Solid Wood Digital Clock

Step 3 Finish the Front Board

This step is very challenging, the point of it is to use the hobby tool bit to make the hole ends flat so the light shines through evenly.

Start by putting the hobby tool bit in the drill press (make sure to leave over 1" out of the chuck).
On a safety note, this is not how the bit is designed to be used, and is a hazard, so be extra careful. Adjust the depth gauge so the bit is barely above the lower board as in the 3rd picture.

Line the bit up with a test hole and gently hold down for 1 second and let up. Hold it down for 1 second again then let up and turn the drill off. The drill is turned off so you can scrape any build-up off of the bottom of the bit. If you don't, it will burn the hole making the face discoloured. Repeat this until you are happy with how much light shines through (see pictures below for a reference).

Once you are comfortable with drilling the holes, move on to the final piece of wood and drill out each hole. Be warned that this takes patience, don't rush it or you may burn out a hole and have to restart.

Comments

[jwilliamsen]

I think a great way to do this would be to drill the holes all the way through, and then glue veneer over the face - that way you don't have to stress so much about drilling to an exact depth. Call me lazy :) Cool idea, though! - I'm thinking about making one