Needing to find the use of a drill press, Manchester

[Fuzzface]

Hello to the forum!

I apologise for my first post being one asking for help but I'm kinda struggling at the moment. I'm attempting to build a guitar and have gotten quite close to finishing it. In order to drill the string through holes as 99% of woodworkers will know, a hand drill aint gonna cut it. To give someone a laugh, I rushed into buying a low end Draper bench drill without considering the throat depth. So now my brother gets a free bench drill, go me =D>

I've googled about and can't find anywhere in (hopefully South!) Manchester that has a bench drill that I could use for literally a few minutes. Does anyone on this awesome forum have any leads to anywhere I could approach to use their drill to get me over this hurdle? I'm considering email schools and colleges nearby to see if they have any night classes I could arrive at the end of to quickly use their drill.

I did look through the Maker Space places in the city centre but the one that did list the drill they had also had a chuck too close to the column.

 

[Chrispy]

Hello and congratulations on your first post, although I am no ware near Manchester you could use mine, but I not sure if mine would be big enough. Perhaps if you said exactly what you are trying to do you might get more useful responses.

 

[bugbear]

Some people recommend using a drilling jig with/instead of a drill press;

A properly bushed drilling jig not only keeps the hole vertical, but prevents the drill bending (which a drill press doesn't) and ensure the hole's locations relative to each other.

You can (of course) use a small throated drill press to make one, out of whatever material suits your use/budget.

Small diameter twist drills do not always run true in non-homogenous materials, no matter how mighty your drill press.

BugBear

 

[Fuzzface]

Chrispy: That's a bloody good point, apologies. I'm attempting to drill holes 14cm into a piece of wood.

Bugbear: In my frustration at my haste I hadn't considered using it to make a jig. Do you at all have any pictures or threads of your opinion of the best suited jig? I shall be googling but it was just on the offchance you knew of any you preferred.

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

[Myfordman]

Finding a drill press with 140mm quill travel is going to be a tall order. Making a drill jig seems like the way to go to me.

 

[Austinisgreat]

I think the 140mm refers to how far from the edge of the guitar body the through holes are, not the depth of holes, which is usually about 45mm. Hence he is looking for a drill press with about a 5 - 6" throat, which is bigger than most.

My Axi radial arm drill will cope but I'm a long way from Manchester!

Good luck,

Andrew

 

[Tortion-Stephen]

Hi,

I have a meddings drill press in Frodsham if that's any use? Send me a PM if you like.

Thanks

Steve

 

[Fuzzface]

Yeah I didn't really explain it very well. Andrew: Completely right, I wasn't sure if throat was the right term but it seems to be.

Steve: If I had a car I would definitely take you up on the offer but limited to public transport at the moment but thank you for the very kind offer!

 

[Austinisgreat]

Yeah I didn't really explain it very well. Andrew: Completely right, I wasn't sure if throat was the right term but it seems to be.

Steve: If I had a car I would definitely take you up on the offer but limited to public transport at the moment but thank you for the very kind offer!

Hey Fuzzy,

I built two strats and a tele before I bought the drill press I have now and used hand held drills for the string holes. Aesthetically its the ferrule holes on the back with a tele which have to be spaced right, but in reality the through holes dont need to be perfect. On the front they are covered by either the tremolo unit or the bridge plate, and it makes no practical difference to the instrument if the holes are a little bit squiffy.

Take great care marking out the ferrule holes (you can I think buy a jig from Stewmac) but not necessary, and carefully drill through from the front. As long as the holes meet, it works fine.

HTH

Andrew

 

[bugbear]

Chrispy: That's a bloody good point, apologies. I'm attempting to drill holes 14cm into a piece of wood.

Bugbear: In my frustration at my haste I hadn't considered using it to make a jig. Do you at all have any pictures or threads of your opinion of the best suited jig? I shall be googling but it was just on the offchance you knew of any you preferred.

Thanks for the replies guys!

Just get a nice big block of (say) MDF, drill it carefully with your drill press, with ALL the holes, fix it to your guitar body, and drill through. The jig guides both angle and placement.

A "proper" jig would be made of metal, and bushed, but a single (or limited) use jig can be made of lesser materials.

BugBear