How To Drill A Perfectly Straight Hole In Wood Or Chipboard

It is the small things that determine the success or failure of a woodworking project and care needs to be taken at each stage. Drilling a hole in wood, or chipboard, might seem simple but like everything else in woodwork, it must be done correctly.

If you want to ensure that you get a perfectly straight hole when you are drilling chipboard, or any type of wood, you need to keep the drill bit at exactly 90 degrees to the surface of the wood you are working on. There are a number of ways that you can do this.

You can very easily fit a guide to a drill and these are purposely made and easy to attach, if you make sure that you have the correct one for your particular electric drill. Once the guide is fixed to your drill and adjusted so that it sits perfectly flat on the wood that you want to drill a hole in, you can be certain that the bit on the drill is at the correct angle. It cannot move away from that ninety degree angle.

You can use the guide in a similar way if you want to drill holes horizontally in the wood and the depth of the drilled hole can also be set to the required length. Be aware that it does take practice to get it right and do it easily, if you have not used a drill guide before.

Drill stands are much more expensive than simple drill guides, but a stand does everything much more easily and accurately. If you are intending to use it a lot in the course of your woodwork projects, it is worth investing in one. Get the correct stand for your drill as they are not universal.

An ever simpler way to ensure that you always keep the drill absolutely vertical to the wood is to utilize a try square. Put the try square on its edge, close to the side of the drill ensure that the drill follows the vertical line. You will need to view this sideways and then from the front to get it right.

If you are going to drill a hole through coated veneer or chipboard that has a plastic finish, always make a small hole right where the hole is supposed to go, by sticking a nail into the spot. This will stop the drill point sliding about and possibly making a mistake and drilling a hole in the wrong place. Drill coated wood from the side that will be seen in case you chip the finish. Do not apply pressure; do this very gently or you will crack the veneer, or plastic finish on the chipboard