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Thread: Drilling holes in spheres

  1. #1
    Supporting Member mklotz's Avatar
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    Drilling holes in spheres

    A friend asked me to drill holes in some wooden spheres. The procedure I used to get the holes on diameter can be used on spheres of almost any diameter and material.

    I drilled holes of diameter a bit smaller than the sphere diameter in some plywood plates. Bolts through these plates and anchored in the mill T-slots allowed me to trap the ball and clamp down on it so it couldn't move under the action of the drill. Here's a view of the setup from above...




    This side view shows the bolts and the way the sphere is trapped...




    and the finished product(s)...



    Once the sphere was clamped, I found its diameter by taking a very slight pass across its top with an endmill. This produced a tiny flat on the top the center of which I eyeballed (hey, it's wood after all). A center in the mill chuck then allowed me to line up on the diameter.

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    Last edited by mklotz; Jul 6, 2017 at 10:39 AM.
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    Regards, Marv

    Experience is always far worse than pessimism

  2. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to mklotz For This Useful Post:

    jere (Sep 3, 2015), kbalch (Sep 3, 2015), Philip Davies (Jun 28, 2022), Sleykin (Jan 17, 2023), that_other_guy (Jan 7, 2019), Workshopshed (Aug 14, 2016)

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    kbalch's Avatar
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    Thanks Marv! I've added your Sphere Hole Drilling Method to our Drilling and Drill Presses and Workholding categories, as well as to your builder page: mklotz's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:


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