Perfectly Centered Hole in Sphere
George VondriskaDescription
Drilling a perfectly centered hole in a wooden sphere is really tricky, unless you know this woodworking tip from George Vondriska for drilling them perfectly every time. A WoodWorkers Guild of America (WWGOA) original video.
I've got a toy project I'm working on and it calls for having a 3/8 inch hole drilled in this wooden ball in order to get a small peg in there. So when I came to the drill press, I was trying to figure out how I was going to hold everything stationary, get that hole perfectly centered in here and not lose control of this, have it spin away from me while I was drilling into it. Finally landed on an idea. What I did was I drilled a hole first with a large bit I've got a one inch brad point in here. You could do this with a Forstner bit as well. So first I'm going to put a counterbore in this sacrificial piece. Now one thing that's key is that the sacrificial piece is clamped to the table. I'm gonna take this bit out and put in the drill bit I actually need, my 3/8 bit. With this board clamped to the table, this bit is now perfectly centered over the hole in the board. Nothing's changed there. So now I can nest the wooden ball in that counterbore that I did, drill a perfectly centered hole right here. Perfectly centered, control the depth. Very easy to do. As long as you start with that counterbore in the sacrificial board. Very, very easy way to get holes drilled in spheres like this one.
OMG, George this is a remarkable tip, and so simple. Thanks
What a great tip on using a counter bore first.
Way cool idea, George. Thank you!! Ken
Great tip... I actually have a project coming up where I can put this to good use... Thanks!