Make maximum and accurate holes in products based on natural wood, metal, MDF or chipboard can be done using a special conductor. This is an indispensable thing for those who produce furniture; such a device is also needed in other areas.
Such a conductor can be purchased ready-made, or you can make it yourself.
Features of application in the furniture industry
Conductors and templates are needed when assembling furniture. With these things, you will prevent a common problem that occurs during drilling - the drill hitting the part at the wrong angle. Correcting such an error will take an extremely long time, in some cases it will even be impossible.
A jig for making holes will not only allow you to correctly orient the working tool, but will also prevent it from straying from the desired trajectory.
In the furniture industry, conductors and templates are used in the following cases:
When using such a device, the assembly process will be much easier and faster, required holes you can do this no matter how far they should be from the edge of the part or how wide it is.
At self-assembly Furniture often has to be joined end-to-end using dowels. Holes for dowels are best made using a special jig. The peculiarity of dowels is that despite the fact that such fasteners, although outdated, are still relevant in furniture production.
The difficulty in their use lies in the fact that the axes of the holes that are made in the parts when connecting must have a right angle with each other. Accordingly, they must be placed strictly perpendicular to each other. It is difficult to do this without a special device. Therefore, if you want to achieve High Quality execution, it is recommended to buy a dowel jig.
Other uses
Hole jigs are used not only in furniture production. Quite often they are used when you need to make a hole in a pipe or other cylindrical part. Thanks to them, you can make a high-quality hole even in a pipe with a small diameter.
Such devices are universal and easy to use, so they are also used in the following industries:
- mechanical engineering - drilling holes in different-sized workpieces based on different materials;
- construction - drilling holes in building structures;
- home communications - as already mentioned, pipe drilling and more.
Modern drilling jigs can be different sizes and have different principle work. Some of them are complex, so they are easier to buy. And some modifications can be made independently, especially since some serial furniture models, especially those with universal purposes, are expensive.
Benefits of use
Essentially, such a jig acts as a template for making holes so that they are made as accurately as possible. They can be used for those holes whose axis is perpendicular to the surface of the workpiece, as well as for working at an angle.
This tool - great alternative sketches and manual measurements. You can place the drill strictly under the right angle in relation to the workpiece and do not allow any deviation. The result will be especially noticeable if we're talking about about doing deep holes.
If you use such a high-quality device for working with chipboard, then it should have the following characteristics:
- facilitate quick assembly of furniture without the need to use complex tools;
- make it possible to make several holes simultaneously without manual marking;
- significantly improve the quality of work with the drill.
Conductors are made from different materials; there are models based on plastic or organic glass. However, the best option is considered to be steel., which has such advantages as:
- minimal likelihood of deformation;
- the drill is directed as clearly as possible;
- no heating during operation.
Very often, overhead models based on lightweight materials that are easy to manipulate are used as furniture jigs. Many people use factory or homemade tools.
And most qualified and experienced craftsmen They no longer use a jig because they can easily make a hole in structures on their own as accurately as possible. But not everyone can do this.
The key advantage of such a device is that the work can be performed as accurately and efficiently as possible, even by a person who does not have the proper experience. You don't have to do markups and complex preliminary calculations. You will save a lot of time and produce furniture much faster.
Classification of tools
Before you buy a ready-made conductor or make it yourself, you need to decide what tasks you will solve with its help and only then you need to select suitable option in design and function.
DIY jig for drilling holes
As already mentioned, depending on the scope of use and design, you can make some options yourself, thanks to which you will save a significant amount.
Before work, find the required device drawing and make everything strictly according to it.
Tools required for work:
- welding machine;
- Bulgarian;
- drill;
- locksmith supplies.
To make the simplest version of the conductor with your own hands, we perform the following steps:
As you can see, such a device is very simple to make yourself, but it will greatly simplify your work if you are making furniture. If you are doing this exclusively as an amateur, then this option will be sufficient. If you can't make it yourself, buy ready-made option, perhaps the simplest and most inexpensive.
Here's some professional equipment will cost much more, the feasibility of purchasing it already exists when we are talking about at least small-scale mass production. But with its help you can easily and quickly connect pieces of furniture or repair it.
So, you have learned what a hole jig is and how it helps in furniture production. This device can be purchased at finished form, do it yourself.
To speed up the furniture manufacturing process, special devices are used. Even novice craftsmen can use them; besides, you can make furniture jigs and templates yourself. Products come different types, designed for different types of work.
Such devices greatly facilitate the work, because with their help you can drill precise holes. Furniture jigs and templates are necessary when assembling cabinets, tables, and other interior items for home, office, production, even elements of confectioners’ furniture for a bakery. During their assembly, craftsmen perform the same actions related to marking and drilling. Special equipment will help speed up these processes.
The furniture template is a strip with holes and sleeves. The distance between them is different, the diameter of the holes is different. Applying the jig to the part, drill holes the right size with a certain step.
Advantages of using templates for making furniture:
- fast drilling;
- easy hole making process;
- drilling accuracy.
Some products facilitate the process of drilling and assembling parts, while others are necessary to simplify marking. Depending on this, the conductors are either marking or drilling. Most often, equipment is purchased in a store, but some make the devices themselves. It is easy to make a jig from a carpenter's square or a metal ruler.
Various products are used in furniture assembly: slats, sheets. Rack templates are used when marking elements longer than 1 m. Sheet templates are suitable for small parts. There are also combined devices that combine several types.
Furniture conductor
The simplest furniture template
Marking on the template
Device and characteristics
The conductor is made of wood, metal, plastic, MDF, chipboard and other materials. There are standards according to which holes are made at a distance of more than 8 mm, counting from the edge. The distance between them is no less than 32 mm. The centers are further expanded, the thread is installed, and the emphasis is placed on the rail.
An important element of the jigs are their supports, which are necessary for firmly fixing the device on the furniture piece. Supports can be spherical, notched, or flat. The following types of plates are used to install bushings:
- hanging;
- lifting;
- rotatable;
- permanent;
- removable.
For oblique holes
Under the hinges
With turret
For confirmations
Varieties
A furniture template can be of different types. Products differ in the method of construction, functional features. Depending on this, jigs and templates for marking and drilling may fall into one of the following categories:
- invoices;
- rotary;
- tiltable;
- universal.
Overlay products are considered the best option for drilling holes in flat parts. They are suitable for chipboard and MDF boards. During operation, they are applied to the surface of the element on which a hole needs to be made, and held with hands so that they do not move. In other cases, the furniture template is placed in a specific place or fixed.
The rotary mechanism has work surface moving horizontally or vertically. The template allows you to make holes on parts whose axis is located at an angle. A rotary jig is used when you need to make a hole on elements that have a complex geometric shape.
Tiltable devices are needed to work with parts located in different planes. Universal products allow them to be reconfigured for the production and assembly of furniture of various types. They are used mainly in small workshops that produce cabinets, tables, chests of drawers in small batches.
Depending on the type of fixation of the device on the surface of the parts, the furniture template is divided into sliding and fixed. Sliding ones lie freely on the surface of the parts, allowing you to make each hole separately. Such devices are considered less convenient. Dockable templates are more convenient to use, although they limit the actions of the wizard.
Almost all types of devices have a fairly simple design, so they can be made independently at home. This will save money.
Sliding
Universal
Nuances of choice
A furniture template can be made not only from a square and a metal ruler; other available materials are also suitable. A device made independently can be highly specialized. As an example, products for drilling holes for handles, hinges, and other elements. Such devices are more suitable if the production of furniture is carried out in small volumes.
For a more extensive process of manufacturing interior items by conductor production, it is recommended to purchase professional equipment. Please note that some models can be quite expensive. Using a professional template, the furniture will have high-quality fasteners and will last a long time.
When choosing, it is recommended to pay attention to multifunctional devices that allow you not only to do correct markings, as well as hole filler. The equipment set includes clamps, replaceable bushings, and rulers, which greatly facilitate the assembly processes and production of interior items. With their help, holes are drilled at the required distance and a certain diameter.
Make holes accurately and efficiently in products made from natural wood, chipboard, MDF, metal and other materials, allows this convenient device as a conductor. This device, in particular, is actively used by specialists involved in the production of furniture. At the same time, the conductor can either be purchased in a serial version or made with your own hands.
Design features and types
A jig, in essence, is a template for drilling holes, allowing you to make them as accurately as possible. It is used both to create holes, the axis of which is perpendicular to the surface of the part, and for drilling at an angle.
Due to their versatility and simplicity, drilling jigs are widely used in various fields. In particular, in the mechanical engineering industry they have long been used to successfully drill holes in workpieces of various configurations and made of different materials. You cannot work without a conductor and in furniture production, where such a device is actively used when assembling furniture, installing fittings on it and performing a number of other technological operations. Construction is another area where conductors are widely used. They are used, in particular, to drill holes in building structures. Conductors are also needed for drilling pipes and solving other tasks.
As furniture jigs, overhead models made of lightweight materials are most often used to make them more convenient to manipulate. You can purchase such devices prefabricated or make a furniture jig with your own hands. Qualified furniture makers may not use a jig to accurately and accurately drill holes in furniture structural elements, but to do this they must have extensive experience in their field.
The most significant advantage of the jig is that with its help, even a person who is not highly qualified can perform high-quality and accurate drilling of both a hole perpendicular to the surface of the part and an inclined hole. The use of jigs eliminates the need for complex preliminary calculations and marking the locations of future holes, which reduces the labor intensity of assembling a furniture structure and allows such work to be completed in a shorter period of time. Even a novice specialist can understand the use of a jig for drilling for dowels and solving other technological problems.
Before purchasing or making your own homemade jig, determine what tasks you need to use it for, and based on this data, select its type and design.
Among the jigs for drilling holes, a number of categories can be distinguished by type of design and functionality.Invoices
These jigs are so called because they are placed on the workpiece and secured to it or simply fixed by hand. Using jigs of this type, in particular, they drill holes in chipboards, MDF boards and in other flat parts.
RotarySuch templates can be used to make holes on cylindrical parts. Conductors of this type are equipped with vertical and horizontal axes of rotation, which makes it possible to make holes at different angles with their help.
UniversalThese are devices that are especially relevant for small children. serial production, where the ability to quickly change over the equipment used is important. This type of conductor is endowed with just such functions.
These hole drilling devices are required in cases where such technological operation must be performed in several planes.
Sliding and pinningThe sliding jig, in full accordance with its name, does not require fastening: it is simply applied to the area of the surface of the part where the hole needs to be drilled. Fixed jig devices, although more convenient, somewhat limit the freedom of action of the specialist, which is especially critical when performing drilling work on machines equipped with only one spindle.
Areas of use
Furniture jigs and templates are devices that are practically indispensable when assembling furniture structures. The use of jigs allows you to avoid the main problem that arises when drilling holes - the drill entering the workpiece at the wrong angle. Correcting this error takes a lot of time and effort, and it is not always possible to fix it at all. The jig used for drilling holes not only allows you to correctly orient the drill at the processing site, but also prevents the tool from straying from the specified trajectory.
Devices such as furniture jigs and templates are used both in the production and assembly of furniture, when holes must be made in the elements being connected to accommodate fasteners. In such cases, a jig for dowels or a jig for drilling for confirmation is often used, without which it is not possible to make high-quality holes for fasteners. Such a device is indispensable in cases where it is necessary to make holes, including at an angle, in thin slabs (in particular, when making holes in chipboard or MDF).
When using a jig to drill holes, the process of assembling furniture is simple and fast. Using such a device, holes can be drilled at any distance from the edge of the part, regardless of its width.
IN modern furniture Dowels are actively used, which at the same time are a rather outdated fastening element. That is why the doweling jig is used in the production of furniture structures. The main difficulty when using such fasteners is that the axes of the holes made in the parts being connected have a right angle to each other. Accordingly, such holes should be located strictly perpendicular to each other. Without the use of such a device as a dowel jig, it is difficult to perform them.
Furniture production is not the only area in which jigs designed for drilling holes are used. Templates are no less often used to drill a hole in a pipe and other cylindrical parts. Conductors allow you to make high-quality holes even in small-diameter pipes.
The size and operating principle of modern conductors may vary. Some of the models of such devices are much easier to buy, and some are easy to make with your own hands. The fact that serial devices, especially those for universal use, are not cheap, also speaks in favor of making a furniture jig for drilling holes with your own hands.
Homemade conductor devices
Conductors of the simplest design, for example, those used for drilling holes for confirmation, are relatively inexpensive, so many craftsmen are not puzzled by them self-production and purchase production models. Meanwhile, there are those who are even like this simple devices trying to do it with his own hands. The question of how to make a jig for drilling with your own hands often arises and, if necessary, drill non-standard holes.
To make your own jig for dowels or a jig for confirmations that is simpler in design, you can use drawings and videos on the Internet.
To manufacture such a device, naturally, you will need a drawing of it. You also need a minimum set of tools and equipment:
- electric or hand drill;
- a set of locksmith tools;
- Bulgarian;
- welding machine (for the manufacture of jig devices of a more complex design).
The simplest homemade conductor can be made from available tools and materials that are available in abundance in most home workshops or garages. The use of such materials, which include pieces of metal reinforcement, wooden blocks, metal plates, etc., allows you to significantly save on purchasing a serial model of the device.
Making a homemade jig for a drill or single-spindle machine takes place in several stages.
- Square reinforcement with a cross section of 10 by 10 mm, using a hacksaw or grinder, must be cut into pieces of the required length.
- The centers of the holes through which drilling will be performed should be at a distance of 8 mm from the edge of the conductor plate. It is at this distance that the center of the chipboard or MDF board in which the hole is drilled is located.
- The pitch between the holes on the jig, in accordance with generally accepted furniture standards, is 32 mm, while the diameter of such holes should be 5 mm.
- If you equip a homemade conductor with a stop, then using such a device will be much more convenient. To create such an emphasis you need metal plate 1 mm thick and 25 mm wide, which is bent at a right angle and fixed on a ready-made jig device made from reinforcement.
- After structural elements homemade conductor are fixed with a clamp, they must be securely connected to each other using threaded fasteners.
The main fastening element in furniture assembly is the confirmat. It is screwed in with pre-drilled holes. It is the drilling of assembly holes in chipboard for confirmations that we will consider in this article.
To assemble the chipboard parts we will need:
- Screwdriver
- Confirmation bat
- Ruler or tape measure
- Pencil and awl
Hole depth and width
Usually a confirmat size of 6.4*50 is used. Because the thread diameter is 6.4 mm, and the diameter of the confirmation body is 4.4 mm, then for high-quality fastening of parts, the hole diameter must be in the range of 4.5-5 mm and a depth of at least 50 mm.
If the thickness of the hole is greater than the specified one, the confirmat will not hold the parts well; if it is less, its thickness can tear the chipboard.
For drilling, use a confirmat drill with a diameter of 4.5 mm, which is equipped with an additional head for drilling an enlarged hole for the neck of the confirmat, which also makes a countersink for its head.
Of course, you can use a regular drill with a diameter of 5 mm, but for high-quality fastening in the hole you will additionally need to make space for the neck of the confirmat and its head.
In order to perfectly fasten two parts, it is necessary to mark the places of their fastenings as accurately as possible.
On the part that will overlap the end (the one on which there will be through hole), you need to make two measurements - along the length (usually 5-10 cm) and from the edge - exactly 8 mm (this is if the thickness of the slab is 16 mm).
On a part that lies perpendicular, mark the drilling point at the end. Here you need to maintain the same distance in length (5-10 cm from the beginning), and in width - strictly in the center (8 mm from the edge).
Markings must be done as accurately as possible, especially along the length, because If the markings are incorrect, your parts may have extra gaps or protrusions when joined.
It is better to make a through hole in the first part, attach it to the second - and immediately use a drill to mark the drilling location at the end of the second part. And then, separately, calmly drill the hole.
We make a hole at a distance of 8 mm from the edge.
The drill should ALWAYS be held strictly perpendicular to the surface.
Before making a through hole, place a piece of unnecessary chipboard under the part. This will prevent chips from appearing on the reverse side.
When the through hole is made, the part can be drilled on the fly to drill holes for the neck and head of the confirmat.
The main rule is that when drilling at the end, the drill must be strictly perpendicular to the end of the part. If you don't hold the drill straight, the drill bit may go sideways and come out, ruining the part.
When drilling, you need to pull the drill out several times so that chips do not clog in the hole.
This option is considered the most accurate and, moreover, the fastest. But in order to make a hole in two parts at the same time, you will need to fix them before drilling. To do this, you may need special clamps, clamps and other devices.
Hole Drilling Tools
In order not to mark 8 mm from the edge each time both into the layer and at the end, you can use special device, which, by the way, is easy to do yourself.
It is a kind of wooden template with a metal sleeve for a drill inside.
It looks like this, see photo:
And this is a more professional thing:
Watch a short video on how to accurately drill holes in chipboard for confirmations and assemble furniture parts:
Drilling for dowels
The hole for the dowels is made with an 8 mm drill. Also, in order not to drill through the part, it is advisable to equip it with a depth limiter.
At the end we drill with the same drill to a depth of 20 mm. Do not forget that during any work the drill must be strictly perpendicular to the plane of the part.
Of course, if you picked up a drill for the first time in your life, you won’t do very well. But this activity can be learned quite quickly.
Very often, when repairing furniture or assembling it, you need to accurately drill holes for the firmmat, dowel and other fasteners. If you drill a sheet of chipboard, it is almost impossible to do this with a simple drill, since the hole breaks and it is not always possible to make a right angle. Therefore, for such work you must have a tool called a jig.
Classification of conductors
The main function of jigs is to ensure straightness in drilling wooden surfaces throughout the entire depth of the hole. Such devices are used quite often in metal processing and, as a rule, are supplied directly with the machine. Due to the need to create such holes in furniture production in large quantities, such devices are in great demand among craftsmen.
There are the following types of conductors:
If the conductor has sufficient rigidity, then it can be used not only for flat planes, but also for curved pipes, etc. In this case, it is secured with a clamp. But under no circumstances should it be used for fastening to wooden surfaces, as you can damage the furniture. You can buy it in a store, or you can also make it yourself.
The jig is in fact a template for making holes, with the help of which such work can be done with maximum accuracy. Due to the simplicity of the structure, they are often used not only in the areas of furniture production. In particular, they are actively used in the field of mechanical engineering for drilling holes in various workpieces, etc. We should not forget about the furniture industry, where such a device is used for various needs when assembling furniture fittings.
Features of self-production
When designing a conductor for confirmation, it is necessary to correctly calculate what functions it will have to perform in the future. It should be done for the most commonly used fasteners in the house. If such a device is required by furniture makers for permanent job, then it is better to buy a factory sample, which is characterized by great accuracy. In addition, manufacturers often include additional fasteners, stops and templates in the kit.
The price of such a device for professional use ranges from 400 to 1100 rubles. It depends on the immediate capabilities of a particular unit, the number of holes made, their length, etc. Many people are interested in how to make a furniture jig with their own hands. Drawings with dimensions are a must for novice craftsmen, as they allow you to make a high-quality design on the first try. Similar diagrams can be found on the Internet.
Basically, the conductor has the following elements:
- The basis of the product. It is directly applied to the plane of the furniture, on which the holes will be drilled.
- Guide bushings. A drill goes through them.
- Surface clamping parts. As a rule, they are located at the end of the conductor.
To start designing your own conductor, you need to choose the right corner. It is better to make a non-equal-flanged corner, since it will have much more possibilities, and choose the maximum thickness of the shelf.
Next you need to take care of the correct direction of the sleeve. It can be made from stainless pipe. The length of the sleeve should be at least twice as long as the hole in which it will be located on the angle. The bushing should fit tightly in the hole. The simplest and most common option is planting according to the shaft principle. A corresponding hole is drilled in the corner to fit the already known diameter of the bushing, and then the fit is made. It is recommended to use a low interference fit.
There are cases when the jig needs to be made for drilling deep holes. Then the bushing is made with a collar. The number of possible holes, their length and the distance between them is selected to suit the specific needs of each master.
Several options can be used to attach the device:
Design for confirmations and dowels
Furniture jig for drilling holes for dowels and confirmat - very necessary equipment for furniture makers. Especially if chipboard material is used.
For these purposes, two types of conductor are used:
- Dowel jig with clamp fastening with many functions. The basis of this design is a corner made of thick aluminum. Since the device is quite long, there is an additional fastener in the middle. When turning the angle ninety degrees, the increased thickness of the device helps a lot. The bushings on the structure are located at the distance most often used for confirmations and dowels in furniture production.
- A two-slider jig, which is used to make a hole in two parts fastened together. The design consists of two strips that are connected by fasteners. It has several holes, so you can install devices at different widths.
Scope of use
Furniture jigs are devices that no furniture maker can do without in the process of work. Such devices allow you to avoid the main problem in furniture production, namely the drill entering at the wrong angle. If you make such a mistake, it is very difficult or even impossible to correct it later. Such a device not only makes it possible to correctly direct the drill during operation, but also allows the tool to constantly maintain the desired trajectory (flat, perpendicular or at an angle).
Such devices are used both in the design and production of furniture, and during assembly, when there is a need to make holes for fastening elements together. Often, for such actions, conductors are used for firmmats or dowels, without which it is impossible to make straight holes. Also, you cannot do without this device if you need to make holes at an angle or in the end of a thin slab (it is especially important to use the device when working with chipboards).
When drilling holes using this design, the process itself is quick and simple. The fastener allows you to do work at any distance from the edge of the slab, as well as regardless of its width.
In the furniture industry, dowels are often used as fasteners. But at the same time, this option has already existed for a long time, and their use requires mandatory presence during operation of the drilling jig. The only condition and at the same time a problem is the fact that the parts being connected to each other must have a right angle during operation. Therefore, such elements must be located exactly perpendicular to each other. When making holes for dowels and adding parts, it will be very difficult to do without a jig.
Furniture production is not the only area of application for such devices. They can often be used to make holes in pipes and other round-shaped parts. Special devices allow you to make high-quality holes even in the smallest tubes.
The principle of their operation and dimensions may be different. Some narrow-profile models are better to buy than to produce yourself. But, on the other hand, the price of such devices is not small, so this is a disadvantage when compared with home-made models.
How to make it yourself
The most simple designs they are cheap, and professional furniture makers are not puzzled homemade production, but prefer to buy factory models. But there are also craftsmen who want to make such a device with their own hands.
For self-creation The conductor needs to use drawings, of which there are a lot on the Internet. With your own hands you can make simple designs for confirmations and more complex ones for dowels.
For production you need to prepare the following tools:
- drill;
- classic set of tools for a locksmith;
- welding;
- Bulgarian.
The simplest conductor can be made from improvised means, which are generally found in any household, in a workshop in the country or in a garage. To create it, the simplest materials are suitable, such as reinforcement, metal sheets and wooden blocks, etc. They can significantly save money in the production of such a device.
The manufacture of such a device should be carried out in several stages:
To ensure that there is little dust during operation, it is necessary to install half plastic bottle. It will also collect dust.
