# How to drill 90 degree holes if your piece is too long for your drill press?



## Jimothy (Oct 29, 2015)

I recently bought a bunch of dowels of various sizes for future projects. Say I want to put a 1 inch wide dowel in the end of a table leg to join it to the tabletop. I wouldnt be able to stand it up lengthwise on my drill press table because there isnt nearly enough room between the bottom of my bit and the table. I know I could drill this by hand with a hand drill but it doesnt ensure i wont wobble and be a bit out of square. Any thoughts?

ps. I wasnt sure if this belonged in jigs or in joinery since it is likely both

thanks!


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## BlasterStumps (Mar 13, 2017)

You need a ShopSmith. It will definitely do that.

It would be a little tricky but you might do it with a doweling jig or a drill guide.

sort of along the lines of the shopsmith idea, I have a table top drill press that I can swing the head so it is close to 90° to the base when sitting on the corner of the bench. That way, If I can hold whatever, I can drill like you are wanting to do on something long.


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## builtinbkyn (Oct 29, 2015)

Use your drill press to make a drill guide for your bit. The thicker the better, but that may be limited by the length of your bit and the needed depth of the hole. However once you have a reasonably deep hole, you can remove the guide and continue drilling. Clamp the guide to the piece you need to drill.


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

What Bill said. Use a drill press and drill a hole thru some really thick material leaving enough for your drill to have the length to drill thru your work piece. It's a technique I've used with success. Go forth and conquer!


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## Jimothy (Oct 29, 2015)

smart ideas!


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## Rayne (Mar 9, 2014)

You can also make a vertical clamp jig to hold the piece on the side of a drill press table while you drill into your piece. (assuming you table can rotate away and not fixed in some form).

This is the closest pic I could find to show you what it could look like. There are many variations to this.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

> You can also make a vertical clamp jig to hold the piece on the side of a drill press table while you drill into your piece. (assuming you table can rotate away and not fixed in some form).
> 
> This is the closest pic I could find to show you what it could look like. There are many variations to this.
> 
> ...


Looks Good!


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

You could use a lathe as an alternative.


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