# How to drill a long straight hole????!



## KenBry (Sep 13, 2011)

Guys, i need your help. I am building my bemch and am at the point where I am attaching my legs to my long rails. I bought the benchcrafted. You can see the bolts and barrel nuts that I.bought at the link below.
http://benchcrafted.com/Store.html

I need todrill a half inch hole straight through the leg, down the center of the tenon and rail. Total length is 7 1/2".

How do i do this without screwing it up? Lol


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

Hand brace and boring bit. Get a mirrored piece of plastic
and drill a hole in the middle and then with the mirror you
can keep the hole straight. Timber framing trick. A power
drill can be used too if you can get the bit to fit the chuck.


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## MakinChips (Apr 30, 2011)

I would use this to drill a hole for a 1/2 bolt

http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/9_16-Extra-Long-Quality-Brad-Point-Bit-by-Koch-of-Germany/productinfo/623-0780/


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## KenBry (Sep 13, 2011)

I should have said i have a 14" 1/2" drill bit.. I just need to get the hole straight


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Thinking along the lines of the Kreg Pocket Jig, can you take several pieces of scrap lumber, drill your hole in each, then clamp them in place and use them as a guide for your bit?


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## FirehouseWoodworking (Jun 9, 2009)

Ken,

My way of doing this would be to cut the leg in half lengthwise. If you have already cut the legs to final size, you will have to glue on a thin piece of wood to make up for the saw kerf, so that you will get the full size leg back.

Then use a half-inch cove bit to route out half the hole in each respective half of the leg. Then glue the two halves back together. You can run a half-inch auger bit down the hole to remove any glue squeeze out if necessary, but if you're careful during glue-up, you can clean out the bore before the glue hardens.

Good luck. Cheers!


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## MakinChips (Apr 30, 2011)

A good source for mirrored plastic is an old cd or dvd disk, just drill right thru the center hole while watching the reflection to keep it square.


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## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

When I was drilling dog holes in my bench top, I was fortunate enough to borrow one of these. I think they run about forty bucks at Rockler. You'll need a corded drill (cordless won't have enough power) and a lot of muscle. Start your hole slowly, and once it's established you can really lean into it.


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## KenBry (Sep 13, 2011)

This is how I solved my problem.








Using this drill and bit.








I started the holes in the legs through the mortises. Drilled as deep as I could, then I raised the the part to drill deeper with the drill press. This got me a hole that was square and center where I need it. This allowed me to use this part as a drill guide.



















I squared up the leg to the rail

















Now I used the hand drill and that monster bit to get the holes into rails nice and straight


























There you go, a straight hole deep into the rail.

Thanks guys for helping me get the gray matter working


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## Sylvain (Jul 23, 2011)

Kenbry method is perfect …
assuming the two faces of the leg are parallel (the one with the opening of the mortise and the opposite one).

Otherwise you must insure that the hole in the mortise is perpendicular to the face with the mortise opening which is the registering face for the rail.


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## tyskkvinna (Mar 23, 2010)

Now that's how you do it!


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