How can I drill a hole in the bottom of a windsor chair leg that is still on the chair. The hole needs to be centered and run along the center axis of the leg. Any great, or even good, ideas out there?
Dan
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Replies
1) Turn the chair over.
2) Clamp the subject leg in a face vice, clamping blocks would help keep it steady.
3) Drill a hole.
What am I missing? Is the hole particularly deep or large?
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Probably a 5/8" hole, 2" deep. Free hand is not accurate enough to run the hole exactly along the central axis.
Like hell it isn't. Flip the chair over, tape two dowel rods to the leg (one at nine o'clock and one as six o'clock will work), line her up and go. Get a helper to help you eyeball the alignment while you drill with a brace. Don't do this with an electric drill because it's over before you can make small, mid-course corrections.
Edited 8/7/2008 11:02 am ET by BossCrunk
Well, if you need "EXACTLY" exact, I'd rig up a vice on the drill press. 2" ain't all that deep to keep it lined up.
If you lack a DP, you can make up a drill guide out of a block of wood maybe 6" long. Drill a hole in the bottom big enough to fit the leg into, say 3" or 4" deep, and a through-hole to guide the drill bit -- kind of a stepped hole through the block. Fit the block over the leg, and drill away. If course, if you're using a forstner or spade bit, this won't work too well. You'll need a long twist bit or brad point bit.
Just curious -- what's this hole for, anyhoo.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Free hand is not accurate enough to run the hole exactly along the central axis..
Only in your mind,,, A human eye is VERY accurate at what you wand to do! Your brain told you otherwise!
Will, Old China, that advice is of no use when the hole is done and found to be 1/4 of 3/5ths of a flea hair out of line.
Anyway, in this case it sounds as though it is not the eye which needs to see, but the piece which needs to fit that hole AND BE IN LINE.Philip Marcou
Just what I would do... Maybe a disaster but then again it may work.. I'd clamp those parts in a jig/fixture of some sort and dill new holes at the drillpress with the next letter sized drill bit. Hand fit the dowel!
Works until you run out of wood to drill into without braking the walls!!
Hi Dan,
Why do you want to do this? Is it to repair a broken leg by fitting a new section?
I would want to answer your request , given more information, as I think there may be other ways to get a reliable result, other than cuffing it entirely by eye and some dodgy aids. The "help" of a helper would be of no advantage- what helper ever "sees as good as you "?
Despite what the Woodworking Taleban may say, it is not easy to hand drill with a bit and augar a spot-on hole in end grain, in line with axis,into a leg with non parallel sides (e.g a Windsor chair leg).
You could also roll up and tape a piece of heavy cardboard, sort of make sleeve that fits around the leg and use that as an alignment aid for your drill.
If you were a talented metal worker, you could fabricate a combination sleeve-and-bushing contraption that would slip over the leg with the bushing sized to fit the drill bit you plan to use.
There might be a way to attach a dowel jig to the leg that will work as well....
Brainstormin' from the Woodworking Taliban....
If you figure out a way to get the whole chair offered up to a stationary drill press for Pete's sake please take some pictures. I want to see it for myself.
If you're sistering on some wood there is virtually no way the leg won't need a little sanding and a touch of cosmetic masking. You're working with wood for a chair, not exotic machined metal parts for the Hubble telescope. See this as your advantage, not a hinderance. Don't try to work to a greater degree of accuracy than the material itself will allow. You'll only get frustrated.
Perhaps at the end of the day the easiest thing to do would be to disassemble the undercarriage and turn a new leg?
Edited 8/8/2008 8:36 am ET by BossCrunk
juglans,
I have made several times,a jig for drilling into the end of a leg as you wish to do.
1- with calipers, determine the greatest diameter of the leg. Usually this will be at two or three high points of the turning. For our purpose, say it is 2".
2- join two pieces of 1 x3 stock about 18" long along their long edges at right angles.
3-clamp this to the outside of the leg, letting the jig extend 3" or so past the end of the leg.
4-on the drill press, drill your 5/8" hole thru a 2 x2 block about 2-3" long, right thru the center.
5-clamp this block in the jig abutting the end of the leg
6-drill thru the block into the end of the leg
7-remove block, and continue drilling if needed, for add'l depth.
Ray
Dan, There are some thing you can do which makes drilling by eye more accurate.
For finding the center of the end of a round object, just take an awl and make a light puncture, then take the tool away and measure if your eye tells you it is off one way. With the awl again, make a deeper adjusted hole, which will heal the first. When you have that worked out, use a brad-point, or multi-spur drill to start in that little hole.
When drilling freehand, you can improve your aim by moving your head left to right while holding the rest of your body rigid. This improves your parallax a lot.
But if you want to make a drill guide, try this, if you have a good set of drills with a spur tip.
In a thick block of wood, drill a hole the same diameter as the leg diameter a couple of inches up from the end. Lets say the leg is 1.25 at that level, so start with a drill that size, and drill down 1.5" deep, and switch to the drill the size of the end, and drill another 1/2" deeper. The drill point should center the smaller bit in the hole made by the other point.
After that switch on down to the 5/8" of the same type used above, for another two inches or so to guide the actual drill which you will use back into the leg.
You should then be able to insert the chair leg into the hole, and drill back in from the bottom. You will need to use a drill bit that has full round support, to stay centered. Don't use something like a spade bit here, because it would jump around.
If I might ask, why do you want to do this? It sounds like there may not be much wood left around this 5/8" hole to give support to whatever is going into it. If the sides break out, do you have a back-up plan?
Keith,
"If I might ask, why do you want to do this? It sounds like there may not be much wood left around this 5/8" hole to give support to whatever is going into it. If the sides break out, do you have a back-up plan?".
That is precisely why I asked the same question of Don, and offered up something that I hoped would encourage the Woodworking TalIban to think a bit more before having an A.D.
It looks as though it has been established that Don does in fact wish to repair a broken leg, although he has yet to confirm this.
The fact is that the hole needs to be 100% in alignment and this is not guarranteed to happen if it is bored by eye using any visual aids. One can be lucky-or not.
I have done a few repairs of this nature, but I still recall the quandary the first time I did one, which was whether to make a wooden sleeve guide or to remove the whole leg and turn a new one. I ended up making a sleeve in which the hole was bored using a lathe- in this case it was easy as the shape of the leg was slim and not over turned.
It was a lot of bother so I favoured replacing the whole thing on subsequent examples, but for one exception which may be applicable to "cheaper" repairs: simply cut the leg at the break or suitable position of the turning, do a scarf type join and reshape the leg.Philip Marcou
Hey Mook old friend. I think you may have jumped to a conclusion that I didn't read. How do you break a leg on the end that would need a 5/8" dowel? I suspected that he wanted to put some sort of threaded insert for a foot piece, or maybe a dowel for connecting to a rocker, or maybe an ebony foot or something. I was just throwing out ideas while I drank my morning coffee. Does that qualify me for the WW taliban? I always wanted to be in some kind of WW club, but they keep kicking me out. What is an AD?
Keith,
You? the Woodworking Taliban?? Hell no.(Way too refined (;).
No, when Don said he needed the hole to be 2 inches deep then I wanted to know what exactly he wanted to do....
Anyway, he has now confirmed that he wants to extend the existing legs, hence the necessity for the holes to be true to axis.
An A.D is an Accidental Discharge of firearm.Philip Marcou
Ha ha, Accidental discharge. No, I am like in the country song "When Buba shot the juke box", and was arrested for reckless discharge. He answered "reckless hell, I hit it every time." k
Thanks for the thoughtful responses. I have to extend all four shortened legs on an historically important antique Windsor chair. My scheme was to drill a hole in the bottom of the leg into which I would fit a leg extension with integral tenon that I would turn on the lathe.This way the only "harm" done to the original chair is a hole in the bottom of the leg. The extension will be glued in with hide glue that is reversible, if necessary. The other issue is the "cut" at the bottom of the leg being perpendicular the axis of the leg (I am sure its not). Removing the leg is not feasible as this would clearly alter the leg as it is a wedged through tenon in the seat.DanEdited 8/8/2008 9:19 pm ET by juglans
Edited 8/8/2008 9:20 pm ET by juglans
Well, You have still left us hanging, What is the end diameter, taper? While I am sure 5/8 is plenty to support the integrity of the extension, I hope it is not at the expense of thinning the end of the leg too much as a trade off. Finding balance is the key to success. I know there are proponents here for using hide glue claiming the reversible claim. However, I often wonder how well the wood would stand up to the heat necessary to loosen it. For that mater, epoxy will soften with heat also, yet has much better bridging capacity when you need that. But for that mater, a saw would take it back to where you are starting. You wouldn't take the extension out and leave a hole in the end of the leg would you? For that mater, have you tried any of the thicker CA glues?
Yah Keith, I must say it doesn't sound like a good idea at all, but it would be good if Don posted a picture of the chair so we can see the shape of the legs.Philip Marcou
Well here is the photo of the leg. The diameter is 1-5/16". The cut is not square to the central axis. I am not wedded to my scheme if there is a better solution available. That's why I posted my question. Thanks.Dan
I would create a dowel the size of the bottom of the leg. Take it to the drill press and drill a centered hole in it at whatever angle you decide if an angle is required. I would then take two short blocks and cut 45* degree grooves on one surface. Then I would clamp the created dowel with hole on top of the bottom of the leg using the two V'ed blocks as support splints on each side. Probably in a vise that will cant if necessary.
Then I would carefully drill the hole as the correctly drilled created piece becomes the guide. If using a hand drill with variable speed I would start slowly and probably with an auger bit. A brace would be the safer way to approach but you might not have one.
Good luck..
Sarge..
Edited 8/9/2008 10:59 am ET by SARGEgrinder47
jug,
The procedure I outlined in post #10 works very well for a job like this. If you do not wish to square off the end of the existing legs, it is easy enough to work the shoulder --of the over-long extension piece-- out of square (after you turn the tenon on it in the lathe). Fit the tenon into the hole you drilled, and draw a line around the shoulder parallel to the angled end of the leg. Saw to the line, rough cutting a new shoulder, with tenon or dovetail saw. Split off the waste, and with rasp or chisel extend the turned tenon down into the newly sawn angled shoulder. Try and fit by offering the new shoulder to the leg, and pare to match. Glue in place, then work the outside surface to match the turned taper of the old leg. Cut to final length. Finish (paint) to match.
Ray
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