TIP: Drill down the center of bar stock

[@kroscuro]

Oh, THANK YOU. I have several projects that will use this technique. It's such a simple, but elegant solution to a common problem.

[@Partysize2]

This is a great tip! All-around good video work too. I sometimes use a smaller drill first to make a pilot hole for a larger bit. The larger bit will follow the pilot hole quite nicely. This is especially important if drilling into metal because the set-up is hard to control with a large bit cutting all in one pass. Keep up the good work.

[@TabLeft]

Thank you!

[@WaschyNumber1]

That is the normal approach on every drilling that have to go straight and for higher holes you drill in Steps with more and more bigger drill bits.

[@KenKopecky]

Oh man. I just finished a project (front-end loader for my kid) where I had to drill holes in the ends of dowels a dozen or more times. I tried all sorts of homemade jigs to make it work and nothing helped very much. Finally found this video the shortly after I was finished with the whole thing, and it would have made a huge difference. Thanks so much for posting this! It'll be a big help in the future. I've already tried the technique out with far better results than I expected.

[@AsiAzzy]

Be warned that while spinning the work instead of the drill will make a true centered hole with the work (beacuse the axis of hole is aligned to spin of the work) the drill bit will not ensure a perfect diameter! Drill bit if sits just a tad out of aligment then the hole generated will be bigger than the drill. This is beacuse think of a boring bar in a lathe. It sits excentric to the spin axis and creates a hole big as the excentrecity to the cutting edge is applied. Same happens with a drill bit if it is excentric by 0.05mm it will generate a hole bigger with 0.1mm. Especially true for soft materials like wood, aluminium, copper, brass, plastic where the drill bit will keep it's offcentricity and force a bigger hole. In tougher materials like steel and stainless steel the drill bit will just flex and indicate the minor excentricity that you can try to correct for. Either way it will for a slightly bigger hole than the drillbit as for sure there are minute bend/excentricy in the drill bit. For such tough materials you need an acurate center punch to start with. As the initial purchase of the hole requires a lot of force and any wondering of the tip skating will flex dhe drill bit a bit and start an out of center hole. Going further will flex the bit a lot and will break. So for drilling accurate holes is best to start with a smaller drill bit that what you need (start with 4mm if you need a 6mm hole) by spinning the work (and hopefully the initial start is selfcentered.. hard to do in tough materials) drill it as long as you need. Then remove the work and go the traditional way where the right drill bit just enlarges the hole you made before. I have a tough time searching for methods of drilling an acurate 2mm hole in the center of a 10mm stainless steel rod. Ended starting the hole with an accurate center punch, used a short split point centereing bit (the short stubby pilot used in mills and lathes) then go with the drill bit (1.7mm) chucked low in the vice and slowly went. Raising the drill bit a bit each step (used a 3jaw chuck to hold the drillbit). After the ordeal was over (5 drill bits later). I've installed it normal way and went with a 2mm drill bit to enlarge the generated hole that was closer to 1.9mm. The hole eneded accurate and centered but with a lot of fussing. The hole i did had a lenght of 50mm. So this is my experience with spin the work technique. Good but hole diameter is not acurate enough and on small drillbits the flex induced can and will break a lot of bits much more the going traditional way.

[@RonMarshallrone]

This is beautiful. I was about ready to stop making an item that is making a decent profit due to wasting dowels that are not aligning right because of not being able to drill them out straight. Thank you Man this saved it!

[@freejep]

had a busted nylon roller on one of my kitchen drawers...this tip saved me 20 bucks on having to buy a new pair of runners...great tip...and many thanks for sharing...

[@TabLeft]

+freejep glad it helped! Thanks for watching!

[@olethalb]

I watched this last night and put it to use this mornng, successfully drilling 4mm hole centred in 1/2 aluminium rod. I even finished the work with placing sandpaper on the press table. Worked perfectly, thanks for the vid 👍🏻

[@employed1000]

It looked too simple.....it is - but it works like a charm. I needed to drill an accurate 1/4" hole through a 3/8" bolt for a dowel jig I was making (home made Dowelmax) . It was perfect and after set up it was mass production. Thanks so much Tab.

[@therealfocusin]

Great tip!! Had to put a hole right in the middle of a piece of round bar stock a couple days ago, took me lots of patience and time but managed to make it perfectly. Sadly it doesn't fit on my drill press, but I'll 100% use this tip if I have to do it again in a small diameter round bar. Thanks a lot!

[@markhobster8113]

+TabLeft Workshop i use the lathe as it has a 110mm travel and 1000mm travel if also moving the headstock, instead of the rubbish 50mm travel of the drill press but wether you have the bit or the dowel in the chuck the biggest issue is deflection causing the bit to wander due to wood grain, brad point wood bits instead of hss helps but still no substitute for slow feed and regular chip removal with a thinner bit for a pilot hole first.

[@henrikbakk1]

Exactly what I was after. Before finding your video, I did get a “v” inside, and I did not get it centered. Thought; there has to be a better way :) Thanks a lot for sharing and making an intuitive explanation!

[@kathleenbasieiwcz4636]

I wish I saw this video a week ago. Been trying different methods but nothing works as simply as your way. Can't wait to get back at it.

[@TabLeft]

Good luck 👍

[@buzzwerd8093]

Really good explaining, I don't see comments saying "close enuff but not exact" here. Liked and subbed, hope you show a lot of the old techniques. I hadn't thought about the wood bending instead of the bit!

[@inurjaya]

How about reversing the drill with the rod? First align the rod with the drill and vice, then release the rod from the chuck after fastening it to the vice and finally put the drill bit on chuck and start drilling. I've been trying to find a nice way to drill a center of the steel rod and tapping some thread there. You just give me some good ideas. I am not sure if I still need a drill punch in this situation.

[@lvd2001]

Unbelievably simple..and I was battling of doing this for a much complicated with a crooked hole result...Thank You for upload

[@GOLDSMITHEXILE]

beautifully simple, best tips always are. I am surprised you didnt bolt or clamp the drill vice down to the drill press bed. I'd be sure to knock it out of position if I used this method. This would be a great way to drill out legs for frog lures!

[@tipsclubs01]

Good Video, I will try this, as I always have trouble finding the center of a round rod or dowel. Thanks.

[@Kadensi22]

Would this work on larger size dowels and larger size drills?

[@geomcc39]

I purchased a bell punch to center hole, then step drill with the smallest drill bit first slow. remember to walk the drill bit out of the hole many time to clean the hole 40w motor oil work great for lub

[@dfu1685]

Thank you for showing this! This will help me out sooo mutch. I just thought one had to have a lathe to do this and therefore; I would have to make due with the double sided technique. Big help!

[@vlozity]

I've tried this and it works perfectly on my home drill press, thank you for a great tip!

[@TabLeft]

Awesome!

[@tonysoares3235]

Good technique to precisely align the dowel and the drill bit, but wouldn't it have worked just as well with the drill bit in the chuck and the dowel in the vise? Or is there a reason to do it in reverse?

[@TabLeft]

With in the traditional setup you could drill off center just like drilling anything else. With them reversed as shown the wood and bit are forced to deflect toward center if there is any misalignment (like boring on a lathe you can drill a hole in the center of a spinning material but nowhere else. You could use this technique to help align items in a traditional setup but any error would persist.

[@tonysoares3235]

@@TabLeft I see! Thanks for clarifying!

[@guskoerner75]

Interesting and useful. Thank you! How do I do this in a 1 inch dowel, 5 feet long? The application is, I want to put a threaded insert in the top of my hiking stick, so as to mount a camera adapter in a 1/4 x 20 bolt.

[@MK23C]

Put the stick into a hand drill and run it through a pillow block bearing with the drill bit mounted in a vise on the other side I made a cane once though with 1/2” aluminum round stock and threaded the long side with a die and drilled and tapped the handle, although if you’re using wood I’m not sure how well that would work (not to say it’s impossible to thread wood just that you’d need a lot of new tools)

[@DingoDawg64]

Cool tip and video. Seems that you could did the inverse as well, that is use the chuck to center the piece into the vice then put the drill into the chuck. It wouldn't be self-centering, but it would not enlarge the hole the way self-centering could.

[@thenonato]

What if you're trying to still a 3/4 dowel, my chuck will only take 1/2" max for any other ideas?

[@FranksDIY]

Same technique they use for metal on lathe. The material spins not the drill bit. Great explanations for doing it with the drill press for those that don't have a lathe .

[@Saladzingers]

This is great! Unfortunately the project I’m currently doing requires a hole drilled into the end of quite a long length of dowel so I don’t think this will work - but still glad I learnt this.

[@katherinesherrer1140]

I came here looking for the same applicational you - a center hole in an 8s’ dowel. Please share if you found a solution. Thank you!!

[@aidandruck2423]

I feel like there's a big risk of the drill bit spinning in the vise or rotating in the jaws so that its not perpendicular. Is there some way that a 3-jaw chuck could be easily mounted and centered on the drill press table relative to the spindle?

[@TabLeft]

Aidan Druck there is but I didn’t have an extra. Most hardware store sell generic Jacobs chuck attachments that could be used. As for the “risk” it’s literally never happened to me and I’ve done this load and loads of times and even if it did it’s not like it would injure anyone but if I had an extra Jacobs I would probably use it.

[@aidandruck2423]

TabLeft Workshop Thanks for the info. And to clarify, by risk I didn't really mean it from a safety sense, I meant something more along the lines of a risk of messing up my work.

[@philipslater5015]

You can use the same technique for tapping with a die. Put the workpiece, blank rod, into the chuck. Put a bevel or lead in onto the rod by running the drill press and use a file stationary to cur a bevel. Put the die into a die nut (hexagonal die holder). Centre the die by letting the workpiece find its centre in the die. With the die fixed in position, turn the chuck by hand and gently lower the chuck as you go. If everything, table etc., was lined up and square, you should havea good thread cut. Check the shoulder where the thread ends on the bar for a nice symetrical shoulder and you can see if it was correctly lined up. Using the drill press as a makeshift lathe opens up a lot of possibilities.

[@charles1379]

very good tip. consider clamping the vice once the drill bit has been positioned.

[@TabLeft]

Not needed having the vice loose lets it move to center if the initial alignment is off.

[@niceslickblack]

Sorry I am learning but, I see it says bar stock in the description, would this be good for solid aluminum, iron or steel pipe?

[@edsmelly]

Yup. This would work for metals also.

[@BlackDotPatrick]

I don't understand why it's preferable to spin the wood dowel instead of the drill bit. Can you help me understand why the results are better spinning the material instead of the bit? Thanks!

[@originalhotrodder4337]

Just stumbled onto your channel. Great ideas you share. Thank you.

[@TabLeft]

+OriginalHotrodder thanks for watching :)

[@Kadensi22]

Great video. I am looking to get something similar done, but don't have any of the tools. Do you know what type of businesses provide the service for a fee?

[@AaronCook83]

What are those slots in the bottom of the vise for?

[@TabLeft]

For attaching it to the drill press table. Mine just isn't attached because I take it off all the time.

[@AaronCook83]

So only for important jobs like centering?

[@TabLeft]

+Aaron Cook no only important to keep certain materials from catching on the drill and spinning your vise out of control. In this case it's not really needed since the forces are actually working to keep the bit centered and even if they weren't the wood will give first followed by the bit spinning in the vise long before the vise ever would move.

[@jaryH3]

This is very interesting. Thanks! What if the drill bit is from material lighter than then the work piece material? Does it still work?

[@RixtronixLAB]

nice video, is it safe with steel bar stock ? thanks

[@sandipbhatt5597]

Sir... If I need small size hole... and i use thin drill bit....but dowel is long .... So can I do same process... Is good...????

[@jukeboxhero1649]

Man! That is a fantastic idea! Thank you! I've racked my mind how to drill a straight he through a rod or bar for so long. Thanks again a

[@OrcaRebuild]

I've spent the past two weeks trying to figure out how to do this with a brass rod. Hope your project turned out great Juke Box!

[@dondenter]

Tips like this are worth their weight in Osmium. Brilliant- thanks.

[@pebbleshooter3807]

Excellent method without complications. Thank you for this.

[@TabLeft]

Thanks!

[@donmak0427]

Great tip - thanks! Any tips on how to center drill something longer, like say, a 12" long 5/8" wooden rod? I once strapped a hand drill with a long bit down to a saw horse, measured and adjusted the bit to the length and surface of the saw horse so that it was straight and parallel to the saw horse. I then put a v-notch into a 2x4 to hold my 12" dowel, and used spacers to adjust the height of the dowel's center to the drill bit. I pushed the dowel onto the drill bit, guided straight and true by the v-notched 2x4, but of course over the length of the dowel, the grain of the wood caused the drill bit to wander, and when it came out the other side, it was off-center by a good 1/8" - 3/16". Any suggestions on how to do this better would be much appreciated.

[@TabLeft]

Don Saito pocket83 recently did a video where he did something similar it was for the Jurassic Park cane he made with peter brown. Alternately you can actually just clamp a long drill in a vise, and chuck up a down in a hand drill and since the system want to center it’s self you can get pretty good results.

[@donmak0427]

Okay, interesting idea - I'll think about it - thanks!

[@jonathoncary4109]

Very good. I suppose with a cheap drill to start a hole you could even put little flats on the shank .thank you

[@anaya51]

Love this tip, thank you! Don't know if its my particular drill press or what but I can't chuck the drill bit upside down without having it move on me (because of the twisty nature of the drill bit) I'm not chucking it tight, just barely kissing it....but it still moves on me. Any ideas? Thank you, -Shane

[@TabLeft]

Sounds like something is probably out of square.

[@anaya51]

Wow, that was quick! Thank you for the super timely response. I don't think it's because of "squareness issues" only because I'm not even getting to that point. My problem is being able to chuck the drill bit. I don't know if its my older rockwell drill press' chuck or what. I go to chuck the flipped drill bit and the spirals on the bit prevent my chuck from grabbing it without it twisting or turning to one side or the other. I've watched you flip the drill bit and chuck it with ease and it stays rgt where you want it (in the drill press chuck) and mine just won't do that. It all good, this is a solid video and I appreciate you sharing it with the world. -Shane

[@drbahb1]

Great video. A simple resolution for a difficult problem.

[@rowmingoat5145]

you made my day with this tip. Simply perfect solution!

[@TabLeft]

+rowmin goat 👍👍👍

[@jakerathbun3331]

This is very helpful but can I drill a 1/4 hole in a 7/16 threaded rod? It is 18-8 Stainless Steel.

[@TabLeft]

+Jake Rathbun I don't see why not it would be best to step up the sizes slowly though and use lots of lubricant, and cobalt bits might not hurt either. The biggest problem will probably be protecting the threads, you could try starting long and cutting the damaged threads off or you could try some red locktight and a thread coupler or something. The best way might be to drill a stainless rod and thread it after the fact with a die. Hope that's helps, I'm no machine at but that's how I would probably try it.

[@jakerathbun3331]

Thanks. Also what lubricant can I use?

[@TabLeft]

in a pinch wd40 or pretty much anything is better than nothing, but ideally you would get real cutting oil, it has a lower smoke point and when it smokes off it takes heat with it so the part will stay a little cooler, plus there are lot of different kinds of oild and not all are equal for all purposes. I mostly use Oatey dark thread cutting oil (cheap and you can get it at home depot) it seems to work fine for me.

[@jakerathbun3331]

Ok thanks a lot

[@TabLeft]

good luck with your project

[@tomassriggi6679]

Thans I'm fabricating control rods for A/P servos in aircraft, and this is going to work just perfect! Nice vid!!

[@tobuslieven]

I think this would work equally well if you used the chuck to align the wood in the vice. The key thing is that you're using the same object (the chuck) to align both the cutter, and the thing you're cutting.

[@ianthompson9201]

Simple but full of ingenuity. I'll give it a try. Many thanks.

[@TabLeft]

Thanks!

[@frankdearmond3372]

This is a great tip! I was actually searching for a jig that will help tap into aluminum tubing. I need to tap into the ends of an aluminum tube to install 8-32 rods. Tried it by hand today just holding the aluminum tube in a vice - what a hot mess that turned out to be! First I'll drill the tubing to the correct size ( #29 bit I think), then try tapping into the tube. Think this will work for my application? Thanks again, great info!

[@treyeilers8465]

any tips for dowels bigger than your chuck?

[@ronski50]

Tee nut and matching threaded rod or cut off head of bolt. Insert into end of dowel, check for square then insert into chuck. Reinsert into other end of rod to complete hole.

[@markfryer9880]

I could have used this technique on Friday at work, seriously, I was making an emergency spade bit extension 1 metre long using some tube steel and small lengths of solid round stock. This would probably work better with some V jaws in the drill vise.

[@kevCarrico]

so, as on a lathe, you are "boring" and not "drilling" -- how accurate of an internal diameter did you end-up with?

[@MrFixer-mg1nf]

My drill press will not take 5/8" stock. Only 1/2" inch. I need a 3/16 hole in some 5/8 dowel. I need 30 of them at 1 1/2" long. Got any ideas?

[@andersfolkesson6736]

i have been thinking about this for a day and found this. Made my day! Supersmart :D

[@rubenchristensen596]

Dose it work with metal to.

[@ybaggi]

Why does it self center when the matial spins vs the bit?

[@TabLeft]

The center is the only place the forces will equal out, any play will tend toward the center. For the same reason that you can spin a frisbee on your finger if its relatively centered the frisbee will adjust to your finger position.

[@user-ig7qi6hx1n]

Clever stuff -thank you :) I was assuming I had to use a lathe to do this.

[@kkandretti]

Is that a bowl full of Castor Bean Seeds on your Table ? Are you fixing to make a batch of Ricin Powder or something??

[@TabLeft]

Coffee beans

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

You can also make a saw cut halfway through a block of wood, clamp the block to the drill press table with the slit aprox. aligned with the drill center, drill down the slit, take the drill out of the chuck and insert the shank in the hole created, clamp the wood against the drill shank and it will be centered, ready to drill a dowel in the chuck. Described like this sounds complicated, but it's actually quite simple.

[@Mach1rulz]

Show me how to do this with a hand held drill instead of with a drill press? I have a vise to hold the bit put no way to keep the hand held drill at the correct angle.

[@TabLeft]

you don't actually need to hold the drill at the correct angle just like on the drill press if you get it close it should want to align itself. I might do the hand drill method on a tip video soon since i get a lot of questions about it.

[@agoogleuser3787]

How about by hand. Any tips?

[@laytonpratt]

This is amazing. You just earned a new subscriber 😉.

[@TabLeft]

Thank you!

[@lunardust201]

I used this method bit for some reason my hole is off center. It's straight but still off center. Not sure what I did wrong

[@silversteeler99]

Simple yet brilliant. Thanks for the video.

[@SLAPSHOP42]

Could you make a recessed dowel for a project about 3/4” 2” Long

[@cerulean999]

Perfect solution - at the perfect time. Thanks so much for sharing this!

[@sasquatch-7634]

What if you have to drill a dowel that's 2 ft long?

[@joseeduardobonani8293]

Muito bom! Funciona com metais?...

[@333Roulette]

Great tip. Saved my day today thank you 🙏🏼

[@gideonnel2654]

Thank you for this tip. You have solved a very frustrating problem I have!💯

[@lifesabuzzwhoopwhoop]

thank you for taking the time to make this video, its a massive help.

[@TabLeft]

+lifesabuzzwhoopwhoop Thanks for watching!

[@lifesabuzzwhoopwhoop]

+TabLeft Workshop believe me it was a pleasure, there's a tiny bit of movement with my drillpress so it made my bearings job a little difficult. i tried this idea and it worked brilliantly, thanks and i look forward to checking out more of your videos.

[@tibfulv]

Cool. I see this is similar to how metal lathes work, although usually with much bigger chucks, lol.

[@TabLeft]

exactly!

[@MrBonners]

The cause of the problem with the bit in chuck and alignment issue is if you watch close you will see the table actually flexes slightly under pressure at the start and the bit bites into the dowel and the sudden torque posits the dowel to pivot to some slight angle because of the only 2 contact point contact vice grip. Bit in vice ' V ' is auto plumb and easy center to chuck and material is in a 3 point contact chuck. There is great mechanical advantage on the press hand lever chuck assembly. With small and medium consumer grade presses, watch that the hand pressure is not too great as these press tables flex slightly which will give you a sloppy hole. Trick:...Chuck to table square......Use one long leg Allen key, short end mounted in chuck and bring the table close. Hand turn the chuck to a few rotation positions set the table parallel to the long allen key end.

[@rogerdeane3608]

How can that be center when you have 2 different diameters ??

[@cando9609]

Great vid. Thanks for sharing, man! I always fail at this but your video has given me renewed hope!Thanks!

[@TabLeft]

Thanks!

[@ratgreen]

Ah man I drilled a hole through a steel bar stock and it came out wonky, I wish I knew this then, such a good idea!

[@TabLeft]

Thank you!

[@timh.2137]

That was a handy dandy excellent tip!

[@danielnemeth9381]

Nice tip but what if it doesn't fit in the drill?

[@bernardmauge8613]

clean holes are a must!

[@johnmarshall9415]

A great idea, thanks, solves a few problems for me.

[@TabLeft]

+John Marshall Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!

[@Shanningun]

You're a genius. I'm subscribing

[@tinaleanne8230]

Why would you not clamp the vise down to the table?

[@richardpereira5033]

Será q me funciona con un tuvo masiso de 63 cm para realizarle una perforación de 5.5mm

[@RuedigerEtzold]

Thanks for the tip. Now my only problem ist the size of the chuck. My aluminum round stock is 19mm and doesn't fit in the chuck🙃

[@jantoniov3]

Great idea for small diameter dowels. Thanks

[@TabLeft]

+jantoniov3 thanks for watching!

[@tiffanywelton5116]

Weird day, I wanted to try and take a 1-1/8in diameter wooden dowel/closet rod to be lathed then with a 11/16in bit or auger, core it out for making hollow wooden dowels up to 1 and a half foot lengthwise. With wood it seems is possible to get it perfect every try so asking my local guys to possible take such a request has yet to be fulfilled.

[@bernym4047]

Thanks, just what I nee for a current project.

[@cremaster6]

Very cool trick. Thanks for making this video.

[@TabLeft]

Thank you!

[@JimFortune]

When you say it's self centering, is that because if the bit is a bit off center it will make a slightly larger whole with a radius of the point on the bit farthest from center? Now if I can just get me a drill press! ;->

[@TabLeft]

its more that it will make the bit tend toward the center as opposed to wandering. Any play in the system will work for you not against you.

[@idahodaytrader4277]

Very useful, thanks for the short video.

[@TabLeft]

Thanks for watching!

[@Chris-SS]

Great video, thank you so much, now I can drill a hole in the centre of some bar stock 😁

[@aarondcmedia9585]

So obvious once someone shows you :D Now where's my 35mm chuck...

[@TabLeft]

Haha! Thanks for watching :)

[@KedaWoodDye]

Aaron DC mediA 👍

[@buder5116]

what the size of the chuck ? and can it fit a mt2 ?

[@fishhuntadventure]

Aaron DC mediA Yes! And he doesn’t add 10 steps and a bunch of stupid stuff with center punches and squares like idiots generally do

[@TutorialPanda]

..who's chuck?!

[@michaelthompson342]

Thanks, mate! Top presentation. It worked perfectly on 10mm dowel that I used to connect bowl to stem on a hobbit pipe. Cheers!

[@tkdboppa7177]

I was too impatient to wade through 194 comments to see if this was answered. Can you use this method with a spur point bit or will it go crooked?

[@lunardust201]

When I start my drill press the slight video ration causes my vise to move a bit :(

[@dwightl5863]

Clamp the vise to the table.

[@thecrowsblow]

Genius idea. Thanks for the video.

[@sajidullah]

Or you can buy a collect vise which can be put on the drill press and do a production run.

[@rpan5441]

Very unique. Loved it.