[SOLVED] Drilling Tip to drill out a wider hole when you do not have a centre point Solved

Dec 12, 2025 Last reply: 7 months ago 6 Replies
T

I had to replace a disintegrated tubular latch the other day so got a replacement with the correct depth and the same backset then Sod’s Law came into force the hole for the previous latch was 22mm diameter whilst the new latch requires a 26mm hole.



So faced with the prospect of chiselling out the hole to make the fit, I looked at the perennial problem trying to drill out a wider hole when you do not have a centre point.



The solution that worked was to use a step drill to drill out a shoulder wide enough for the latch then using the shoulder as an initial guide use a forstner bit to complete the hole widening.



Richard


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N

Good idea! Thanks for sharing. You probably know that another way is to fill the hole with something and start afresh, but I prefer your solution.

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J

Similarly, you could have temporarily 'tacked' a piece of wood to the back of the door, which would have given you a centre to drill to.

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T

I have found that a standard wood drill bit will centre in as large hole anyway Or you can drill a bit of metal or plastic first and use that as a jig..

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A

Another way is to drill a 26mm hole in another bit of wood and temporally attach that to the piece you need to drill, position the 26mm hole over the 22mm hole. This "jig" then acts as a guide for you to use the same 26mm drill bit (Forstner bit)

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T

I did consider all the alternatives suggested but opted for the stepped drill as it meant less faffing around making jigs or plugs. The stepped drill being conical was self centring and even though the counter bore was quite shallow it was enough to centre the Forstner bit to get started. Two minutes and it was all done.

Richard

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T

Those are real hackers tools, but they do come in handy...

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