Made a large tote for a hand plane. It was 5 1/2" long and needed a 1/4" screw hole that went the whole length. My drill press only has about a 3" stroke. I wasnt able to successully drill from each end and meet in the middle. (The word "folly" comes to mind.) So I bought a 6" drill bit, clamped the tote/handle very securely to the press and drilled a hole 3 1/2" deep. Then, I shut off the press and slowly raised the table until the press was back to the start of its 3" stroke. Then I checked that the clamps were still tight, turned the press back on and finished drilling through.
I couldnt find another safe way to do it. The hole is slighly skewed (comes out the other side
1/8" from where I intended) but I'll live with it. I probably didnt get it clamped quite as square as I intended.
Is there a better way to do this?
Thanks,
Fred