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A Possible Solution For Those That Can't Afford A Drill Press


Jon

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I just got an e-mail from Woodcraft showing their deals and new stuff for this month. One of their deals they advertise as a "Precision Drill Guide". I strongly suggest checking it out and getting some information on it if you cannot afford a drill press, it looks well built. The site wont load for me now, so I can't paste anymore information. Hopefully this tool accessory will help some of you guys.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?famil...efcode=08IN02RL

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I hope it's better than the one Setch had. :D

I hope it's better than the one I had.

I hope it's better than the one he had.

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I think everyone so far has missed the point. This is NOT a drill press but a drill GUIDE. It keeps the hand held drill square to the wood at all times. There is no load on the guide at all it simply sides up and down on the vertical bars.

Keith

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I think everyone so far has missed the point. This is NOT a drill press but a drill GUIDE. It keeps the hand held drill square to the wood at all times. There is no load on the guide at all it simply sides up and down on the vertical bars.

Keith

Uh? This is not a drill press? :D Doh!

Seriously, the point is, a lot of people here tried a similar rig, to find out that it's a waste of money. Either drill freehand, which is not the hardest thing on earth if you got 2 hands and a little bit of talent, or use a drill press for precise work.

Nobody's saying it's totally useless, it's just not the discovery of the year.

Edited by MescaBug
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I bought one of the grey ones made by General, 20 years ago. Took that sucker back after a few days.

Maybe one could find a use for it, if it was screwed to some bigger base that could be clamped to a guitar body or something.

Probably one sitting in 10% of American garages. Get a used one for 2 bucks, then see what it's good for.

They probably sell too well for the maker to quit offering them. Perfect product to market to the millions of weekend warrior "handy man" types.

I'm really surprised some 16 year old hasn't been here saying how he'll "beat the system" , by chucking a router bit in his drill and mounting it into one of these gizmos.

I'm not totally against "mickey mouse" uses for power tools, like I clamp my jig-saw upside down in my vise and rough cut templates, etc, but then it gets cleaned-up with a router or something. Drilling holes, well , there's no cleaning up that can be done. First attempt didn't go right, you are screwed.

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I'm about 90% positive these are new. The older design ones that most of you are speaking of are useless. This one is built differently.

Maybe so Jon. It has always looked like a good idea. Pick one up and run it through its paces. If it finds its way around the shop till it is kicked under a bench, happily tucked away on a shelf, or on it's way to the sun via trebuchet we will have the answer. If it works well then it is a handy step down/ alternate to a hundred dollar drill press.

Peace,Rich

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I'm about 90% positive these are new. The older design ones that most of you are speaking of are useless. This one is built differently.

Maybe so Jon. It has always looked like a good idea. Pick one up and run it through its paces. If it finds its way around the shop till it is kicked under a bench, happily tucked away on a shelf, or on it's way to the sun via trebuchet we will have the answer. If it works well then it is a handy step down/ alternate to a hundred dollar drill press.

Peace,Rich

Well all,

I went by the local Woodcraft this morning and took a look. I go there every morning for coffee anyway. I even opened one up. Unless the ones that ship from Internet are different. The base is a hard plastic/ maybe a pot metal but doubt it, and the the angle joints feel sloppy. Looks and feels MIGHTY weak to me.

Just my .02cents.

Mike

Edited by MiKro
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I have one of these.... http://www.wolfcraft.co.uk/jcatalog_genera...57_product.html

....it works pretty well, the springs are a little erm...well, 'springy' :D for my liking but the rest is well put together, for the money anyway. I use my micro mill for drilling pretty much everything nowadays so I very rarely use it. Would I recommend it as an alternative to a drill press?....No, it's a handy tool for general DIY work but for drilling accurate holes in guitars I'd go for a drill press without a doubt.

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The one I have is built very rigidly and works very well! My father bought it many years back and used it extensively. I remember it cost about as much as a cheap drill press at the time. So I guess you get what you pay for. He used it for drilling straight holes in furniture making where you can't get the whole cabinet into any drill press!

There are very few drilling tasks on guitars that require anything other than a drill press with the exception of perhaps drilling the string through feral holes. So don't waste your time and money. Buy a drill press.

Keith

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Yup, the string holes are always a problem. On a Strat they're about 130mm from the bottom of the body, and cheap bench drills normally have a column-to-spindle reach of only 105mm, so are useless. The sort of bench drill that's big enough to cope with holes in the middle of a body is an expensive professional piece of kit, probably running on 3-phase electricity too.

If you use an attachment like this, practice on scrap wood lots to see if it works.

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