Pin Drilling Jig

[Nhgrants]

Has anyone here made their own jig for drilling barrel and ram rod thimble pins?
I would  like  to make one that would work with a hand drill.  I would like to drill half
From one side, flop the jig and drill the other half From the other side.
I'm thinking of using a an egg beater type drill. Could you post a photo of your jig.
Thanks for any tips or advise you can share.

[mtlonghunter]

Call Dave Race. He builds a nice one, fair price.

[RichG]

seconds on Dave's jig. Hardly ever use my drill press anymore.

[galudwig]

I have one of David Rase's drilling jigs and love it. He includes a long 1/16" bit for pin holes and a long 1/8 bit for filling tang and lock bolt holes.



Tom Snyder of Hancock, Michigan all makes a good one. He includes a 1/16" arbor and alignment pin with the jug.  You can also purchase arbors and alignment pins for 5/64" and a #29 drill bit.



When it comes to making my own tools, I will make some things myself.  Just like building guns though, I've a lot to learn about making my own tools.  When well known and respected builders offer some of their useful tools for sale, I don't mind spending the money on them as I know I'll be getting something made with the same care and quality that they put into their firearms.  I also like supporting ALR and CLA artists whenever I can. Just my two cents...

[P.W.Berkuta]

Sometimes it is less expensive and less frustrating to buy some tools or fixtures already made - this might be the case for you unless you have the equipment and skill to make them yourself. I've made my own and found that if I was to do it again I would have purchased it. I copied Dave's fixture style and "fiddled" with getting it just right that I wasted a lot of time because I ended up having to make a second one. My advice is to just "bite the bullet" and buy one - my two cents

[Daryl Pelfrey]

With these jigs do the pin holes come out exactly where it suppose to?

[Daryl]

With these jigs do the pin holes come out exactly where it suppose to?

If your alignment of them and the drill (press) is perfect, they should.

[Mark Elliott]

I have one of David's jigs and it works fine.   I switched to that after I accidentally put a drill bit through a barrel using my drill press.    I drill the hole through the wood first as instructed, then then drill through the metal.   You need to drill the lug, tenon, or tab in the stock so that the hole goes through at the correct angle.   I made the mistake once of drilling a thimble out of the stock and ended up with an extra hole on the exit side of the stock.    You just need to carefully measure and locate the holes.   I punch them to provide a dimple for the jig. 

[galudwig]

With these jigs do the pin holes come out exactly where it suppose to?

Dave includes an excellent set of instructions with his jig. By following them, I've improved my accuracy in getting the holes to come out where they should be. Many people say they can drill their pin holes by eye faster than it takes to set up a drilling jig. I wish I was one of them, but I unfortunately do not have that ability. For me, I don't mind spending the extra time to set up a jig when the holes come out in the right place the first time.

[Curtis]

I find a key to success in drilling holes that enter and exit where you want them is to only drill a small amount at a time, then back out the drill bit to clean out the chips before proceeding. This is especially critical when using small drill bits, with or without a jig.  I find the types of jigs pictured above help a great deal.

Curtis

[Jerry V Lape]

Made a jig like those shown but with a substantial base which I can clamp in a vise leaving my hands free to work the drill.  Works great as long as I only drill halfway from each side.  Just need to flip the wood over and reset on the points.  The drill bit becomes the point on drill side.  Pushing the hollowed point on the drill side into the wood leaves no place for the saw dust to exit and snaps drills quickly.  I just leave about 1/8" between wood and the drill guide bolt and press the drill bit into the center punched entry point.  Lube the interior of the drill guide bolt with a very light machine oil to keep drill from overheating and seizing  in the drill guide bolt hole. Obviously I had a few learning events to arrive at my method so I suggest you experiment on some scrap maple before going to your stock.  I use a portable power drill but I am looking for a quality egg beater as I think they may actually be a better tool for this.   

[flehto]

The webs at the breech are 1/16" thick on my Bucks County builds and the purchased pin drilling jig , even after  a lot of "fiddling around", wasn't accurate enough and took way too much time.  W/ the drill press setup shown, 4  drilled holes in the bbl lugs takes 15 mins and slightly less for the 3 RR pipes...all holes are drilled through in one swipe.  The time does not include the hole layouts.

Parallel clamps are used at each location and after the first hole is drilled, a music wire pin is pushed in and the clamps are moved to the next location and then that hole is drilled through. The hole nearest the muzzle is done when the setup is turned around end for end.

The pin holes for the TG  and the  trigger pivot are also done w/ this setup.

If these pin hole drilling jigs work for  many builders, that's a good thing....I found that they weren't for me for the above reasons...Fred

[P.W.Berkuta]

Like the old saying goes "There is more than one way to skin a cat" - do what works for you .

[Scota4570]

I cheat.