Drill bits for router?

[DrPhill]

The woodpeckers autoline is very good and very portable, bonus compared to a router is the drilling depth and choice of drill bits that you can use.

https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/w...aclyKlJbAz0RKFDtlh4cLEIR8v35cv81JICERJ6j1fzpS

For many other task the router performs well and is a cheaper option.

That looks brilliant, Spectric. Probably a bit costly for me and the amount of use it would get though...... but I can dream!

 

[Spectric]

I needed something to drill perpendicular holes into some wood to a depth of 150mm, my biggest router only plunges to 75mm and the wood was in situ so ruled out my drill press. I tried one of those contraptions which there are many versions and it was really awfull because it was just unwieldy, thought of the Rockler but not available in the UK so had a mad moment and got the autoline. Woodpeckers products are not cheap but you know they will be good.

 

[Phill05]

DrPhil, I use a Dremel and made a small router base for it and you could use it as a drill press very easy.

 

[HOJ]

I'm in no hurry as I need to sketch out the job first

Good plan, you may find a different solution in that process.

 

[MikeJhn]

I can't help but think that screwing two piece's of wood together is not a good idea for a flute case, have you considered a dowel joint with blind hole on the top surface and then gluing the bits together. One assumes a wooden closed end trough with a sliding/hinged lid, but not having any sketch's of what you are trying to do make's it difficult to imagine.

Blown in Felt Flock to suite by chance?

 

[Jester129]

@Spectric That woodpeckers drill stand, what on earth are you thinking? The Bosch electronic drill is far cheaper than that!

 

[Eshmiel]

That looks brilliant, Spectric. Probably a bit costly for me and the amount of use it would get though...... but I can dream!

It is very expensive for what it is. It's also dedicated to drilling. A more versatile tool is advisable if you're going to spend significant amounts on it.

I find that a Dremel (and there are other versions of the same tool from other manufacturers, with the same fittings) is good for wood work below a certain size - small boxes that want small details such as stringing channels or teeny hinge screw holes and so forth, for example. A Dremel is also good for 101 other little jobs involving sanding, polishing and cutting small parts. It might even suit the making or installation of the smaller parts of a flute case.

The Dremel needs a plunge base and fence to make the most of it as a mini router and mini drill. Veritas and Stewmac make the best versions. The Dremel version is made of floppy plastic and despite being inexpensive (about £30) its a waste of money.

https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-too...base?queryid=038023b2556611cf43e0bf3ba8d3cb16

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho...tas-plunge-base-for-rotary-tools?item=05J6507

https://www.axminstertools.com/veri...2163?queryID=2ed76321fc8d9d884a834311f02a2853

Here's a couple of vids showing the Veritas plunge base, in general and used as a precise drill of the sort you seem to want for your flute case. It would be expensive to buy a Dremel, various bits and the Veritas plunge base but you would find it very useful for many future small woodworking tasks.

 

[DrPhill]

I can't help but think that screwing two piece's of wood together is not a good idea for a flute case, have you considered a dowel joint with blind hole on the top surface and then gluing the bits together. One assumes a wooden closed end trough with a sliding/hinged lid, but not having any sketch's of what you are trying to do make's it difficult to imagine.

Blown in Felt Flock to suite by chance?

You are quite right to question the design - though it is more of a strategy at the moment and is limited by my skills, tools and space. I prefer to use hand tools and do not possess things like bandsaws, lathes tablesaws.... I don't really have the space to store such or the potential future use to justify owning them. I don't mind increasing my tool hoard a little, but I am caustious of doing so.

My current strategy is to use some reclaimed cherry boards which are ~20mm thick. The thickest piece of the the flute is about 40mm (due to the keys). I am thinking of a three layer box -two layers for the base one for the lid. The middle layer will have holes removed to fit the flute pieces, with up to 10mm removed from the base and lid to accommodate the full extent of the pieces where needed. The recesses will be lined in felt. The reason for screws to hold the lower two layers together is so that the felt can be replaced when needed. The felt will become dirty over time as the flute requires oiling with almond oil, the tenons get coated in 'cork grease', and at the end of a playing session there will be condensation (which should be swabbed out but this does not always happen till I get home).

I wonder if this would be better in a separate thread?

 

[DrPhill]

It is very expensive for what it is. It's also dedicated to drilling. A more versatile tool is advisable if you're going to spend significant amounts on it.

I find that a Dremel (and there are other versions of the same tool from other manufacturers, with the same fittings) is good for wood work below a certain size - small boxes that want small details such as stringing channels or teeny hinge screw holes and so forth, for example. A Dremel is also good for 101 other little jobs involving sanding, polishing and cutting small parts. It might even suit the making or installation of the smaller parts of a flute case.

The Dremel needs a plunge base and fence to make the most of it as a mini router and mini drill. Veritas and Stewmac make the best versions. The Dremel version is made of floppy plastic and despite being inexpensive (about £30) its a waste of money.

https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-too...base?queryid=038023b2556611cf43e0bf3ba8d3cb16

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho...tas-plunge-base-for-rotary-tools?item=05J6507

https://www.axminstertools.com/veri...2163?queryID=2ed76321fc8d9d884a834311f02a2853

Here's a couple of vids showing the Veritas plunge base, in general and used as a precise drill of the sort you seem to want for your flute case. It would be expensive to buy a Dremel, various bits and the Veritas plunge base but you would find it very useful for many future small woodworking tasks.

That looks like a very interesting solution. I could see me using those accessories quite often. I did have a cheaper copy of a dremel, but the accessories were not inspiring and a flipped it. Does a Demel feel like a 'real' tool? Those videos make it look like one.

 

[MikeJhn]

Felt lining is very difficult to get right, do look up blown in Felt Flock it's easy to do and can be over flocked as often as you like to replace worn or stained areas, use a dark flock. IMO Dowels are your best bet with a simple centre pin to locate the corresponding hole, cost would be pence compared to other suggestions. https://www.diy.com/departments/fai...ate-dowel-hole-alignment/5023969262888_BQ.prd

 

[DrPhill]

Felt lining is very difficult to get right, do look up blown in Felt Flock it's easy to do and can be over flocked as often as you like to replace worn or stained areas, use a dark flock. IMO Dowels are your best bet with a simple centre pin to locate the corresponding hole, cost would be pence compared to other suggestions. https://www.diy.com/departments/fai...ate-dowel-hole-alignment/5023969262888_BQ.prd

I can see how those work, but I would still need to be able to drill good perpendicular holes. As far as I understand it the dowel solution relies on glue which makes disassembly difficult.

 

[niall Y]

Playing the Devil's Advocate here, but, re the Woodpecker drill guide - there are plenty of clones available on the likes of Ebay, at a much more reasonable price.

 

[Eshmiel]

Playing the Devil's Advocate here, but, re the Woodpecker drill guide - there are plenty of clones available on the likes of Ebay, at a much more reasonable price.

There are clones of everything on ebay these days. The question then becomes: are their engineering and manufacturing standards good enough? Various promoters on YouBoob claim so for some of these clones. But who knows what bungs occur behind the curtain?

On the other hand, the, "You get what you pay for" means of indicating quality has also become unreliable. Sometimes what you pay for is a fashionable label .... on a mediocre or even poor item.

We tend to rely on reputation. Veritas, for example, has a very good one, at every level: design, manufacture, marketing and customer service. There are some other-such. But even then, background events and the machinations of accountants and the more predatory creatures of capitalism can ruin a brand. Look at what's happened to Scheppach.

 

[Spectric]

That woodpeckers drill stand, what on earth are you thinking? The Bosch electronic drill is far cheaper than that!

As I said

so had a mad moment and got the autoline.

and the PBD40 is much larger.

there are plenty of clones available on the likes of Ebay, at a much more reasonable price.

Yes but not the quality or precision, I agree that it is way over priced for what it is but I looked at these clones and found one that actually uses the identical image from Woodpeckers with the chuck key next to it in the exact same place but this item is made from plastic and is not as shown in the image.

I did look at the Dremel plunge base but only 70mm depth and did not look at the Veritas offering but it looks more metal than the dremel version although again limited plunge depth.

 

[Eshmiel]

That looks like a very interesting solution. I could see me using those accessories quite often. I did have a cheaper copy of a dremel, but the accessories were not inspiring and a flipped it. Does a Demel feel like a 'real' tool? Those videos make it look like one.

Dremel do seem to make a good quality fundamental tool. (The motor and collet in the Dremel body). Some of their bits also get praise. But the various Dremel devices for "adding-on" are made down to a price and never make it up to a high quality. Dremel motors seem to last - although you can always find the 1% of complaints that say, "Mine didn't". They seem to have precision and resilience in the bearings, going from my own use (originally of a corded version but now of the cordless kind).

One does have to keep in mind that they are relatively low-powered and not meant for big tasks. But use them for their intended purposes and they're very handy and versatile things to have.

If I was buying such a tool today I'd probably buy the Bosch Blue 12V version. These tools are well made and form part of an extended range of cordless tools that take the 12V battery. I have several of those and find them just a bit more thoughtfully designed than a Dremel. But there's nothing in it, really.

 

[Eshmiel]

I can see how those work, but I would still need to be able to drill good perpendicular holes. As far as I understand it the dowel solution relies on glue which makes disassembly difficult.

Yes, screws are better for disassembly. They can also be decorative - posh screws with slotted domed heads made of brass, stainless steel/chromed or black-oxidised. For added bling, clock the slots!

 

[Eshmiel]

As I said

and the PBD40 is much larger.

Yes but not the quality or precision, I agree that it is way over priced for what it is but I looked at these clones and found one that actually uses the identical image from Woodpeckers with the chuck key next to it in the exact same place but this item is made from plastic and is not as shown in the image.

I did look at the Dremel plunge base but only 70mm depth and did not look at the Veritas offering but it looks more metal than the dremel version although again limited plunge depth.

View attachment 199418

It does have a limited depth of plunge - but perhaps one limited to the size and tasks of the device mounted in it, a Dremel and the making of flute cases or similar. One wouldn't be drilling out a shrink pot with it, though: no.

Unlike the Woodpecker drill thingy (which is a nice wee item) the Veritas plunge base is not limited to use with a drill. Especially with the added fence, the Veritas thingy can turn a Dremel into a very useful and precise mini-router. A router, as we know, is far more of a universal tool than a drill. And a Dremel is probably a better scale for those small-item jobs than is a geet big drill, or even a smaller drill.

 

[MikeJhn]

I can see how those work, but I would still need to be able to drill good perpendicular holes. As far as I understand it the dowel solution relies on glue which makes disassembly difficult.

Why do you want to disassembly?

 

[niall Y]

There are clones of everything on ebay these days. The question then becomes: are their engineering and manufacturing standards good enough? Various promoters on YouBoob claim so for some of these clones. But who knows what bungs occur behind the curtain?

On the other hand, the, "You get what you pay for" means of indicating quality has also become unreliable. Sometimes what you pay for is a fashionable label .... on a mediocre or even poor item.

We tend to rely on reputation. Veritas, for example, has a very good one, at every level: design, manufacture, marketing and customer service. There are some other-such. But even then, background events and the machinations of accountants and the more predatory creatures of capitalism can ruin a brand. Look at what's happened to Scheppach.

The thing is - everything ( even the good stuff ) is made in China. When manufacturers make X number of units for a company they will have to be making many more than this to fulfill the order. These items will inevitably find their way onto the market. So, one could easily find oneself in possession of quite a respectable piece of kit. Conversely, one could also end up with rubbish.

 

[DrPhill]

Why do you want to disassembly?

Maintenance, possible future modifications. For example, I would like a felt lining to help protect the delicate parts of the flute, and re-felting occasionally would be far easier if the layers separated.