How do I drill a 3/16" hole through the center of a 1/2" dowel?

You need to use a sharp pointed brad point drill as Lee suggested. A standard bit will wander and follow the grain. I would, however, go with Rick's suggestion of drilling a 1/2" hole through a (hard) wood block (steel would be ideal, but much more difficult) then cross drill the wood block to act as a guide that will lend a lot of stability to the bit as it enters the dowel.

Hi,
I'm not sure you need quite this level of accuracy, but here is an interesting video on a metalworker's technique for doing this at precise top dead center of round stock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ou-nyVd5hw

You could adapt this technique in a number of ways to simplify it for your purposes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Joe Bradshaw

I would try using a vee block clampled to the drill press table. I would only have about 3/4" of the drill bit sticking out of the chuck. Hope this helps.
Joe

---

I made a vee block and with my drill press and a brad point bit it worked perfectly.
Thanks