Round stock drilling jig

jmoore65 · Post by **jmoore65** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 9:16 pm

I recently needed to repair a broken round tenon on a chair rung.

I decided to do this by cutting the broken tenon off square with the rung, drilling a hole in the end and gluing a piece of dowel in the hole to be the new tenon.

I learned it is difficult to get the hole drilled in exactly the right place. And, that a forstner bit might not be the best bit to use for such activities. Note that I did end up buying a same size spur point bit to use instead of the forstner bit.

I made a jig to hold round or irregular stock. This was made from a piece of board, V channel holding jig, clamp and some threaded inserts. I mounted the holding jig square to the end of the board. I drilled some holes along each side of the jig to allow a 1/4" threaded rod to screw into the board - and use the threaded rod and a block to act as a clamp to hold materials in the holding jig.

The board also has provision for 2 t-nuts (under the black knobs on each side of the board). These allowed me to position the board horizontally and lock it into place.

It works reasonably well. I would use a thicker threaded rod next time.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 6:07 am

Your jig is very clever.

In a conventional lathe I would clamp the good end of the leg in a chuck spun by the headstock spindle and support the end to be drilled in a steady rest. The stationary drill bit is in a chuck in the tailstock and advanced by the tailstock. Cannot do it that way in a Shopsmith unless the leg is perfectly cylindrical and even then you would likely mar the finish, since you have to advance the stationary drill by using the quill, so your jig solves the problem nicely! Good job!

camerio · Post by **camerio** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 8:37 am

Wow ! I have to make myself a jig like that. Nice job and it looks study to ... do you think you could post a picture of the under of the jig ?
That would be nice too.
Thanks and please keep on posting your ideas and jig (s)

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 8:48 am

jmoore65 wrote:I recently needed to repair a broken round tenon on a chair rung.

I decided to do this by cutting the broken tenon off square with the rung, drilling a hole in the end and gluing a piece of dowel in the hole to be the new tenon.

I learned it is difficult to get the hole drilled in exactly the right place. And, that a forstner bit might not be the best bit to use for such activities. Note that I did end up buying a same size spur point bit to use instead of the forstner bit.

I made a jig to hold round or irregular stock. This was made from a piece of board, V channel holding jig, clamp and some threaded inserts. I mounted the holding jig square to the end of the board. I drilled some holes along each side of the jig to allow a 1/4" threaded rod to screw into the board - and use the threaded rod and a block to act as a clamp to hold materials in the holding jig.

The board also has provision for 2 t-nuts (under the black knobs on each side of the board). These allowed me to position the board horizontally and lock it into place.

It works reasonably well. I would use a thicker threaded rod next time.

Is the v-channel something that was repurposed or was it actually designed and built to be a "v-channel holding jig"? I like it!

jmoore65 · Post by **jmoore65** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:26 am

dusty wrote:Is the v-channel something that was repurposed or was it actually designed and built to be a "v-channel holding jig"? I like it!

Dusty - the v-channel is something I bought from Harbor Freight. They had a good deal on them last year, and I bought a couple. Item #92046.

Item URL is http://www.harborfreight.com/self-centering-drill-press-jig-92046.html

jmoore65 · Post by **jmoore65** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:27 am

camerio wrote:Wow ! I have to make myself a jig like that. Nice job and it looks study to ... do you think you could post a picture of the under of the jig ?
That would be nice too.
Thanks and please keep on posting your ideas and jig (s)

Thanks! I'll take a picture of the underside of the jig tonight.

One modification I'm going to make is to use a wooden v-block under the hold down clamp to get more surface area under the clamp.