Jig for drilling holes. The nuances of making a high-quality furniture jig, we do it ourselves A template for drilling holes when assembling furniture
Very often, when repairing furniture or assembling it, you need to accurately drill holes for the firmmat, dowel and other fasteners. If you drill chipboard sheet, then it is almost impossible to do this with a simple drill, since the hole breaks and it is not always possible to make a right angle. Therefore, for such work you must have a tool called a conductor.
Classification of conductors
The main function of jigs is to ensure straightness in drilling wooden surfaces throughout the entire depth of the hole. Such devices are used quite often in metal processing and, as a rule, are supplied directly with the machine. Due to the need to create such holes in furniture production in large quantities, such devices are in great demand among craftsmen.
There are the following types of conductors:
If the jig has sufficient rigidity, then it can be used not only on flat planes, but also for curved pipes, etc. In this case, it is secured with a clamp. But under no circumstances should it be used for fastening to wooden surfaces, as you can damage the furniture. You can buy it in the store, or make it yourself.
The jig is in fact a template for making holes, with the help of which such work can be done with maximum accuracy. Due to the simplicity of the structure, they are often used not only in the areas of furniture production. In particular, they are actively used in the field of mechanical engineering for drilling holes in various workpieces, etc. We should not forget about the furniture industry, where such a device is used for various needs when assembling furniture fittings.
Features of self-production
When designing a conductor for confirmation, it is necessary to correctly calculate what functions it will have to perform in the future. It should be done for the most commonly used fasteners in the house. If such a device is required by furniture makers for permanent job, then it is better to buy a factory sample, which is characterized by great accuracy. In addition, manufacturers often include additional fasteners, stops and templates in the kit.
The price of such a device for professional use ranges from 400 to 1100 rubles. It depends on the immediate capabilities of a particular unit, the number of holes made, their length, etc. Many people are interested in how to make a furniture jig with their own hands. Drawings with dimensions are a must for novice craftsmen, as they allow you to make a high-quality design on the first try. Similar diagrams can be found on the Internet.
Basically, the conductor has the following elements:
- The basis of the product. It is directly applied to the plane of the furniture, on which the holes will be drilled.
- Guide bushings. A drill goes through them.
- Surface clamping parts. As a rule, they are located at the end of the conductor.
To start designing your own conductor, you need to choose the right corner. It is better to make a non-equal-flanged corner, since it will have much more possibilities, and choose the maximum thickness of the shelf.
Next you need to take care of the correct direction of the sleeve. It can be made from stainless pipe. The length of the sleeve should be at least twice as long as the hole in which it will be located on the angle. The bushing should fit tightly in the hole. The simplest and most common option is planting according to the shaft principle. A corresponding hole is drilled in the corner for the already known diameter of the bushing, and then the fit is made. It is recommended to use a low interference fit.
There are cases when the jig needs to be made for drilling deep holes. Then the bushing is made with a collar. The number of possible holes, their length and the distance between them is selected to suit the specific needs of each master.
Several options can be used to attach the device:
Design for confirmations and dowels
Furniture jig for drilling holes for dowels and confirmat - very necessary equipment for furniture makers. Especially if chipboard material is used.
For these purposes, two types of conductor are used:
- Dowel jig with clamp fastening with many functions. The basis of this design is a corner made of thick aluminum. Since the device is quite long, there is an additional fastener in the middle. When turning the angle ninety degrees, the increased thickness of the device helps a lot. The bushings on the structure are located at the distance most often used for confirmations and dowels in furniture production.
- A two-slider jig, which is used to make a hole in two parts fastened together. The design consists of two strips that are connected by fasteners. It has several holes, so you can install devices at different widths.
Scope of use
Furniture jigs are devices that no furniture maker can do without while working. Such devices allow you to avoid the main problem in furniture production, namely the drill entering at the wrong angle. If you make such a mistake, it is very difficult or even impossible to correct it later. Such a device not only makes it possible to correctly direct the drill during operation, but also allows the tool to constantly maintain the desired trajectory (flat, perpendicular or at an angle).
Such devices are used both in the design and production of furniture, and during assembly, when there is a need to make holes for fastening elements together. Often, for such actions, conductors are used for firmmats or dowels, without which it is impossible to make straight holes. Also, you cannot do without this device if you need to make holes at an angle or in the end of a thin slab (it is especially important to use the device when working with chipboards).
When drilling holes using this design, the process itself is quick and simple. The fastener allows you to do work at any distance from the edge of the slab, as well as regardless of its width.
In the furniture industry, dowels are often used as fasteners. But at the same time, this option has already existed for a long time, and their use requires the presence of a drilling jig when working. The only condition and at the same time a problem is the fact that the parts being connected to each other must have a right angle during operation. Therefore, such elements must be located exactly perpendicular to each other. When making holes for dowels and adding parts, it will be very difficult to do without a jig.
Furniture production is not the only area of application for such devices. They can often be used to make holes in pipes and other round-shaped parts. Special devices allow you to do quality holes even in the smallest tubes.
The principle of their operation and dimensions may be different. Some narrow-profile models are better to buy than to produce yourself. But, on the other hand, the price of such devices is not small, so this is a disadvantage when compared with home-made models.
How to make it yourself
The most simple designs they are cheap, and professional furniture makers are not puzzled homemade production, but prefer to buy factory models. But there are also craftsmen who want to make such a device with their own hands.
For self-creation The conductor needs to use drawings, of which there are a lot on the Internet. With your own hands you can make simple designs for confirmations and more complex ones for dowels.
For production you need to prepare the following tools:
- drill;
- classic set of tools for a locksmith;
- welding;
- Bulgarian.
The simplest conductor can be made from improvised means, which are generally found in any household, in a workshop in the country or in a garage. To create it, the simplest materials are suitable, such as reinforcement, metal sheets and wooden blocks, etc. They can significantly save money in the production of such a device.
The manufacture of such a device should be carried out in several stages:
To ensure that there is little dust during operation, it is necessary to install half plastic bottle. It will also collect dust.
Sometimes at home you need to make holes in blanks made of wood, metal, chipboard or other material.
Rotary
The device body is equipped with bushings that adjust the rotation axes in horizontal, vertical and inclined planes. These models of jigs are designed for drilling cylindrical products.
Sliding
The name speaks for itself, the jig is not attached in any way, it is simply placed where the hole needs to be made.
Tiltable
Capable of making holes in several planes.
Stationary
They do not have rotating elements and are capable of moving the part and processing workpieces of the same type.
Universal
These conductors have a function such as readjustment. This allows small businesses to quickly and conveniently switch to the production of a new product.
Description of conductors
Let's start with the concept of conductor is a so-called template, the use of which allows for comfortable and ultra-precise drilling.
Moreover, you can drill either perpendicular to the surface or at any angle. If you use a conductor, then you do not need special qualifications, make complex calculations, mark where the holes will be, which saves a lot of time.
Areas of application
As we can see, due to the versatility and simplicity of their design, conductors are widely used in different areas activities.
Mechanical engineering
In the mechanical engineering industry, they are used for drilling holes in various workpieces made from common materials. Conductors are used that repeat the drawing with exact observance of all dimensions. Also used when drilling holes of mixed type is required.
Furniture production
The most important distribution of conductors was in furniture production. Furniture conductors are used for installing fittings, assembling furniture and many other technological processes.
At the same time, furniture assembly is neat, precise and fast. A large amount of furniture contains dowels, which must be installed very precisely and there is no need for a conductor.
The most common jig for dowels is doweling. They mainly use overhead conductors made of lightweight materials.
Construction
Another area in which jigs are widely used for drilling holes is construction. They are used to drill technological holes in building structures, For example, .
Main advantages of use
You can buy a conductor or make it yourself.
But before choosing a model, you should decide for what tasks it will be used and, based on all this data, you should choose the type and design of the tool.
So why should you use jigs for drilling holes?:
- Intuitive use that does not require professional skills.
- Low price of the device, as well as the possibility of self-production.
- Saves a lot of time.
- There is no need to mark the surface to be treated using.
- Maintain precision when drilling.
A jig for drilling holes is an integral part not only of production, but it will also be useful in home life.
How to make a conductor with your own hands
Since there are many types of conductors, we will consider original design and analogue respectively. And so let's begin.
Jig for perpendicular drilling
Its main purpose is to make holes in thick workpieces at an angle of 90. In essence, it is a set of bushings combined in one body. Usually these are overhead conductors, which are widely used in furniture assembly.
Just place the device on the surface and you can start drilling right away, without punching. There is one drawback: the device should be held tightly, especially at the beginning of work. Because vibration can cause the device to shift.
This type of conductors can be made with your own hands.
- As a base, you can use a wooden block, a piece of textolite, reinforcement with square section 10x10 mm.
- We treat the surface well, clean it and begin marking.
- Please note that the center of the holes should be 8 mm. from the edge of the workpiece. This is due to the fact that 8 mm. this is half the thickness of the sheet.
- According to standards, there should be exactly 32 mm between the centers of the holes.
- After that, we make holes with a diameter of 5 mm in these centers.
A homemade conductor can be used, but for more convenient use a stop should be constructed; for this, metal 23-25 mm wide is used. and 1 mm thick, after which the sheet is bent at an angle of 90 and attached to the conductor. You can also insert bushings into the base of the conductor different diameters.
Conductor for pipes and cylindrical blanks
Everyone knows that making a hole in a sloping surface is problematic; the end of the drill constantly jumps off. This type of conductors is fixed in a given position and allows you to work with high precision.
This type of conductors can be made quickly and independently.
- To do this, we need a block of hard wood, loosened diagonally. And we attach a piece of plywood to the edge of the block using self-tapping screws.
- Then we make holes required diameter in a wooden block.
That's it, the conductor is ready for work. To make the holes less likely to break, they can be reinforced with metal sleeves, which are made from round pipes of different diameters.
Jig for drilling holes at an angle
This type of drilling is rarely used.
It should be noted here that in metal products this type of hole is made only with a milling cutter. And as for wooden products, then there are ready-made solutions in the form of kits.
It’s easy to use these jigs; we press the workpiece tightly to the base, set the specified height, and as a result we get smooth and beautiful oblique holes at an angle. Yes, if we don’t need a through hole, then don’t forget to put a stop ring on the drill itself.
On your own this type The devices are difficult and problematic to manufacture. There's enough simple ways and options, but they are not accurate. So, for example, a drill is placed on a prepared inclined surface and our workpiece is drilled at the resulting angle, as we understand, the accuracy suffers greatly.
Jig for drilling holes for dowels
Their main purpose is to maintain the alignment of the holes, into which dowels will subsequently be installed. That is, when you apply the jig to both sides of the product, you get a perfect joint.
As you understand, this type of conductors can be made independently. If you have a flow of workpieces with the same geometry, it will be convenient for you to use an overlay template. It is advisable to use hardboard or other material as a template. transparent material(plastic).
We mark and drill holes. It is advisable to drive brass or copper tubes into the holes so that the drill does not break the calibration hole.
Universal device
When you use blanks various forms and sizes, then you will need universal device. The most interesting thing is that this device can be made from scrap materials.
- For this we need plywood about 15 mm thick.
- We make three identical blanks.
- We make holes along the edges into which dowels are installed as legs.
- We make one hole in the middle, which we reinforce with a metal tube.
- Let's make three metal strips with symmetrically located holes, they will serve as a shoulder. These shoulders are responsible for the linearity of the holes of the future conductor.
- We make cuts in the plywood blanks and install metal shoulders, securing everything. Our universal self-centering jig is ready.
Conclusion
Any universal conductor for drilling holes is made to save time and money. Whether you make it yourself or buy it ready-made in a store is up to you to decide.
A jig for drilling holes greatly facilitates the work of furniture makers and other specialists who, due to their line of work, have to make precise holes in wood, chipboard, MDF, metal and other materials.
What kind of conductors are there and whether this device can be made with your own hands are the main questions that the article is devoted to.
Basic information about conductors
Conductors – simple devices, a kind of templates that have been successfully used in mechanical engineering for a long time.
They allow you to make a hole in the right place and at a strictly defined angle. The scope of application of jigs is very wide, from drilling machines to diamond drilling installations.
Today, every furniture maker has in his arsenal a set of these tools that allow him to assemble furniture cabinets, install fittings and perform other operations.
Conductors are needed in construction (for example, to make holes in the wall of a building) and various industries.
As a rule, only overhead models are used here, which are made from lightweight materials to facilitate the work of the master.
A furniture jig can be factory-made or made by hand.
Many craftsmen have such a trained eye and precise hand that it is not at all difficult for them to drill holes at the desired angle without additional devices. However, this requires enormous experience and, perhaps, talent.
With the help of the tool that this article is devoted to, even a novice furniture maker will be able to make precise holes for dowels and assemble cabinet furniture without complicated preliminary calculations and markings. This reduces labor intensity and, therefore, the cost of work and speeds up the process.
Before you buy or make a conductor, you need to decide on the types and purpose.
Overhead jigs are so named because they are placed on the workpiece to be worked with. They are either fixed to the part or simply held by hand.
Using overhead tools, for example, holes are made in MDF boards.
Rotary jigs are necessary if you need holes on the surface of the cylinder. Inclined, vertical and horizontal rotation axes allow you to drill holes at different angles.
Unified jigs are especially in demand in small batch production, where it is necessary to drill many holes in similar parts of various sizes.
This is possible thanks to the ability to retool the tool under different size details.
The scope of application of tiltable conductors is the need to make holes in several planes.
The sliding jig does not need to be fixed on the surface of the machine - it is adjusted to the specific surface in which a hole needs to be drilled.
It is more convenient to work with fixed models, but sliding models provide the master with a certain freedom of action when working on a single-spindle drilling machine, especially if several holes are needed on one surface.
Something about the scope
The jig for drilling holes is included in the list necessary tools for furniture assembly. One of the difficulties when making any holes is that the drill may enter the material being drilled at the wrong angle.
It can take a lot of effort and time to correct the situation, and not all errors can be corrected.
The jig serves not only as a template, thanks to which the master understands where to drill, but also guides the drill and prevents it from deviating from the given direction.
First of all, the tool is necessary for specialists who produce furniture, but during assembly it is not so uncommon when a finished furniture set does not have the necessary holes, for example, for dowels.
The jig is indispensable for drilling thin boards, such as chipboard, for making holes at an angle and many other operations.
Accurate, simple, quick assembly furniture always involves this tool. With its help, you can make a hole at any distance from the edge of the part, regardless of its width.
One of the operations in which you cannot do without a conductor is the installation of dowels.
By and large, dowels are a thing of the past; in modern furniture production they already use other types of fasteners for connecting various parts cabinet furniture. However, connections using dowels are still quite widely used.
The main difficulty in assembling them lies precisely in the accuracy of the location of the holes, and in a strictly perpendicular direction, so that the parts can be connected at an angle of 90°.
If even one hole is in the wrong place or at the wrong angle, this will lead to errors that are quite difficult to correct. Special tool called a doweling jig.
Furniture is a common, but not the only area of application for drilling tools. The second important area is drilling pipes and other cylindrical blanks. Conductors allow you to drill even small-diameter pipes.
If collected various types templates for drilling on the same workbench, it turns out that they are very different in appearance and sizes.
Some are easier to buy factory-made, especially if making tools is not your hobby, others can be made with your own hands without much difficulty.
Multifunctional conductors from famous manufacturers They’re not cheap – by assembling them yourself, you can save a lot of money.
Conductors of our own production
The simplest tools are inexpensive, so many craftsmen find it easier to buy them. However, there are enthusiasts for whom instrument making is of some interest.
In addition, with your own hands you can make a truly durable tool that will faithfully serve for many years.
Another reason to make your own tool is if you need a template for custom holes.
There are a large number of drawings and video instructions on the Internet for making jigs for drilling with your own hands.
For this you need a set of tools:
- drill;
- corner grinding machine(Bulgarian);
- standard set of locksmith tools;
- welding machine - not necessary in all cases, but for making the most complex tools with your own hands, it may be required.
Another argument in favor self-production conductors - every master will probably have necessary preparations for their manufacture: wooden blocks, pieces of reinforcement, metal plates.
The template jig for accurately marking and drilling holes along it is so simple that even a novice craftsman can make it.
Take reinforcement with a square cross-section of 10 x 10 mm (or larger) - required length need to be cut with a hacksaw or grinder.
It is advisable to prepare the sections using a file and sandpaper. This is the basis of the future conductor.
Now you need to mark the holes. One of them should be located at a distance of 8 mm from the edge of the jig - at this distance is the central part of the chipboard board.
Furniture standards dictate the pitch between the holes - it is 32 mm. According to this marking it is necessary to drill holes with a diameter of 5 mm.
The jig is almost ready for use, but if you equip it with a stop, it will be much more convenient to assemble the furniture.
It is made from a metal plate 1 mm thick and 25 mm wide. The blank for the stop must be bent at a right angle and secured in a clamp together with a ready-made part made of reinforcement.
Now you need to make holes for the threads and fasten the two parts together with bolts.
The furniture jig can be equipped with half a plastic bottle so that drilling holes is not so dusty. From the same plastic bottle you can build a small tray for collecting chips.
This is the simplest jig for drilling holes, which will make assembling cabinet furniture much easier.
With it, you don’t have to worry that the drill may go into chipboard board crooked or drill through it.
The jig for drilling holes is a strip small size, having hole patterns located at certain angles and having different diameters for drilling. In essence, this tool is designed to solve the problem of positioning the drill at the correct angle to the material being processed. After all, it is sometimes simply impossible to correct such a mistake.
Design features and types of conductors
The drilling jig is actually a template of holes that allows you to make them with maximum accuracy. They can be divided into two types:
- when the drilling axis is at right angles to the surface of the material;
- when the axis passes at an acute or obtuse angle relative to the plane.
The tool has such versatility that it is used in different areas of the industry. For several decades it has been very actively used in the engineering and construction industries. After all, it allows you not only to drill holes in the necessary workpieces for different angles and excellent accuracy, having different configuration features. With its help, holes can be easily drilled in various building structures, as well as pipes made of any material, etc. The jig is often used in the furniture industry, as it greatly simplifies the process of fastening fittings and assembling its various parts. In fact, this is only a small range of tasks that a conductor can solve.
Classification of tools
Based on functionality and design functionality, drilling jigs are divided into types:
- invoices. The name comes from them functional way work, that is, it is applied to the workpiece or the surface being processed, attached to it with special clamps or held by hand. This device is suitable for drilling flat surfaces, such as boards, MDF boards and chipboards. It is called a furniture jig for drilling holes. Thanks to the use of a jig, the holes themselves are very neat and precise;
- rotary. Such templates are ideal for drilling round or cylindrical surface. Thanks to this design, the axis occupies a horizontal, vertical and inclined position to the surface. This is possible thanks to bushings that can guide the drilling line;
- universal. Similar design products are widely popular in small industrial production, Where important role quick adjustment to the existing surface plays a role. Due to their uniqueness, they are also in demand in household when you have to work with different materials, planes and surfaces;
tipping. In terms of functionality they are somewhat reminiscent of universal ones. They are necessary when you need to make a hole in different planes and at different slopes. This is very convenient for carrying out some repair work when you need to drill a hole in the wall without a lot of time and at a specific angle; - sliding. According to its name, such a conductor does not have to be attached to the surface where it is supposed to be applied. It should be noted that such a conductor is inconvenient to use, since it requires constant hand holding;
- fixed. Unlike sliding jigs, they are attached to the place where they are intended to be used. They are much easier to attach, but due to their design they limit the scope of human work. This can be clearly seen when working on walls or vertical planes having only one spindle.
Such templates allow you to maintain perpendicularity between the pipe or sphere and the drill itself. This is very important.
Furniture jigs for drilling holes deserve a separate description.
In furniture production, it is practically impossible to do without jigs or similar templates, especially when assembling all the structural elements future furniture. First of all, they correct such an error as an incorrect angle of entry of the drill into the workpiece. As you know, correcting such an error is very difficult, sometimes even impossible, and if possible, it takes a lot of time. The jig not only allows you to position the drill relative to the part, but also allows it to move away from the intended drilling direction during work.
They are used when you need to drill holes for fasteners. In this case, a conductor for confirmants or dowels is used. Without them, drilling such holes is simply impossible. And how often does it happen that when assembling furniture, a shortage of a certain number of holes necessary for final assembly is discovered.
Jig for angled holes
A jig for drilling holes at an angle is used for assembling furniture. It is often used for drilling not too thick MDF boards or chipboards, plywood. Also used in production. They can be manufactured in a specialized design, for specific operations, or in more universal form. They reduce production time inclined holes. Moreover, it will not be possible to make them exactly the same by eye.
At home you don’t often have to drill at an angle, but the need arises. This kind of conductor can be made independently, or you can buy it. The reason is that if you do not engage in mass production, then preparing templates for non-standard holes will most likely not justify the costs. It will be easier and cheaper to try to drill the hole as needed, but with small deviations, than to make templates. It may never be useful again. It's up to the owner to decide.
The jig for drilling holes for dowels is one of the simplest templates in its design. However, you should know that such templates should simplify the work of the master, and not complicate it when he is forced to use complex instruments.
Used for assembling furniture. Should allow simultaneous drilling of holes without changing the device. Used for manufacturing different materials, having different strength characteristics. The most durable unit can be considered a steel unit.
Conductor to confirm the variety and the possibility of manufacturing
Also the simplest jig for drilling a hole for confirmation. Such a conductor can be assembled at home without much difficulty. It makes sense to assemble it yourself if you are engaged in professional furniture manufacturing. It is not practical to drill one or two holes.
More complex drawings can be taken from any sources on the Internet. As the design of the device becomes more complex, its range of uses expands. In order not to bother with structurally complex devices, you can make them from readily available materials, such as metal plates, wooden beams, fittings or corners. To work with metal you may need welding materials, although you can attach the fixing elements to threaded bolts.
Advantages and Disadvantages
According to its functional purpose, the jig acts as a template according to which it is necessary to drill a hole in the required material with maximum accuracy to the original. This template greatly facilitates the work of the master when he needs to drill a strictly vertical, horizontal or inclined hole.
The master no longer needs to make sketches and measurements, having such a tool with him. The drill is positioned strictly at the required angle, which is necessary during the work process and cannot deviate. This improves the accuracy of the work, which can be seen in deep holes.
To work with furniture, the conductor must meet the following requirements:
- it should help and speed up the furniture assembly process and not require the use of complex equipment;
- allow you to make several holes at once without the need for manual markings;
- improve work with a drill;
The materials from which conductors are made have different strength characteristics. These are mainly plastic and glass made from organic raw materials. But the strongest ones are made from metals, namely steel. Therefore, when choosing, you should pay attention to the following characteristics:
- minimal deformation under heavy loads;
- clear drill direction axis;
- no heating during operation.
In furniture production, lighter conductors are used that are easy to handle. Factory or homemade options can be used.
It should be noted that a real master has a trained eye, so often he does not need all these devices to make the hole correctly.
A clear advantage of such tools is ease of use. With their help, even an inexperienced person can perform all the work at the level of a skilled worker. Here you don’t even need to do any complex calculations or have enormous experience. Its main purpose is to speed up the work process many times over.
Homemade conductor devices
A DIY jig for drilling holes is an excellent alternative to store-bought options. Since the store does not always have exactly the option that is required in at the moment. You can assemble it yourself at home.
Let's consider a more popular and standardized option, suitable for more frequently performed work, such as furniture assembly.
Diagram for assembling the conductor Reinforcement with a diameter of 10 mm or more will be required. With the help cutting tool, for example, grinders, cut into pieces of the required length. Clean the workpieces with sandpaper. According to the standard, all drilled holes have a distance of 32 cm from each other. Make marks and drill holes. The next stage involves creating reference points for our blanks. A plate made of any metal is perfect for these purposes. Thickness from 1 mm. It is unwise to use a thicker plate, since it only increases the weight of the entire device. They are connected together and then places for threaded fastening are outlined. They are connected and secured to each other. That's all, the device is ready to use.
The main purpose of the jig, which is also the most important thing, is to simplify the work with the drill and reduce the time of assembling furniture. The difference between purchased and homemade device is its adjustment to the specific needs of the master.
Quite often it becomes necessary to drill a hole at a certain angle, to a precisely specified depth, or with a standardized distance from the edge. In an equipped workshop this is not difficult to do, but during field work you have to use various devices.
Device and scope of application
There are a lot of options for drilling devices, but they are all united by the presence of three structural elements. The first is the guide bushing, which is made of steel with increased hardness and has a ground inner surface and features precise diameter tolerances. Even with a sleeve length of 10 mm, a deviation from the given direction of no more than 0.5° is ensured, especially if the sleeve is located at some distance from the surface of the workpiece.
Second structural element— a device for fixing the conductor on the workpiece or the surface being processed. As a rule, one or more screw clamps act as such an element, which makes it possible to reliably immobilize the jig relative to the workpiece. If we are talking about a device for drilling walls, the fixing element can be a handle, a vacuum suction cup or perforation for installation on temporary point fasteners. In any case, the need to immobilize the conductor is clearly dictated not only by the requirements for high accuracy, but also by the need to ensure clean processing and prevent damage to surfaces adjacent to the hole, especially slippery ones.
The third structural element is a system for positioning the conductor along markings or base surfaces. The drilling area when using a jig is, as a rule, not visible, so the body of the jig may have additional holes with marks, the centers of which are exactly aligned with the axis of the drill guide. Side stops can also be used for parts that have base planes - this positioning principle is implemented in jigs for drilling ends.
For assembling cabinet furniture
The most famous jig, which is widely used in the manufacture of cabinet furniture additives, is KWB Dubelprofi. This is a fairly universal device, which has an adjustable stop for drilling exactly into the center of the end and with a certain distance from the edge, which makes the jig an excellent tool for making holes for confirmation using a separate pattern with high accuracy of adjustment. There is also a revolving washer with guides of different diameters, thanks to which the product can be quickly reconfigured also for making connections on dowels or body ties. It is especially nice to have a guide for visually aligning the end and counter holes.
For installation of cabinet furniture there is large number simpler conductors. The greatest difficulty is drilling the ends of the parts: it is necessary to maintain not only alignment, but also parallelism to the main planes, otherwise swelling will occur when the fasteners are tightened. To solve this problem, conductors such as LUXTools, Wolcraft, NAREX and SMT656 and many other unnamed, but less efficient linear conductors can be used, in which the guides are located with fixed offsets, which also greatly simplifies the implementation of additive schemes. The “Cheron” series of jigs and templates is considered especially advanced in this regard, with the use of which the assembly of furniture on confirmats is accelerated significantly. The SMT333 and SMT334 jigs are excellent for installing hinges, but this drilling technology requires the installation of 8mm threaded bushings.
For carpentry work
The most diverse list of conductors for preparing carpentry joints. For these purposes, both single products and entire series of devices are successfully used, the use of which significantly expands the range of operations performed.
One of the most common types of jigs allows you to quickly and accurately drill for making countersunk connections on miter screws. Examples include the Wolcraft Undercover Jig, Kreg Jig Mini, and Kreg Jig K Master. These devices vary greatly in design; some may not have standard means of fixation and require the use of quick clamps. Nevertheless, the technical performance of all conductors is at a high level.
In general, products from brands such as Kreg, Wolcraft and CMT are complete systems for making carpentry joints on dowels and minifix/rafix ties, as well as marking and drilling combined holes, including blind ones. In the rulers you can find guides for performing box connections on dovetail grooves and jigs replacing lamella cutters.
General purpose
The scope of application of drilling jigs is not limited to carpentry and furniture assembly. Thus, the already mentioned KWB Dubelprofi and similar devices are ideal for drilling holes on flat surfaces, for example for fastening in walls. Jigs with a V-shaped groove on the sole are practically the only tool that allows you to quickly and accurately drill into round pipe or into a rectangular edge of a part.
The need for drilling is strictly perpendicular holes in concrete and brick walls often occurs when making openings or the need to bypass hidden technological channels or fittings. In the simplest case, for these purposes you can use drill stands Wolcraft Tecmobil or KWB 7778, these devices are also designed for desktop use. In the case of making holes of significant diameter, devices such as Mechanic Distar, designed also for drilling with Pobedit bits, are very helpful; in the same series there are convenient dust collector casings.
The most serious and highly specialized conductors are called racks for diamond drilling. In this segment you can find: budget options, such as Titan NS 1000, as well as expensive devices from Bosch and AGP. Distinctive feature such conductors - the presence of a split coupling for attaching the spindle neck of a drill or hammer drill, or a specialized drilling machine. The jigs also have a mechanical feed device, which is a mandatory requirement when using diamond bits.
Independent production of conductors
As a conclusion, it should be noted that most craftsmen do not have to spend money on quite expensive drilling devices. For one-time technical operations, it is not required that the jig be designed to drill hundreds of holes, therefore, in some cases, the usual wooden block, in which on drilling machine a number of holes of the required diameter were made, as well as drills with an extended shank.
For more technologically advanced solutions, you can use a system of a seamless pipe, perpendicularly mounted on a metal plate, and a bearing located inside it suitable size. This design can be supplemented with stops, screw clamps and centering holes with minimal effort.
