Peg drilling options.

[walexander]

Well my corded peg drilling was stolen. Truth is I've never been too happy with my drill and all of the methods I tried for 90deg peg holes. I tried mirrors, welded stands, squares etc. Now I'm looking for a drilling guide, station, boring machine.... What have you guys settled on for drilling peg holes?

[Jim_Rogers]

For drilling peg holes through the mortise timber I have always used a boring machine. It holds the bit 90° in two directions, left and right, and front to back.

Once the peg hole is drilled through the mortise, I then place the tenon into the mortise and run a bit from a brace and bit down the mortise peg hole and push a dimple into the tenon so I know exactly where it should be.

I then remove the tenon from the mortise, and bore the peg hole through the tenon using the bit and brace but first move the hole location over to create "draw bore" effect to pull the joint together.

Two different tools to do two different holes for one peg.

Boring machine bits can usually bore all the way through the mortise timber. But I usually stop when the bit lead screw tip breaks the surface of the timber on the bottom side so that it doesn't "blow out" a large chip. And I finish the hole with the bit and brace. I turn the bit and brace backward, or counter clockwise to score the hole perimeter first to prevent "blow out" of the chips.

I have shown doing this in one of my you tube videos.

The bit brace bit boring a hole in the tenon doesn't have to be exactly 90° most of the time. And doing it by hand standing over the tenon is usually good enough.

Once you've done it for a whole frame you'll get pretty good at it.

Good luck with your projects.

Jim Rogers

[Dave Shepard]

I have small bits for my boring machine, but its very slow. I use a long ship auger in my 18 volt drill. I use my Big Al tool to guide the drill bit. You can buy drill stands from Mafell, Hema, and others,  but they are hundreds of dollars.

[walexander]

This sounds like a great method. I would need a boring machine that is in good enough shape. I bought one once off eBay that was junky. Looks nice on a shelf... That's about it.

[walexander]

Dave, this is sort of what I've been doing. I've drilled a couple not so 90 holes in my day so I am looking for another option. The drill guides look great, but that's alot of money for what your getting it seems. But that the Germans for you!

I guess I'm between a guide and an old school boring machine.

[jander3]

My preference...

A mirror with a wood owl bit.  Keeping the bit lined up in the mirror, from the mortise reference face drill all the way thru the timber till the point pokes out (a little back pressure on drill when you are drilling the second half.) Need to sweep or blow off chips while drilling as they cover up the mirror. Flip beam over and finish the last little bit, line up the bit in the small hole from the point.

If you keep the bit straight in the mirror, the out hole will be within 1/8" of the in hole.

Drilling all the way through ensures you don't knock the peg out where there is no hole when you assemble the joint.

Test fit tenon and mark.  Remove the tenon and drill (again I use a mirror).  Before drilling the tenon, I normall move the mark a moose-hair  toward the joint, then drill.  This allows the draw bore to tighten things up when the joint is assembled.

I've also used a mirror with an auger bit and brace. Works fine also.



  

[Aikenback]

Not sure if this is the thread to post this in but i find (using standing dead DF with varying mc) the timbers i have ordered are already checking when i start cutting. Often the tenons are ok at cutting but by the time i test fit there are checks running through them usually right where i want to drill the peg hole. I end seal everything and or oil stain after test fitting but it seems i have to end seal immediately after cutting. But that leads to my question; is that the best time to seal considering there may be some work to do at fitting? It seems many people dont seal at all and the tennons look fine. I leave as much relish as possible but with draw boring the risk of block failure is exacerbated. I have gued and used truss mending plates with the peg hole drilled through the plate (after peg hole drilled through the wood) as a remedy in the past but it is very frustrating.

[carhartted]

I found an old Milwaukee portable drill press. It takes a 1inch hand held drill. It's big and heavy but makes straight holes with no guesswork. I start with a 6 inch woodowl bit to get the hole started straight then finish with a longer bit in my cordless drill.

[Ljohnsaw]

This sounds like a great method. I would need a boring machine that is in good enough shape. I bought one once off eBay that was junky. Looks nice on a shelf... That's about it.

I did nearly the same thing.  I purchased a nice boring machine from Jim Rodgers (unmarked, I forget what brand he said it is).  While I was waiting for it, I found an Ajax adjustable angle machine on eBay for cheap.  They both sat for 2 years in my office at home. 

When I went to use the nice one from Jim a couple weeks ago, it wouldn't sit flat on the beam.  I guess from leaving the nice humid east coast to out west, the wood warped and twisted as it lost its moisture.  Later, I jointed the parts flat and shaved the tenons on the cross pieces to true it up.  Then I found one of the vertical supports was not plumb and was bowed.  So I made new ones, a bit taller to accommodate the bits better.  This machine is a pleasure to operate, now!  I even put an adjustable depth scale on it.

I had to (try to) use the Ajax that day, but it had issues as well.  So, I had to use my DeWalt drill with some Forstner bits to be productive.  A real wrist breaker!  And not too accurate.

The Ajax is another story.  It has a vertical shaft that runs out the top.  That shaft was missing so the bit would wobble badly.  With that shaft, it meant the horizontal cranking shaft has to be offset (forward) to clear.  The bevel gears have an angle to the teeth (spiral-ish) to help them mesh.  Not the smoothest operation by far.  I've fixed that one so it can be used, but still not a smooth operator.  I need to work on it some more.  But, if I need to drill at an angle, I can.

So, the moral is, do your research - don't buy something off eBay because its cheap unless you are absolutely sure!

[Jim_Rogers]

Sorry to hear you had to repair your machine.

The Ajax has a hollow chuck for the bit shank to go through, for using long shank bits. They say the made it that way for using on site where they were building train trestle bridge and other covered bridges and had to join two large/thick timbers with a metal bolt/rod. And had to drill down through one, move the chuck up the shank and drill down through the other, to align up the hole.

Jim Rogers

[Ljohnsaw]

Sorry to hear you had to repair your machine.

The Ajax has a hollow chuck for the bit shank to go through, for using long shank bits. They say the made it that way for using on site where they were building train trestle bridge and other covered bridges and had to join two large/thick timbers with a metal bolt/rod. And had to drill down through one, move the chuck up the shank and drill down through the other, to align up the hole.

Jim Rogers

No problem, Jim.  Its not original now (I think the post were replaced before, anyhow) and now it suits my needs better.  I have a collection of bits (in addition to the two nice ones you shipped with it) that are just a little long.  I am drilling through 8" sills and I need the bit length.  After rebuilding it, I appreciate it even more.

On the Ajax, that makes sense.  I was thinking a piece of pipe could probably be used to extent it up but I ended up using a piece of 3/4" rod.  I'll go back and do the pipe instead.  I think it needs a bushing or something on the top side - the casting is not very evenly made.  Without this rod or pipe, the gears don't stay lined up as your crank.

[lwstorms]

I built a drill guide jig for my peg holes.  The basic concept is to secure a piece of pipe with an inside diameter just slightly larger than the auger bit.  My use case was a timber frame outdoor kitchen with exposed joinery.  Peg holes were 1" diameter going through 8" timbers.  The jig was time consuming to use but very accurate.

[Tom King]

No one would buy one of these, for that job, but since I bought one for this job, it'll get used the next time I do this.  

A 3/4" steel plate will get clamped where it needs to be, and then the 85 pound drill press will magnetically attach to it.  It has a movable base once you hit the button to activate the magnet.  It has enough movement range that it could drill the twin holes in that frame posted earlier, without having to reclamp the steel plate, or turn the magnet off.

It might take a little more setup time, but that should be canceled out by ease, and speed of drilling a perfectly perpendicular hole.  It will drill over a 1" hole in steel plate without stepping up drill sizes.  12.5 amp motor, and 3/4" chuck, variable speed, and two speed ranges, including a low, grunt gear.

I bought it to drill out the front end loader holes in this tractor block, to rethread them up in size.  It's a Beast.