling small holes is to cut off the drill bit to where it is just barely long enough to do the job. The less you have coming out of the chuck will help. I think instead of using a pattern I would just set up the fence with marks for placement of the holes.


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## jschaben (Apr 1, 2010)

Hi Trina - I think I would approach this as a shelf pin placement problem. Make a template with, maybe 3/8" holes every 15/16". Using a plunge router with a 1/16" bit and a 3/8" guide bushing would place every third hole. Then index the template 5/16" and do it again. Would need to repeat 3 times. I think the overall look would be a fixture to place the workpiece, hold the template and allow repeatable indexing for the templates. :smile: Just some rambling thoughts from a wandering mind.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

It might be just as fast and possibly more accurate to lay out the holes with a pencil, and cross hatch with a combo square, using a measured spacer. Then punch each hole with a scratch awl, and then drill.

Using a fence as an offset guide could collect debris which could throw the distance off. Using an index pin can get time consuming. JMO.









 







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## jigs-n-fixtures (Apr 28, 2012)

Forget the jig. You have drill press and I'm guessing that you also have a table saw. Make a set of stop blocks by ripping some hardwood to width and then cut it to lengths the width of your work piece. 

Then position a fence and group of stop blocks on the drill press table position for the first hole in the line with everything snugged up and then lock the stop in place. Drill a hole, remove a stop block and reposition the workpiece. 

As others said, try something other than softwood for the workpiece, and try using a shortened drill bit or a stepped bit. Also do the holes really need to be that small?

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


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