I have a ton of 8"x8"x0.5" blanks I use to cut shapes out of, to make wooden teethers and toys. I don’t get the holes pre drilled when I order the wood bc the operation adds too much to the price. Up until this point, I’ve just been using a wasteboard to mark the 4 holes in each corner, and drilling them out that way. Problem is, I’m not always accurate and it’s starting to take too much time (and also becoming very frustrating having to enlarge holes I was off on)
That said - can you share some ideas I can use to perhaps create some sort of jig that I can use to cut accurate holes? I have been looking around for something that I can purchase, but no luck yet.
Mill a block of material with a right angle to mate with the corner and a hole guide where the drilling goes. The hole guide has an upper and lower so the pointing is square to the board.
mark
P.S.
To be really accurate, the spoiler board would need to be machined flat on both sides. Mill the top and bottom of the block flat. Now cut out a right angle guide for the corner and plunge a hole through it for the drill guide. I would recommend pick drilling so as to clear the hole of material.
As I recall, the corner holes are 1/2" recessed. A block 1" square and 3/4" or 1" thick would work.
Since you’re in production mode, I would mill it out of steel but on a Nomad, 6061 or 6075. I would make a prototype out of HDPE or PVC to try it out first.
The corner of the right angle will need to be CADed with “dog biscuit” so the corner doesn’t have a 1/2 D curve in it. If you’re not familiar with “dog biscuit” I can explain.
I made a similar drilling jig for a co-worker last spring. He needed to drill knob holes in a bunch of existing kitchen cabinet doors. I machined the jig from a 2"-square piece of 1" thick PVC.
Great stuff, as always, @Randy. Just curious, do you use the Knob Master 3000 to make holes with the Nomad? Or is it meant for use with a hand held drill? If hand held, how do you make sure the drill is level? Or is it not really an issue?
@Darren my thinking was that this sounds like a job for a small drill press, especially if you’re in production mode. I don’t know if that would be possible for you, but it would certainly make things easier. You can get ok quality machines pretty cheaply at Home Depot (or similar), and for what you need at present it seems like anything fancy is really not necessary.
@MrHume, my co-worker used the jig on cabinet doors that were in place on the cabinets. He clamped the fixture on the door and used it to guide the drill bit in a cordless drill. With a .14" diameter bit and .50" thickness of the jig, there was plenty of engagement to guide the bit straight.
Just spotted this on instructables, maybe it will prove useful? There is another, simpler version that the author mentions, might also be worth a look.
