1. Jig for drilling drawers for false fronts

[Michael Kellough]

There are many ways to do anything, up to a point. When you get to that point, where it seems the only option is to disassemble back to a state where options still exist, then, if you’re clever enough you’ll come up with a solution like the one [member=44099]Cheese[/member] has presented here.

All the could’a, should’a, would’a options might have prevented him needing to think his way out of the box. I’m glad he’s done it.

I still want to know what the extra 10 feet of drill rod is for.

 

[Cheese]

There are many ways to do anything, up to a point. When you get to that point, where it seems the only option is to disassemble back to a state where options still exist, then, if you’re clever enough you’ll come up with a solution like the one [member=44099]Cheese[/member] has presented here.

All the could’a, should’a, would’a options might have prevented him needing to think his way out of the box. I’m glad he’s done it.

I still want to know what the extra 10 feet of drill rod is for.

Hey [member=297]Michael Kellough[/member] that drawing the drill rod is on is a drawing of the actual built-in cabinet...it's 10' plus long, 4 sections of 5 drawers each placed in the knee wall of the upstairs loft bedroom. Lots of "free" storage.  [smile]

Well, looking back on this counterbore issue..................I'd do the same thing all over again.  [big grin]  The pre-made drawer boxes were such a time saver that this little hiccup is really just a minor annoyance. Otherwise, I'd still be downstairs bent over my Porter Cable dovetail fixture. No thanks.

 

[Cheese]

So, back to this thread...it's certainly been a while...with the Covid thing happening, every simple project takes on its own form of extended life.  [scared]

Fabricating a drill jig for drawer fronts was the original issue. What I failed to mention was that I originally, absent mindedly ordered only 4 drill bushings. Once I received the bushings I realized my mistake.

4 drawers are 4 1/4" tall and 10" deep.
12 drawers are 4 1/4" tall and 20" deep.
4 drawers are 6 1/4" tall and 20" deep.

So the main issue centered on designing a single jig that used 4 drill bushings back-to-back to drill 2 different hole patterns for the 4 1/4" & 6 1/4" drawers.
The 2nd issue was the 10" depth on 4 of the drawers meant drilling space inside the drawer was limited.

Here's the drill jig on paper and in action.
For the 4 1/4" deep drawers you place the 45º chamfers in the corner of the drawer, drill the holes, then flip it over and move it to the other corner.

For the 6 1/4" deep drawers, you again place the 45º chamfers in the corner, drill the bottom hole only, then flip the jig end-for-end and drill the top hole.

This allows every hole to be placed 3/4" from the top edge and 1 3/4" from the bottom edge.

A sacrificial piece of ply was placed under the drawer to prevent any blowout.

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After the 1/4" diameter thru-holes were completed, a 5/8" diameter counterbore needed to be drilled .100" deep. I used a 16 mm (.629") Zobo bit with a 1/4" pilot to counterbore each hole. The length of the pilot on the Zobo bit was machined to act as a depth stop so that every counterbore would be the same depth.

Place the drawer on a smooth, flat surface, insert the Zobo bit and drill until the pilot hits the surface. The use of the surface and the end of the pilot will maintain a consistent counterbore depth.

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All of the operations were performed using the CXS because it's so compact. The standard CXS chuck was used for the 1/4" drill bit while the larger chuck from a C 15 was used for the Zobo bit.

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The last 2 photos show the 6 1/4" tall drawer being drilled. Only the lowest drill bushing is used for one hole, then flip the jig end-to-end and use the top drill bushing.

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