Drilling vertically

[geraldthehamster]

I need to drill accurately some holes for taps in a 40mm thick beech worktop.

How might I ensure that I am drilling exactly vertically, with my hand- held drill?

Regards Richard

[Bob Mannix]

Method A:

Purchase round bubble stick on level.

Place long bar/drill bit in drill chuck

Secure drill in workmate etc with bit down and ensure bit/bar vertical with normal level

Stick bubble level to top of drill with a large blob of blu-tac and adjust until level

Use drill, being careful not to disturb level and keep bubble in middle

Method B:

Do it by eye, hole slightly oversize and tighten taps down.

[John]

I have one of these for drilling vertically accurately (Google "Drill guide")

may be able to pick one up at a DIY store or similar

HTH

John

[Cicero]

================================== Buy one of these:

bit expensive for a one-off job but like most unusual tools surprisingly useful for many other jobs.

Cic.

[TheScullster]

"geraldthehamster" wrote

Position a set square alongside the drill and get someone to eye it up for you. Move the set square between the two vertical plains periodically as you drill.

Phil

[dennis]

Doesn't it need to be oversized anyway? If the tap is a tight fit the wood will split. I wonder how much clearance the instructions say?

[Rod]

Get a piece of wood with parallel sides. Drill an accurately "vertical" hole in it using, say, a pillar drill. Place the piece of wood over worktop and use it as a guide for the new hole.

In fact, you could use anything with an accurately positioned hole - it does not have to be the same diamater as the taps need - you can drill a modest hole and enlarge it fairly accurately. So start searching - there are all sorts of bits and pieces on vehcles that might do. If the item already has a hole it doesn't even need to have two parallel surfaces.

[Bob Minchin]

Buy a similar thing from axminster at a fraction (

[Harry Bloomfield]

geraldthehamster has brought this to us :

A piece of steel about an 1" or more thick, with a pre-drilled accurate hole in it. With lots of practise it is possible to drill an hole which is near enough with any such help.

[Adrian C]

Forget the drill. Mark exactly where you need the holes. Stand the worktop flat against a house wall and stand a measured and calculated distance back. Take account of any local interference such as wind in your calculations.

With your shooting rifle ready, do the necessary.

Important. Make sure no one is in the vicinity inside the house or out. Some bloke did it while installing his satellite dish, things did'nt go down too well.

[Andy Hall]

Certainly his wife didn't after that.....

[Rod]

Quite cheap. Very simple.

[Pete C]

Or the tilting one for a little more:

cheers, Pete.

[Phil L]

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[Dave]

The problem with this idea is that when you come to open the hole up to full size, you can drift off the vertical. My way of drilling a hole to pass an electrical cable through a double wall failed me last year. I normally use a long drill and put a pilot hole through both walls and then a final sized drill from the inside and then the outside. When I did this on our son's house last year, they didn't point in the same direction :-(

Hence I couldn't get the cable through the wall.

Can't you drill the pilot holes from the top to ensure that they are the correct distance apart and the right size and then make any mess under the work top where it can never be seen after course correction?

Taps do not bend easily, but copper pipe does.

Dave

[geraldthehamster]

What we did, and this is the cunning bit, was to use *two people*. One, holding the drill, judged his left-right perpendicularity (to to speak), and the other (me) kept an eye on the fore and aft aspect. Drilled pilot hole, then drilled with a spade bit from both sides (not at once), two reasonably perfect holes, sufficiently oversize to the taps that they could sit correctly.

What is this "copper" pipe of which you speak?

Regards Richard

[Dave]

Yes, that works fine if you have another person that knows what vertical means :-)

I thought that it was used universally in plumbing. Am I wrong?

Dave