Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello! everyone,
I have been building ukulele on my dining table for about 6-7 months now. I have been trying my best to stick with hand tools, since I don't have a shop.
Now I when I was trying to finish my headstock, I realized that there is no way that I can drill a straight hole on the headstock.
I have seen others post some info about some jig for doing that job, but those are for guitars.

I think I need to get a drill press now.
Since I can only do it on my dining table, I can only get a mini drill press.
I am wondering whether any one has good experience with any mini drill press, smaller than 8" drill press?
Please give me some suggestions.
thank you so much.

Jerry

I have a full size drill press, but have played with several mimi-presses in the hardware store before. Some of them look like they do a good job, and they aren't too expensive either. The thing I would look for is that when you lock the chuck and the table that you cant move the head of the drill or the assembly. Meaning the drill press is rock solid and doesn't have any play in the arbor. The thing a drill press does is help make a straight hole, and any play in the assembly will throw that off.

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http://www.sixgunguitars.com

I built my first five ukes without a drill press. I took a block of the hardest wood I own, drilled a hole in it on a drill press and then clamped that to the headstock. I used a battery drill to drill out the tuner holes. It was a bit fiddly but do-able.

I bought one of those really small cast iron ones, it is 8" or 7". I paid 35 for it locally, other areas had similar ads, almost all the presses in the ads are new. They seem really good, for what they are. i just needed some parts. I have a big drill press witha 5hp motor, and various mills.

It might be to heavy for you to move around, are you looking for something even smaller. When I was a Kid, I bought my dad a DP that took a corded hand drill, worked great, and similar things are still being made. Wood folks use DPs to get square holes, but the Press part refers to the need to get enormous down pressure on the bit to drill into metals. To do that, you need something like the cast models with separate motors. But for woodworking, all kinds of flimsy things will deliver good results.

There is a very effective alternative used by chair makers. You get a brace, but it could be an cordless drill etc... Some of those even have levels, which is great if you can rely on them. If not get a drill extension, and you hang from it a thing like a swing, but it holds one of those micro levels. It has to be made well enough so that when it reads level, the drill extension really is level. You mount you workpiece in a vise, dead vertical. I hope you have a vise. But if you didn't maybe it could be an easel-like thing on a wall, so long as your piece will stay put for you to drill, and is vertical. This thing is awesome, weighs very little and can be pretty cheap. However, better still it shoots controlled holes at compound angles if you configure it for that, And that is tough on most drill presses, but I gather not required here.

I used to do it in a similar way before buying a drill press: I glued up four square hardwood sticks (approximately 1.5"x1.5") around the drill bit I was going to use (leaving the drill bit in there while gluing up), as shown in here (picture after glue up):



Glue up the four sticks simultaneously, standing upright in order the base plane will be perfectly perpendicular to the drilling axis even if the sticks are not cut perpendicularly. Then glue the four sticks to a 1/4" plywood base (closing the bottom hole - when drilling the first hole you simply drill through the base.).

The sticks must be e little bit shorter than the difference of the usable drill bit length minus drilling depth minus plywood base thickness.

Mark the axis outside the jig, align it on the headstock clamp the jig to the jig to the headstock and drill the hole.

The jig will do it for more than four holes before wearing out, but it won't last forever, it's a disposable item. That's why I don't have anymore one to show off.

As Brian said before a cheap drill press with too much play can be a frustrating experience. If you get this jig clamped properly to the head stock it's much better than a cheap drill press. I think this jig is a good option if you just want go ahead with your uke, without looking for a drill press or a friend who can drill you a jig as Liam mentioned.

I used to drill the tuner holes with a hand drill. Its really not that hard to get it straight.....straight enough anyway. Machine tuners don't require a super accurate hole. Those gears and bushings have hidden a few mistakes in the past
Maybe just a cheap drill guide would help keep it straight and square. Something like this... http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page ... ll%20guide

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions.
I will think about which way is the best way for me.

Moving the drill press around could be troublesome as well. Especially, it is quite heavy. I am not even sure whether my dining table can handle it. haha..

Thanks