What's the easiest way to make a 1-3/4" hole?

[BuckeyeDennis]

I thought that I had finally accumulated enough tools to make most any woodworking cut with relative ease and precision. But yesterday, I ran across a seemingly trivial task that would seem to say otherwise. I simply want to make a Shopsmith way-tube sized hole in a piece of pine 2x6. A 1-3/4" diameter hole, to be specific.

Plan A: No problem -- I'll just grab a Forstner bit. Nope -- my set jumps from 1-5/8" up to 2".

Ok, Plan B. Get out my tool-of-death adjustable circle cutter (and the Shopsmith speed reducer, so that I can spin it at 100 RPM and not actually lose any valuable body parts). Uh-oh, it only adjusts down to a 1-7/8" diameter.

Plan C: Well crap, let's see if I can find my old hole-saw set, and cut from both sides. Ten minutes later, I finally found them. But no 1-3/4" saw in the set.

Plan D: Desperate times call for desperate measures. I have a cool old adjustable auger bit that came in a 10ER goody box. Sure 'nuff, it turned out that I can set it for 1-3/4". Next clean the sawdust off of my biggest antique brace, and give it a try. Wow -- that takes a lot of torque -- good thing the brace has a ratcheting mechanism. But with the workpiece held in my bench vise, the brace is up too high for me to add much down-force, and the screw pilot stripped out the wood after drilling maybe 1/4" inch deep. I could have rigged up some sort of lower-down workholding means, but the auger-bit cut was going to be more ragged than I wanted anyway.

Plan E: Just how much does a 1-3/4" Forstner bit cost, anyway? It turns out that the local Woodcraft has some for about $20. But that's an hour drive, round trip. Time to get creative.

Plan F: Drill a 1-5/8" hole with a Forstner bit. Then use my overarm pin router to open it up to 1-3/4". That's not too hard -- just use a 1/2" guide pin with a 3/4" router bit, to open up the topside of the hole. Then flip the workpiece over and use a flush-trim bit to extend the larger bore all the way through. Not too bad, but I could probably make the trip to Woodcraft in the time it takes to do all that. And then I'd have the right tool for the job the next time I need it.

Plan G: Use the Shopsmith in lathe mode to make a pattern with a 1-3/4" bore. Then use a router and a pattern bit to transfer the bore to the workpiece. Nah, that's even more work Plan F.

Half-baked plans: I also considered pattern sanding on the Shopsmith, but it didn't seem practical on a relatively small ID like that. And buying a Shaper Origin is not in the cards for this project! It also dawned on me that an adjustable boring bar mounted to the Shopsmith spindle should be able to open up nice clean custom-sized holes in a stationary workpiece. But although such boring bars are common for metalworking, I've never seen one for woodworking lathes -- much less a Shopsmith.

So guys, I'm out of ideas. Any others from the Shopsmith brain trust?

[Hobbyman2]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Desk-Grommet-W ... Sw--hdYXJv

easiest way would be to use one of these ? I have found them at the big box stores or local HVAC plumbing supply house as well.

If you have the arbor,,, https://www.ebay.com/itm/DeWalt-1-1-2-i ... Sw9DZdixRa

[rpd]

Back to plan D. Could you mount the work piece in the vise so that you are boring horizontally. That way you get it at a comfortable height and use your leg muscles to provide the force (lean in)

[dusty]

Plan G would be my choice except for the fact that I have a set of Forstner bits that would do the job.

[algale]

Why not just drill a 2" hole and then subtract a 1/4" hole.

Or drill a 1" hole and then add a 3/4" hole.

[GoNavy]

I think I would take a stab at plan A with 1 5/8 Forstner bit then expand the hole the extra 1/8 inch using a sanding drum, either free hand using a drill or on your drill press. sanding drum bit doesn't need to be the exact size, you can get away with a smaller size. Just outline the hole where it needs to get to and sand to it. Drill press would give you a straighter hole, unless you mark both sides. If you don't have any drum sanding bits, you might be able to double face tape some 40 grit to your 1 5/8 forstner bit. Might work in a pinch

[masonsailor2]

My go to for these problems ....Amazon. You can get next day delivery.
https://www.amazon.com/Steelex-D1013-1- ... 2F4&sr=8-4

[bainin]

A hole cutter bit in drill press mode works well for me.

I used to try them free hand with a drill-but they would skip around the surface too much and make a mess of things.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Hobbyman, I looked online, and my nearby Home Depot stocks hole saws in the correct size. But my arbor doesn't fit them, so the total cost would be right up there with a Forstner bit.

GoNavy, I do have an assortment of sanding drums, and I didn't even think about free-hand enlarging the hole. I'm sure that I could get a pretty good fit that way.

Al, I'm pretty sure that those "advanced" hole-forming techniques only work for lawyers!

Ron, now I feel just plain dumb. I've even watched Roy Underhill use a bit & brace with that exact technique. So your suggestion gets the prize for most expeditious. I tried it after lunch, and now I understand why Roy was breathing hard! My hole came out a little rough, probably because the pilot auger is the only thing keeping that one-sided cutter on axis. After knocking down the ridges with a rasp, it was a mite oversize, but probably serviceable for my immediate application.

Auger & hole.JPG (308.3 KiB) Viewed 19872 times

Tube in hole.JPG (324.62 KiB) Viewed 19872 times

As you might surmise from the last photo, my immediate application is a quick and dirty bushing to support the outboard end of a 10ER way tube for surface-rust cleanup. I'll probably coat the inside of the bushing with beeswax, and then fasten it to my Mark V's aux table. I have a freeze plug that I could drive the tube with, but after seeing jsburgers setup a while back, I think I'll drive it with in my Nova chuck like he did.

Paul, I'm going to go with your solution long-term. I have a couple of way-tube mounted fixtures in the planning stages, and I'll need accurate holes for those. Matter of fact, I'm going to order that Forstner bit today, just in case the slop in my hand-tool bushing bore causes problems.

Thanks everyone!

[algale]

I've got that same bit and a similar brace and used it many years ago to size some holes for the way tubes. I found that I had the best success if I clamped a sacrificial board behind the board I was boring (are you bored yet? ) so that the pilot had something to grip all way thru.

Glad you got it worked out without my addition/subtraction drilling techniques.