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268 Making Things Move

The next step up from using a hand drill FIGURE 9-4 A drill press
or Dremel is to use a drill press (see
Figure 9-4). The Dremel company makes
a setup called the 220-01 WorkStation,
which you can use to mount your
Dremel tool and create a benchtop drill
press for around $40. This allows you to
drill holes perpendicular to your work
surface as well as at set angles. More
heavy-duty drill presses, such as those
that sit on your table or stand on the
floor, can be found at McMaster for a
higher price tag.

A deburring tool (such as McMaster
4289A35) is a handy tool to have
available when you are drilling holes in
metal. It has a sharp, pivoting head that
cleans off the burrs, or little chips of
metal, that your drill will leave at the
opening and exit of a hole. If you don’t
have one, a small circular file or
countersink tool will do.

roject 9-2: Drill a Centered Hole Without
Pa Lathe
The first time you try to drill a hole in the center of a rod or shaft, you’ll realize that a
hand drill or even a drill press is not the best tool for the job. It’s almost impossible to
mark the true center of a rod, let alone drill exactly into that mark. A lathe is designed
to work with circular parts, and it is the best tool to use if you need a hole exactly in
the center of something. If you don’t have access to a lathe, here is an example of
how to best use a drill press to drill a hole in the center of something. (This project is
based on Vik Olliver’s blog post at http://vik-olliver.blogspot.com/2010/02/drilling-
down-middle.html.)