Drilling a hole in the center of a board

[RPE1]

I need to drill a series of holes down the length of a board.  Is there a way to do that with out measuring?  You know, when you want to cut a groove down a board, you do it one way, flip it around a do it the other way and it automatically centers.  I was wondering of there was a trick like that for drilling.  Measuring gets me close, but I just wondered if there was so way to do it that i'd never thought of.

Thanks in advance.
RP

[DieselDennis]

On the face or on the edge?

Google center finder jig. A dirt simple jig that will find the center of two parallel faces. Depending on what size hold you're drilling, you might make your own jig to fit that specific bit.

If it's on edge, you may want to check out some dowel drilling jigs. They have self centering vises.

[arnman]

A long time ago here on woodnet, there was a guy named niki that posted a bunch of neat methods to do things.  One of those was a very accurate method of setting the fence on your drill press.  I made the jig to locate the center of a bit on my drill press, and it works as advertised.

I just googled niki drill press fence setting, and I found it.  Apparently, he posted the method to several different forums.

[hcbph]

I need to drill a series of holes down the length of a board.  Is there a way to do that with out measuring?  You know, when you want to cut a groove down a board, you do it one way, flip it around a do it the other way and it automatically centers.  I was wondering of there was a trick like that for drilling.  Measuring gets me close, but I just wondered if there was so way to do it that i'd never thought of.

Thanks in advance.
RP

Here's the way I do it, assuming you want to drill down the middle.  Say you have a 3 11/16" board, it's not easy to find the middle.  I'll take a metal ruler and do a split.  Take one end of the ruler on one side of the board (the 0 value on the rule), then diagonal the ruler across the board so you have a number you can easily divide by 2, say 5".  Now using this example, find 2.5" on the ruler, there's your middle.  Do the same down the board and connect the dots and there's your line to drill on.
Hope that helps.

[RPE1]

Here's the way I do it, assuming you want to drill down the middle.  Say you have a 3 11/16" board, it's not easy to find the middle.  I'll take a metal ruler and do a split.  Take one end of the ruler on one side of the board (the 0 value on the rule), then diagonal the ruler across the board so you have a number you can easily divide by 2, say 5".  Now using this example, find 2.5" on the ruler, there's your middle.  Do the same down the board and connect the dots and there's your line to drill on.
Hope that helps.

Yes!  I know just what you're talking about.  Thanks for waking up my brain.

RP

[Cooler]

Make an 'X' by drawing two lines connecting the diagonal corners.  Where they intersect in the middle will be the exact center of the board.

[Willyou]

Make a drill guide with a board 3-4" longer that the width of the work piece. Start with a compass set to draw a circle with a diameter about 1" more than the width of the work piece. Put the point of the compass at about the center of the drill guide board and draw arcs at each end. Using a drill bit the size that you are going to use to drill into your work piece, drill a hole at the point where your compass point was. Pick two smooth straight nails or hardwood dowels and choose a drill bit the same size. Drill holes somewhere along the two arcs you drew earlier. Use a drill press or some other means to make the holes perpendicular. Now insert the nails or dowels into these holes. Your guide is completed. Now lay your guide onto your work piece holding the nails or dowels against the edges. The guide will be at an angle, but the drill hole will be at the centerline of the work piece. Drill your hole using the guide hole. Move the guide to the next position along the work piece and drill your hole. Move it to the next and so on while always keeping the nails or dowels in contact with the sides of the work piece. Your holes will always be equidistant between the two work piece edges regardless of whether the edges are parallel or not.

[RPE1]

Make a drill guide with a board 3-4" longer that the width of the work piece. Start with a compass set to draw a circle with a diameter about 1" more than the width of the work piece. Put the point of the compass at about the center of the drill guide board and draw arcs at each end. Using a drill bit the size that you are going to use to drill into your work piece, drill a hole at the point where your compass point was. Pick two smooth straight nails or hardwood dowels and choose a drill bit the same size. Drill holes somewhere along the two arcs you drew earlier. Use a drill press or some other means to make the holes perpendicular. Now insert the nails or dowels into these holes. Your guide is completed. Now lay your guide onto your work piece holding the nails or dowels against the edges. The guide will be at an angle, but the drill hole will be at the centerline of the work piece. Drill your hole using the guide hole. Move the guide to the next position along the work piece and drill your hole. Move it to the next and so on while always keeping the nails or dowels in contact with the sides of the work piece. Your holes will always be equidistant between the two work piece edges regardless of whether the edges are parallel or not.

I understand what you have detailed.  Thanks for your suggestion.  I'll put it to use.
RP

[Handplanesandmore]

No doubt in my mind that Cooler has the best solution in terms of simplicity, clarity, ease of execution and presentation. I only needed 1 to 2 seconds to understand his approach by looking at his picture.

Simon

[iclark]

Also, if you use a bird cage awl to start the holes with the starter hole slightly larger than the tip of the drill, it will not wander as much when you start the drilling.