You may often need to drill a straight hole through a post or a wall. But, it can be very hard to find a helpful guide that shows how to do it. So, in this article, we are going to show you in details how to drill a straight hole through a post precisely.
We will discuss some effective and convenient ways for drilling a straight hole through a post.
The drills we will be dealing with are lightweight drills. You can use these drills as they offer power and accessibility to the areas that can be difficult to reach. These cordless drills are far much safer to use if we compare them with the cord powered drills. There is no need to worry about the snaking of cables. They can also reduce the risk of electric shock considerably.
So without further ado, let’s get to the main stuff:
How to Drill a Straight Hole Through a Post?
Here we’ll be showing you multiple ways for drilling a straight hole. You can choose any way you prefer:
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1. Using Fender Washers
First, we have to take two fender washers and tie a string between each of them. Then we will slip one washer over the drill bit and let the other washer hang. By this way, we can gauge where the drill bit is going while we are drilling.
Just after starting the drilling, we’ll have to carefully observe the washers. If the washers move away from us, then we’ll have to tilt the drill down. On the other hand, if they move towards us then we’ll need to tilt the drill up. By following this way, we can drill straight and precisely every time.
2. Using Drill Press
We can drill a straight hole through a post by using drill press or milling machine too! For this, first, we have to set a flat piece of a wood or plastic on the top surface of the drill. This will be used as a reference exterior to drill a straight hole through a post. We can use hot glue to attach the piece of reference exterior to the top of the drill.
After making the reference surface, now we’ll need to trace a parallel line from the drill to toss the block. After that, we will cut the block according to the trace line.
We can also use a plywood made ‘L’ shaped stand. It will provide us with a reference surface of 90 degrees to our work piece providing more accuracy. By using these reference blocks now we can make our drills perfect as we’ll be able to make straight holes without relying on naked eyes only.
3. Without Using Any Kind of Reference
We can also make a straight hole by using drills without using any block or drill press or any kind of reference surface. To do this we’ll need a longer drill bit, 2 squares (L shaped metal sheet)of different sizes, a piece of tape, a pencil and a black marker.
First, we have to take the bigger square and make it flush with the end of our workbench. It is to be assumed that our workbench is straight.
Now you’ll need to take a drill with a longer drill bit and lay it down along with the vertical arm of the square towards you in your workbench. Make sure the edge of the drill bit is up with the edge of the square where the square is 90 degrees angled.
Once we get the drill lined up, then we have to take the other square and make it flush with the end of the bench. Now we need to slide it over until it’s vertical arm touches the drill.
Now it’s time to measure using the tape measure. We’ll need to make the measure starting from the backward edge of the drill bit towards the small square. The distance can be 1 inch approximately. Then we have to take a piece of tape and put it on the top left or the upper facing surface of the drill and write the measured 1 inch into it(or whatever measurement you come up with).
After that, we need to find out a spot on our drill which has a straight line with the drill bit. It can be the seam of the drill’s case. Now you’ll have to make a mark on it which will be in line with the seam of the case. After that, we can say our drill is ready to drill a straight hole through a post.
For drilling, first, we have to make a mark on our post and then take a tape measure which can measure over 1 inch. Then we have to hold our smaller square perpendicular to the object’s surface and right on the mark we have just made.
After that, we have to put our drill bit where we need to drill the hole. Now we have to move the drill bit carefully in such a way that it just touches the square and we have to line it up with the line we just drew earlier on the drill’s surface. Afterward, we can drill a hole straight which will be precise and accurate enough.
Sometimes we can also use a drill guide jig to make straight holes without using any drilling press or block or any reference surface on top of the drill. This will be a great help when you need to achieve precision but you don’t have any drill press.
The drill guide jig can be entirely made of scrap materials and we can just use basic tools to make it. It will provide us with a perfectly straight boundary to escort the drill in such a way that it stays perpendicular to the post or the material object that we need to drill.
See This video for more details :
Final Words
So, this is our detailed guide on how to drill a straight hole through a post. I hope these 3 methods will help you to master the skill of drilling straight. If you have any question, do not hesitate to ask in the comment box below. We’ll get to you as soon as we can!
