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which doesn't mean i can when i've taken loads of drugs*

Any super tips on perpendicular hand-drilling using a regular black n decker?

Home-made drill press, drill guide, something?

* worth a try tho, eh?

I have a drill press but sometimes it doesn't have the reach and you have to go all A-Team on a project.

What I do is put the guitar body on the ground, secure it with a special tool (my foot) and try to sight down the length of a two-handed drill as directly downwards as I can. It tends to work. Always drill guide holes, too. And mark the drill bits with masking tape for depth. In many cases you only really need the depth marker on the first few bits you use. As you gradually widen the holes you'll be able to tell pretty quickly by feel alone whether you're going too deep.

It depends what you're drilling, though. You're fine with a few degrees of sway on things like drilling out screw holes for things like pickguards or tuners. Not so great for bridge cup holes for TOM style bridges, as a few degrees off and the posts won't be in the right place.

I have a drill press, but it doesn't have a 'deep-throat' so, if i need to drill holes in the middle of something, like string through on a guitar body.
I make a jig from a block of hard wood, I drill with the drill press, then use a hand held drill with the jig.
Works well for me, but you still need a shit drill press at the very least (or a mate who has one)

It's to drill the four holes for a vintage-style Tele bridge plate. Yeah, right in the middle of the body, of course.
Normally I'd be a bit cavalier about this kind of thing, but I want to get this particular job done right.
It's the only drilling I need to do, too.
Maybe I should get someone else to do it.

I just ran into the same problem with an old acoustic that needed the holes shored up on the bridge. I was all ready to go with my small cheapo drill press and it didn't fit. If all else fails drill the same holes in a scrap of wood and use it as a guide. That way you practice in wood, not the finished piece. And BTW I have started saving my wood shavings from anything other than pine. Never hurts to have bits of ebony, mahogany, ash, etc.

Honestly, if you're just drilling screw holes for a bridge plate then just do it. As long as you're roughly straight down then it isn't going to make a blind bit of difference in the end. Make sure your holes are all aligned, though. Take a pokey stick (technical term) and a hammer and make some small dints in the wood at the points you need to make the holes with the plate already on as a guide.

DGNR8 wrote:I just ran into the same problem with an old acoustic that needed the holes shored up on the bridge. I was all ready to go with my small cheapo drill press and it didn't fit. If all else fails drill the same holes in a scrap of wood and use it as a guide. That way you practice in wood, not the finished piece. And BTW I have started saving my wood shavings from anything other than pine. Never hurts to have bits of ebony, mahogany, ash, etc.

That's to mix up some homebrew wood filler, yeah? How would you go about doing that, just take the shavings and grind them up with some wood glue, or is it more involved?

ekwatts wrote:Honestly, if you're just drilling screw holes for a bridge plate then just do it. As long as you're roughly straight down then it isn't going to make a blind bit of difference in the end. Make sure your holes are all aligned, though. Take a pokey stick (technical term) and a hammer and make some small dints in the wood at the points you need to make the holes with the plate already on as a guide.

Yes, use the plate as a template and use a punch and tap it with a hammer to make a small indentation in the wood, as ek says. This will prevent the bit from wandering. If you want you can use a small block of wood that is 90 degrees to make sure the bit you are is 90 to the wood. Hold the drill in place and push the block up to the bit in two directions. This will get you very close. I also like to wrap a piece of masking tape to about 1/8 (depends on the screw you want to use) shorter on the bit than you want to go and use this a a depth gauge.

Also to fix threads in small stripped holes, like for pickguards, putting a couple drops of superglue in the hole is all you need to do.

Thanks for some good practical stuff there, men.
Of course, I ended up taking the least demanding option: I got someone else to do it. Took it round the corner to Jimmy Moon (Moon Guitars, world-famous luthier etc etc) on the basis he'd probably have a drill press, he's made a few guitars in his time, and he's a splendid splendid bloke.
Less than three minutes work for our Jimmy.
Well chuffed.

That's to mix up some homebrew wood filler, yeah? How would you go about doing that, just take the shavings and grind them up with some wood glue, or is it more involved?

I mostly use the powdery stuff with super glue. I do the same thing to fix a nut with bone filings. I have also used shavings and wood glue to tighten up necks.