Heya guys, Let me start by saying alot of you guys make the most phenomenal work I've ever seen, really inspiring stuff... And i've also decided to pick your brains on a few things,like drilling, I always see everyone drilling absolutely perfect clean holes with their drill press, my last bass had horrible chipped out tuner holes, lucky they were covered, but still... Does everyone just have epic sharp drill bits? or is there a trick? One more question about counter-sinking tuners and knobs, how do you get the forstner bit to perfectly go around the original hole My next HAS to have it! I just have no idea how to do it!?:crying:
Any help would make me fall to my knees and cry "hallelujah!" for the luthier forum!
Cheers Rayle XoX

On through holes, drill from both sides. I locate the center by drilling a 1/16 pilot hole. Then with the correct size bit, drill down about half way. Flip your stock over and drill from the reverse side to complete the hole. For countersunk drill the larger hole first. I typically locate the center with a 1/16 pilot hole again, so everything lines up. Brad tipped bits help immensely.

Whenever I drill any holes that are going all the way through a piece of wood, I clamp a piece of scrap to the back to prevent the drill bit from busting out and splintering the wood on the other side. Different woods have different tendencies for this, but I've found that this method can fully eliminate it in everything I've worked with. Another thing is that I let the drill bit do the work and try only to apply enough pressure to keep the bit moving at what I deem to be a moderate speed through the wood.

I'm in the same camp as Geoff, in that I use a backing piece of scrap when I drill. In the case where I will be drilling tuner key holes on a Fender style headstock and the wood is a candidate to chip out even with a backing plate, I will drill these holes from the back side knowing that I will come back later and slice off some of the headstock thickness from the face side.

For places where I need to add a spotface (flat bottom recess vs a countersink which is angled) I make sure to drill all of the various bit sizes at one time for a specific hole. This means that I locate the hole position and then clamp the stock into place before cycling thru all of the drill sizes required at that location. If nothing slips, all your holes should be perfectly centered. This technique becomes critical when drilling holes and spot faces for thru body string ferrules.

all the best,

R

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I've always done the 1/16" pilot hole, drill the largest diameter, then drill the thru-diameter hole, and done. I like the idea of piloting, then drilling half-way from each side. That's niiiiice. Me go practice dat tekneek!

I've wondered how some people give an archtopped body those recessed, yet smooth and flowing countersinks for volume knobs. If anyone ever wants to do a Picture Tutorial, I'd love to see that some day.

wow thanks for the input everyone,
I found this pic last night and i'm extremely curious as to what drill/sink their using? I hope its not a custom bit, thatd suck...
http://www.frets.com/FRETSpages/Features/CFox/CFoxViews/cfox031.jpg
I'm going to test out both drilling front and back and with a piece of scrap to see what works best for me.
Cheers Rayle XoX

not that is one cool bit! :hyper:

all the best,

R

Covering where you are drilling with masking tape can help sometimes, as well as drilling into scrap

wow thanks for the input everyone,
I found this pic last night and i'm extremely curious as to what drill/sink their using? I hope its not a custom bit, thatd suck...
http://www.frets.com/FRETSpages/Features/CFox/CFoxViews/cfox031.jpg
I'm going to test out both drilling front and back and with a piece of scrap to see what works best for me.
Cheers Rayle XoX

it's most likely a custom bit .... center guided counter bore, You can have them made by a machne shop for less than $50.

9/16 center guide and 13/16 counterbore

I use a scrap piece on the back also and drill right through. You should try to always use sharp bits anyway. Sometimes a pilot hole is helpful. However, drilling from both sides doesn't always work for me for precision drilling, but at other times that's the only way to line up as straight a hole as possible. I've found that drill presses are far from perfect in the precision of the spin and lining up the work piece, since not all machines spin dead centre (slight play) and sometimes takes a while to setup (who said drilling a hole is a one minute job).

That's a standard counterbore mill. They're used in every metalworking machine shop in the world. They're used to make counterbores for cap screws, and for spotfacing. First you drill or mill the thru hole, then hit it again with this bit for the counterbore. The thru hole diameter should closely match the diameter of the pilot on the CB mill.

Available from McMaster, MSC, etc., any industrial tool supply.

The trick would be to find one in the size you need, i.e. right combination of smooth pilot diameter and counterbore cutting diameter.

string body ferrules may have just gotten a whole lot easier to drill holes for :hyper:

all the best,

R

Stew Mac even sells a counterbore for neck ferrules

That's a standard counterbore mill. They're used in every metalworking machine shop in the world. They're used to make counterbores for cap screws, and for spotfacing. First you drill or mill the thru hole, then hit it again with this bit for the counterbore. The thru hole diameter should closely match the diameter of the pilot on the CB mill.

Available from McMaster, MSC, etc., any industrial tool supply.

The trick would be to find one in the size you need, i.e. right combination of smooth pilot diameter and counterbore cutting diameter.

Yeah, but a mill will give better precision than a drill press. I haven't had issues drilling tuner holes will a drill press though.

those bits can also be found in woodturning catalogs.
they are used to square up pen blank ends while hollowing the center for the brass.