How do I drill through 8 pieces of wood in the same place?

[pmanson]

I have 8 pieces of mdf (600mm x 600mm) that I want to make into a flexible shelving unit.

I need to drill a hole in each corner of the wood into which I will pass a 1m M16 metal rod. Each shelve will be supported by a M16 bolt.

I just need to hunt down some relevant sized washers.

My question is how to I make sure each hole is perfectly straight? Is there anyway of turning a standard drill into some sort of drill press?

Also is it possible to hire routers? I want to tidy up the corners so there are no sharp edges (thinking family friendly!)

Thanks,
Phill

[Percy Flage]

http://www.hss.com/c/1014495/Timber-Cutting.html

[VxDuncan]

Make a template out of something that won't cut that easily - maybe thin ali sheet, then use this template on each piece of mdf independently. That way the tolerance overall won't exceed the tolerance that you can drill through your template to.

[Autonotiv]

VxDuncan said:

Make a template out of something that won't cut that easily - maybe thin ali sheet, then use this template on each piece of mdf independently. That way the tolerance overall won't exceed the tolerance that you can drill through your template to.

Ditto, also you could use a pillar drill

[pmanson]

Something like this? - http://www.screwfix.com/prods/54072/Power-Tools/Be...

[pmanson]

VxDuncan said:

Make a template out of something that won't cut that easily - maybe thin ali sheet, then use this template on each piece of mdf independently. That way the tolerance overall won't exceed the tolerance that you can drill through your template to.

That's a good idea - my concern is drilling a hole at an angle by mistake!

[Simpo Two]

pmanson said:

VxDuncan said:

Make a template out of something that won't cut that easily - maybe thin ali sheet, then use this template on each piece of mdf independently. That way the tolerance overall won't exceed the tolerance that you can drill through your template to.

That's a good idea - my concern is drilling a hole at an angle by mistake!

Pillar drill is the only way to be sure - unless you have a very good eye. If you drill each one with a template as suggested and are worried about being slghtly 'off', just use a slightly bigger drill to compensate, and/or get somebody you trust to check horizontal/vertical for you.

[pmanson]

I thinking it might be easier to get the local timber place to drill the holes and router the edges to my specification.

That way I don't have to buy some tools i'm only going to use for one job and they'll probably do a better job that I ever will!

[Simpo Two]

Well if you're ever in north Essex bring them over and I'll do it for you

[bramley]

You can buy a pillar drill unit that accepts a regular power drill (check the collar size though) I remember Aldi or somewhere had one for £6.

[pmanson]

Well I cheated and got the local carpentry place to drill the holes for me, cut out a recess at the back of the shelves and router the edges - All for £35!

They did 8 shelves for me (although I only ended up using 6). Got some casters from Ikea as well to make it easy to move about:





What it is replacing (Ikea shelving unit):




Plenty of space for cable management and air flow




Bit of a pain to put together and at some point i'll have to take it all apart again (not until I have fitted the new skirting boards and the new carpet has been delivered though!)

Edited by pmanson on Saturday 25th April 14:52