Handle drilling jig

[iimi]

Been making more wa handles recently, and I figured it would be way faster to make a simple jig to drill my holes. I had a drilling jig for a very different purpose already, so I used some scrap wood to basically repurpose it into a handle drill jig.

There are two side rails of equal thickness glued to two strips of 1" wide wood with a 1.25" gap in between them. The dark wood you can see in the middle of the jig is a piece of bocote I'm making a mono handle out of. Basically, I can shape my blanks to 1.25" x 1" size and slide it into the jig, then adjust the metal rail to wherever I want. The metal piece is also drilled and tapped on the sides to clamp down onto the wood. Figured I'd share since I know a lot of people don't have space for a drill press and this was a pretty quick project.

 

[enchappo]

Nice!

 

[deltaplex]

Are you using dowels after drilling or removing material to turn the drilled hole into a slot?

 

[iimi]

Are you using dowels after drilling or removing material to turn the drilled hole into a slot?

I can do both, I usually drill for a slightly oversized slot but dowels are pretty much just as easy. I just don't like slotting dowels much.

 

[Keith Sinclair]

Saw a video of how they do it in Japan.

The handle sits in a adjustable slot the boring drill moves on rails horizontally. Handles in volume

My favorite part of Wa handle is sanding seeing how nice the wood becomes with higher grits. Drilling holes less favorite part.

 

[deltaplex]

I think I like rough shaping the best, closely followed by the first finish coat, then progressive finish sanding. I have slot cutting last, but it's only because it's where I'm most likely to deviate from plan and end up unhappy with the results, it also means it's the one I'm most focused on.

 

[Dan-]

This vise looks interesting: Self-Centering Pen Drilling Vise - Lee Valley Tools

It’s marketed for pens, but it should work for handles. Of course it also needs a drill press.