How to Accurately Drill a Ball Through Its Center

My goal with this instructible is to present an easy jig to drill balls through their centers.
This jig can be built in 5 minutes.

To build this jig we need the following materials:

• Fiberboard
• 2x drywall screws

and the following tools:

• Drill press
• Screw driver
• Hole saw (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hole_saw)
• Table saw (or, alternatively, anything that is able to cut through fiberboard)

Step 1: Prepare the Base

In this step I made 2 squares out of scrap fiberboard.

My squares were 12x12cm.

Step 2: Drill the Base

In this step, I joined the two pieces by using drywall screws.

Then, I drilled the top piece through its center using a hole saw. Since the hole saw has a pilot drill bit, the bottom piece is left with a hole, serving as an alignment mark to the top piece's center.

Step 3: Drill the Balls

To drill a ball, align the jig with the drill press. Ideally, the jig should be clamped in place after it is aligned. Alternatively, add rubber feet to the jig to prevent it from spinning/moving.

Place the ball on top and you are good to go!

Comments

[vladivastok]

!!!!" SOME NEWER GOLF BALLS HAVE A HIGH PRESSURE GEL INSIDE, & SHOULDN'T BE DRILLED INTO IN THE FIRST PLACE." I HAVE USED THEM FOR YEAR'S FOR A LOT OF PROJECT'S, BUT HAVE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH NOT TO GET ONE WITH THE GEL" ". IM TOLD UNLESS THEY ARE BOUGHT IN THE ORIGANAL PACKAGE. WICH IS MARKED, THERE IS NO WAY [O.T.D.] TO TELL." SO BE CAREFULL" !!! THANK'S [VLAD]

[mquiring1]

Nice work but Table saw and Gloves are Dangerous...

[Bill WW]

You are pretty much correct, gloves in the shop can be a problem:

Gloves may not be dangerous around a table saw, but they sure do not prevent hands from being cut.

Power tools like drill press or lathe could catch loose clothing or gloves, pulling hands or arms and result in serious injury.

Use gloves around chemicals, hot items, and abrasive things.

And yes use common sense, before starting a project think about what you need to work safely and what things might cause a problem.

[mquiring1]

It was important for me ... I like your work

[Yonatan24]

Everything is dangerous in life, Use common sense and proper protection equipment and you'll be fine (ish)

[Yonatan24]

I've never seen that gloves are dangerous... :)

[Bill WW]

Nice Instructable; it's not easy to drill exactly through the center of round items.

[Fabeulous]

Nice Instructable, but i would be carefull with wearing gloves while cutting or drilling. If the drill grips your glove it rips off your glove inclusive your finger or hand. Happened a lot of unteachable people before...

[nunopcardoso]

Thanks for your advice! I'll keep that in mind next time.

[Flecks]

Simple and effective. Very clever!

[nunopcardoso]

Thank you! :D

Happy new year!

[Boy Genius]

Very nice. Your method is insightful. Not sure when I'll ever need this technique but I saved it in my favorites folder, just in case. Good job.

[nunopcardoso]

Thank you! :)

[bizzycrafter]

I marked it too, in case I ever need a golf ball with a hole through it. What were you making??

[nunopcardoso]

I am working on a massage device that uses golf balls.

I'll post it here when I complete it.

Cheers!