...no not the kind that walk off with your brother in law just before you need them!

I drilled out a stock last night for pillars, and the bit walked over about 1/32". That put one side of the hole pretty much flush with the inlet (rear tang) and the other about 1/16" too far from the edge. Well with a little dowel, coarse emory cloth, and some elbow grease the hole is re-centered. It's oversised, but centered...I'm thinking the bedding will take care of the sloppy hole.

Now I need to drill for the front pillar. I priced piloted bits...too much for a single hole! I don't plan on doing this often enough to justify a dedicated $40 bit (Brownells)! Besides good clamping what tricks can I use to keep a regular twist bit good and centered? It is a good quality bit, and new, so it should be sharp. I cut (advanced) slow, figuring fast would allow more flex, and I was turning about 900RPM with thebit. SHould I spin the bit faster?

I've had the same problem before. Solved it by using a properly sized brad point bit, spun to the proper (higher) speed and by "stab drilling" i.e. drill 1/8 retract, slightly deeper, retract etc., you have to be sure and keep the hole clear of chips and drill just a bit at a time. In metal always use a center bit first..................DJ

CDH,
good bits help, and you can use a "cobalt" or Black and decker from Home depot..

if you have a center drill, 6 bucks for a set at harbour freight, you can start with a stubby drill and feed SLOW to get it down a bit.

then take a 1/8 and pilot, again feed slow

then follow up with a whichever sized drill you need.

feed slow, seriously, if you have a bit that walks a bit

jeffe

Thanks guys!

Jeffe, I already have an existing hole...the factory hole in a Ruger stock.

It's a new B&D bit...never see use before this job. I took probably a full minute and a half to bore the one inch or so...pretty slow in wood to me! I never though about DJ's hint...drill and clear regularly. Good thought...

I'll spin it up faster and see if that helps this evening.

The really correct way to do it is in a mill. I have a boring tool I made up that fits in the 1/2" drill chuck. I line up the hole on the levelled up stock and plunge cut it. A single point tool will not walk. It doesn't take much to make one up, a 1/2 piece of round stock and a high speed bit silver soldered on the end.

I need some pretty precise holes occaisionally, along with small wood milling, so I bought a milling vise for my drill press. It essentially makes my drill press a mill. Then you can square everything up and hold it in place at the same time. It was $80 at Woodcraft. Then you just need to make sure the chuck in the drill press is square, some aren't.

Make a guide plate.
Flat plate 1/4" thick with a hole that matches the diameter of your bit. Line the hole up over the one in your stock and clamp it in place, than run your drillpress down through plate and the stock.
The plate provides a stiffener for the bit, and reduces the amount of walking that occures.

An un-piloted Forstner bit is only a few bucks at Lowe's or Home Depot and they are nice and stiff. A lot of smaller hardware stores have them too. I use a standard bit just under the existing hole diameter to set up the stock in the press and then switch bits without moving anything.

I use a slightly larger bit than the pillar so it can float in the epoxy. I wrap the action pin with enough masking tape that it centers the pillar on the action pin and presto-mundo: a perfectly installed pillar the easy way.

quote:

I use a standard bit just under the existing hole diameter to set up the stock in the press and then switch bits without moving anything.

That's exactly the setup I used to start, but it walked anyways. Maybe my drill press isn't rigid enough and something shifted instead of the bit walking...I dunno but the end result was the same.

Sorry Jim, no mill available. I'm just a poor garage do-it-yourselfer with a drill press and more time than money!

Tailgunner, good idea. Now how am I going to clamp it to properly align with the (Ruger standard) angled front screw? Hmmm, I'll have to see what I can work out and bolt to the press table.

CDH, I think that you will be glad if you invest in a brad point wood bit. Not only does the point help keep centered when you don't already have a hole but the flukes cut at the end of the bit. Good ones also have the spirals optimized for wood chip removal. Normal wood/metal bits just haven't done as well for me - and be sure to spin them fast enough..............DJ

Right on, use a wood bit for wood, a metal bit for metal. Brad point bits aren't that expensive, and work slicker than ...
good luck!

quote:

and be sure to spin them fast enough

Maxed out the spindle speed last night, 3600 RPM, and it sang right through straight and clean.

Thanks again guys!