How to Make an Angle Drilling Jig

An angle drilling jig will help do the job.


My Drilling jig recently got featured on Popular Mechanics.  

When you cannot angle your drill press table you have to rig something up. Having a jig would be the best. This jig is simple to make, adjusts up to 45-degrees and locks easy.                                                                             

Material list:                                                                                    

Wood- Small piece plywood  1x4', 3/4 inch                                                                                  

  Hardware-4 trim head screws                                                                                                   

     1 foot of 3/8"threaded Rod                                                                                                    

    2 knobs                                                                                                                                   

 Tools:                                                                                                                                      

 Table saw                                                                                                                            

Band saw                                                                                                                           

Drill press                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                 

 A  Dowel Stop Gauge is used to measure the drill press table top (195cm) then transferred over to the table saw to set the fence.                                     

The sides are traced from a previous jig I made. This was for the            

  Candle and match holder to drill angled holes for the matches.      

        

At first glance the angle hole looks difficult to drill,  but using the jig made it very easy.                                                                                                  

Marking and cutting the pieces are done on the bandsaw and table saw. There are many ways to make these cuts but for speed these 45-degree cuts are easiest cut on the bandsaw. They can always be cleaned up with some sanding. 

The pieces are laid out.....  now the fun part of putting it all together.

Trim head screws are used for the tabletop, the small diameter head allows for a somewhat clean finish. The other screw shown is a regular wood screw and these would always have to be countersunk.                                          

These screws resemble a finish nail in appearance and function. A

Robertson screwdriver is used for these screws and have a #4 head
 permitting the screw to be countersunk like a finishing nail.

The clamp

To make the clamp a 1 foot 3/8" threaded rod is used, it is cut to size and the ends are  cleaned up with a belt sander. This will help so the nuts will go on freely.                                                                                                       

Wooden knobs with nuts inserted are used for the 
threaded rod. These are homemade but local hardware

stores sell similar types.

 A pencil was taped onto the bottom board and the board was raised and lowered to give an outline for the slot. A compass would be difficult to use since the center would be the end of the side.                                                                                   

After it was marked the sides are taken apart and a slot was drilled and cut on both of the  pieces.                                                                                                   

Some spacers were added to the rod to make clearance for the table top.

Setting it up and testing it out. A block and clamps are used for support for the workpiece. The jig was tested on several scrap boards, different angles and positions were tried and everything turned out great.

See Also:

       I-Beam Drill Press Table            Vacuum Hose Holder              Height Gauge