Drill Bit Stop Collars...Are they all junk?

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:02 am

Another thing that you can do to keep those hand drills vertical is to cut a 1/2" x 1/2" (or smaller) rabbet on the corner of a piece of 2x4 (or whatever). This will allow you to see both the spot where you want to drill the hole and provides a frame of reference to keep the drill bit vertical.

dforeman · Post by **dforeman** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:27 am

All very good ideas. I have to admit that I too have used the tape method from time to time. I learned this a long time ago back before I ever owned a drill press. But, I tend to use electrical tape. I've found that it adheres to the drill bit much better than masking tape.

nil · Post by **nil** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 7:51 pm

Not that I am likely to do this but I wanted to point out the headstock does come off the way tubes and the depth stop still works. Someone determined could build a frame to hold the headstock without anything blocking a large workpiece...

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 8:01 am

Lots of good information, thanks to you all. I do have a followup.

After further digging, I found THE best stop collar out there. It's from a small family owned company in Rhode Island, WL Fuller. They call it a drill stop. It's a finely machined drill bit stop collar for about $4 (for 1 collar). It fits the bit precisely. It's taller and thicker than the others I've found and has 2 larger set screws. It stays put. It removes and adjusts easily. It's a joy to use.

To be honest, even the cheapies work much better for me now that I'm tightening the set screw inside the flute as Gene recommended.

You can see the Fuller collar in the picture compared to the smaller Harbor Freight collar, which cost $2.99 for an entire set.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 9:08 am

tomsalwasser wrote:Lots of good information, thanks to you all. I do have a followup.

After further digging, I found THE best stop collar out there. It's from a small family owned company in Rhode Island, WL Fuller. They call it a drill stop. It's a finely machined drill bit stop collar for about $4 (for 1 collar). It fits the bit precisely. It's taller and thicker than the others I've found and has 2 larger set screws. It stays put. It removes and adjusts easily. It's a joy to use.

To be honest, even the cheapies work much better for me now that I'm tightening the set screw inside the flute as Gene recommended.

You can see the Fuller collar in the picture compared to the smaller Harbor Freight collar, which cost $2.99 for an entire set.

Tis possible to add a second set screw to the HF ones. I would make the set screw longer if always using the flutes.

2.99 x .8 = 2.39 Hmmmmm!

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:36 am

Brilliant idea! I only need drill stops on my 3/8 bits for doweling so I don't mind spending the $4 (actually $8 since I have 2 common depths that I leave set all the time).

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 12:45 pm

tomsalwasser wrote:Lots of good information, thanks to you all. I do have a followup.

After further digging, I found THE best stop collar out there. It's from a small family owned company in Rhode Island, WL Fuller. They call it a drill stop. It's a finely machined drill bit stop collar for about $4 (for 1 collar). It fits the bit precisely. It's taller and thicker than the others I've found and has 2 larger set screws. It stays put. It removes and adjusts easily. It's a joy to use.

To be honest, even the cheapies work much better for me now that I'm tightening the set screw inside the flute as Gene recommended.

You can see the Fuller collar in the picture compared to the smaller Harbor Freight collar, which cost $2.99 for an entire set.

And this is the company?

http://www.wlfuller.com/index.html