Drilling a hole in the end of a dowel

[David White II]

Certainly not inexpensive, but Bridge City Toolworks has something that can do this, that suggests that a dowelling jig might be just the thing. I recall that the demo of the BCT thing said that regular bits worked better that brad points for endgrain.

[Peter Pedisich]

I take a scrap pc of wood 2-3" sq and 1-1.25"thk, then drill a hole the size of the dowel about 0.25"deep and drill a small hole for the drill bit centered in the hole (a forstner will leave a dimple to guide the small hole) and then place this over the end of the dowel and there is your drill guide.

[Mike Henderson]

The way I've always done it is to drill the hole, then mount the wood in a lathe and turn it down to size using the hole as the centers.

Mike

[Michael Ray Smith]

Thanks to everyone for great ideas!! I've tried a couple of basic doweling jigs and -- just as several of you predicted -- the bit still wanders. So the next thing is to get the right sort of bit.

By the way, I don't have a lathe. . . yet. And maybe I'm just too stubborn or too naive, but it seems as if I ought to be able to do this with much simpler equipment.

[Roy Griggs]

Michael,
Make two v-shaped blocks; one long and deep enough to support your dowel and another that will lay in the first block with a v that will support the drill bit and center it in your dowel....

[Michael Ray Smith]

Again, thanks again to all you Creekers for the great information, observations, and suggestions. Here's the fix I'm going to try (haven't had time to do it yet) that combines several suggestions. First, I'm going to use another type of bit that works better going into end grain. (I suspect that's the root cause of my problems, and I hadn't even thought of that.) Second, I'm going to make a jig out of a wooden block by using a Forstner bit to drill a hole part way through to hold the dowel, then a smaller hole, centering it with the dimple left by the Forstner, to serve as a drill guide. (That solves the annoying problem I had with the doweling guides I was trying to use -- keeping the guide square to the end of a cylinder. They work well to drill holes in straight-sided stock, but not so much with curvature.) Third, since I'd probably wallow out the smaller hole within just a few uses, I'm going to try the Lee Valley bushings. Eventually, I'll have an even better solution if and when I decide to get a lathe.

As Satchel Paige said, "None of us is as smart as all of us." Thanks again!!

[Michael Ray Smith]

I like. Thanks.

I take a scrap pc of wood 2-3" sq and 1-1.25"thk, then drill a hole the size of the dowel about 0.25"deep and drill a small hole for the drill bit centered in the hole (a forstner will leave a dimple to guide the small hole) and then place this over the end of the dowel and there is your drill guide.

[ken seale]

Drill from both ends

[Roderick Gentry]

If you saw better than you drill, lay out lines, and saw straight down and across a little and repeat, so you have an x of kerfs. Then follow the intersection down.

A drill press is about 30 bucks on Craigs. You clamp a kerfed board to the table, and drill the board with a bit the size of your dowel. Then using the kerf and hole, you chuck the dowel in there and drill dead center. You can also do minor turning on a drill press. I used that approach for about 10 years when I was a youngin, before I got a lathe.

[Jim Tobias]

I recently used one of these to drill out a center hole for a broken bedpost The top 16" of the bedpost had been broken off and lost by the owner. I used a 3/4" forstner bit. Made a flat platform to hold the jig perpendicular to the bedpost. It worked better than i expected.
Jim
http://www.amazon.com/General-Tool-3.../dp/B0000E6TM6