Perfect Holes in Long Boards

hey guys thanks for checking out next level carpentry where i'm building a double set of double bunk beds for a client's getaway cabin in the mountains of montana this is a custom design build project that i need to build here in the shop disassemble load up and haul to montana's big sky country where i can reassemble it on site to make that happen and make sure that the bunks are sturdy when complete i needed to use bomb proof hardware and joinery for the build there's any number of ways to accomplish that with brackets and bolts or cut for bid pocket holes and pocket screws but because the frames are built with these heavy timbers i want to make double sure that the hardware and joinery is strong enough to resist any twisting or warping of this wood so i chose to use half inch all thread to bolt the frames together that decision made drilling holes over three feet long through cross members like this the crux of the whole bunk bed build and this is a situation that i often run into on these custom design build projects where i do the design first and then figure out a plan to take the design from concept to reality second and this is the kind of challenge that i like best because brainstorming through a problem like this and reaching an elegant solution is a highly rewarding experience plus also now i can show you how i drilled perfect three-quarter inch diameter holes through these three foot long pieces of rough sawn cedar 2x8 how's about them apples and i think you'll agree that this is a rather elegant solution that allows me to drill a hole long enough and straight enough that i can easily slide this piece of threaded rod all the way through this cross member from one end to the other something like that and in the final assembly this piece of threaded rod going through the cross members will make the bunk beds bomb proof and drilling holes like this is a problem that seems extremely difficult at first but is almost routine in hindsight and as you'll see the method i demonstrate here can easily be adapted to drill holes of any diameter through boards of any length which i admit is a rather bold statement but rest assured i'm not doing the same thing steve martin did when he put an arrow through his head i promise it doesn't take much imagination to realize that this method would make it just as easy to drill two holes through a wider piece and would work equally well in square lumber like six by sixes or four by fours if you wanted to route wiring for lighting decks or for lamp posts and could easily be used for making pieces for other furniture if the design required it naturally every project will be a little bit different but all need to start out with boards of uniform width and thickness for best results this bunk bed project requires eight of these cross members so i already milled these pieces to that uniform width and they came from the lumber yard in uniform thickness and that's the best place to start i do apologize if my use of the term drill is misleading because no actual drill is used in the process that you're about to see to keep things organized as i go along i draw orientation marks on the ends of each of these cross members so i can reorient the halves as necessary during the process because these cross members need to be universal for placement the hole needs to be dead center in both width and thickness of the board so the first thing i do is rip cross members exactly in half on the table saw and now it's time for the big reveal to drill the hole i'll use a three quarter inch diameter core box router bit and drill half a hole in the mating edge of both pieces here i've got the three quarter inch core box bit chucked into a big bosch router under this piece of melamine that serves as a caveman crude router table i set the bit at 3 8 inch high and clamped on a straight edge to center the work piece over the bit next i add a simple feather board to the fixture by screwing it down with gentle pressure against the work piece for best results here i make sure to run the top face of each board against the fence doing this assures me that both halves of the hole line up even if the groove isn't perfectly centered in the edge i use a slow steady deliberate feed rate on the first pass to allow the spinning bit to clear the high volume of chips that are cut free while plowing this groove [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] after making that initial pass on both edges i reorient the halves and check the fit of the mating edges of the boards there's usually a bit of unevenness in the ripped edges and as you can see these two boards bowed a bit when they were ripped so i take a whisker off them on the jointer so that they're straight enough for gluing once i'm satisfied with the fit i use the fixture to re-drill each half of the hole so the finish hole size is true and i have a perfect fit between the pieces for a glue joint [Music] i slammed on the brakes here to point out who's showing you this slick trick yours truly just a guy with 45 years experience in carpentry and woodworking not someone with a million subscribers and corporate sponsorship so please keep that in mind if you're tempted to make a snarky comment about my ghetto router table setup okay and if you happen to like this kind of content please consider subscribing to next level carpentry if you haven't already it's free you know and as a subscriber you'll be notified each time a new video gets uploaded to the channel and while you're at it gingerly depressed the thumbs up button in such a manner is not to damage it as you express your opinion of this video in my opinion that innocent little thumbs up button gets smashed thumped pounded punched and crushed by youtubers far too often and i for one say it's time for everyone to be just a little gentler please it will certainly make your inner woodworker more peaceful and one more thing before i finish routing the rest of these cross members be sure to check out links in the video description for tools and supplies swag and support that help offset the cost of producing physios here on the channel so anything you do by way of those links i always appreciate and now back to the regularly scheduled routing process once both half holes are trued up and i did say half holes are trued up and joining edges fit perfectly i take them to the bench habit and glue them together to complete the drilled hole notice i'm using titebond 3 for this glue up not because titebond gave me the glue or sponsors the video because it's some pretty good stuff but rather because it's the right stuff for this job because it'll hold the pieces forever and always plus the slightly darker color blends well with these rust-on-cedar boards although it's uncommon edge gluing boards with the pieces clamped vertically in a bench habit is my preferred method because glue application is simple and straightforward i can easily line up the faces of the boards and deploying clamps to hold the pieces together couldn't be easier i carefully line up the faces and start clamping in the middle quickly working my way towards each end so that everything is lined up and clamped tight before the glue begins to set not because it really matters but because i can i use a piece of torn paper towel and a dowel as a ramrod to push excess glue out of the hole so it's gob free and proud complete the glue up process i use fine shavings from the routing process and a sharpened putty knife to soak up and clean off excess glue from the faces of the cross member and set it aside to dry the scraping action of this sharp putty knife immediately removes the excess glue and shavings plus it also enhances the rough sawn texture so that it blends at the glue joint for a seam that's invisible for all intents and purposes after a couple hours in clamps the glue is set and this mission possible is complete with perfect holes through a whole stack of boards just like that easy peasy right so you can see how this whole assembly comes together i cut each cross member to exact length on the miter saw and using a dado blade cut a stubby tenon on both ends of each piece using a template and flush trim bit i routed shallow mortises and six by six post scraps to match the tenon cross member ends then i quickly cleaned up rounded corners with a dedicated corner squaring chisel commonly used for door hinge mortises next i cut half inch ready rod to length using my new super power an evolution evo saw s380cps metal cutting ninja chop saw with its specially designed carbide tipped blade this saw cuts through all thread so quick and clean that it doesn't damage the threads like abrasive blades in an angle grinder would now that i've given a trial run to all the individual steps necessary for this bolted tenon joinery i'm going to show you how these pieces all come together these two scraps of 6x6 have a shallow mortise in each face that i just did with the router three quarter inch hole or actually a 5 8 inch hole that goes all the way through and on the opposite side there's a matching mortise and a counter board hole for the flat washer and nut that goes on the outside but to assemble this because these cross rails are ambidextrous the front back top and bottom doesn't matter the hole is in the center of the end of the piece and in the center of the mortise i just slip one of the tenons in one of the mortises take the all thread with a washer and a nut on one end and slide it all the way through then slip the all thread into the hole in the other post and slip the stubby tenon into the shallow mortise for a nice clean sturdy snug fit then i slip a heavy half inch flat washer onto the end of the all thread get a half inch 13 nut started on the end and snug it up using a deep well socket and an impact driver and that is all it takes for one bomb proof assembly i can put all kinds of torque on that all thread to pull these joints nice and tight and the stubby mortise and tenon joinery will keep the crossmember from twisting or cupping over time and during heavy use yeah i know i'm telling you that this joinery is bomb proof and that's all well and good you say but doesn't galvanized hardware and a big ugly mortise kind of spoil the mountain rustic look you're after with these bunk beds yeah i kind of figured you'd say that and i hope it's not too big of a surprise that i have a solution and i hope you'll agree that this pyramid top mortise plug is just the ticket to complete the look because these bunk beds are a client project and not a youtube build series i'm just going to keep on working here but i'll sign off as always by saying until next time thanks for watching well howdy partner i figured you probably rode off into the sunset by now but being as you're still here i'll show you a slick pro trick that i use for cleaning up or recreating the rough sawn texture on these cedar bunk bed parts even though i used sawdust and a sharp putty knife to remove wet glue from the faces of these cross members when it was wet the fastest and bestest way i've found to remove it is with an inexpensive disposable saw from a big box store this one's got 8 metric teeth per inch which is a good match for this texture i wear smurf gloves for a good grip on the blade and to minimize slivers bow the blade a bit and draw it towards me in a scraping cutting action this quickly removes residual glue and restores the rough sawn texture perfectly and the same technique works great for removing burns and blemishes that the cedar often gets during shipment and handling with a little bit of time and a dose of elbow grease it's amazing how well the surface is restored with such a simple process i used the same technique to re-texture faces on a 6x6 post that had a huge crack in one face after re-sawing the post on some creative milling i glued it back together to salvage it for use in the project you can see here i'm using the same saw with a little different technique to flush up unevenness between re-glued post halves and recreate an even rough sun texture to the post gotta love it when something so simple works so well right and with that it's time to hit the trail for real so so long partner

Channel: Next Level Carpentry

Views: 161,797

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Id: 1GvfGojGOwo

Length: 13min 39sec (819 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 28 2022