Drilling stock for pillars

[scalian]

I have a drill press and hand drill. What is the best way to drill the holes for pillars in a laminate stock. I have seen the piloted aircraft counter bore bits but wasn't sure if a forstner bit would work just as good. The other question i have is if you flip the stock over to drill from the bottom how do you ensure your drilling the holes perpendicular to the stock.

[Deleted]

What I have been doing is I get a rod that is same diameter of the hole in the stock where I'm putting the pillar. I put it in drill press then run it threw the hole to line stock up with press. I then clamp the stock to table on press.



Then I get the desired still bit size that allows the hole to be right size to install pillar.



Next thing I did was tap the stock to help with mechanical lock from stock to pillar



I wouldn't use a cordless drill you won't get a perfect hole drilled and even with a press you will not get it completely perfect. Best way is with a mill but I'm not too far from being a full bore redneck so press it is for me. I have only bedded two rifles but this process I'm doing is still a work in progress so take it for what it's worth. Hope it helps.

[rossman40]

I just put scope mounts the action and clamp the action/stock with the mounts down on the drill press table. The mounts will make sure the bore is pretty much perpendicular to the drill bit. You want to make sure you clamp between the scope mounts and on some drill press tables your mount might be in the center hole during some set-ups so I have a plate to put down. If you going to fill the magwell do it before drilling the pillars, sometimes you have to clamp over the magwell. Sometimes you have to shift the table to the right or left to get centered up and clamped. You can't drill all the way thru so you get close and the finish the hole with a hand drill or dremel.

I like using a forstner bits on laminate stocks because they cut very clean and straight holes. But they do not like metal. Using the tap is a neat trick but you have to watch for chips and in some instances, like the rear pillar on a Savage, you can chip out a lot of wood you didn't mean to.

[7mmfreak]

Depending on if my buddy is busy or not, I use a mill. If I cannot get to his shop I use a piloted Forstner and finish up with a round file.

[fishhawk]

Lay a couple layers of making tape over the area to drill. This cuts down on any splintering. Go slow with the feed.

[7mmfreak]

Jul 8, 2015 12:22:04 GMT -5 fishhawk said:

Lay a couple layers of making tape over the area to drill. This cuts down on any splintering. Go slow with the feed.

Good advice. I use masking tape for any cutting of wood/laminates for sure and it never hurts with glass stocks either. I have never tried cutting carbon-fiber because I have never messed with it much (just a one McMillan EDGE and one Manners Elite Tactical and I didn't have to work on either).

[rossman40]

7mm, That pic you showed of your piloted forstner bit in another thread isn't of a forstner bit. It is, what I was taught, a piloted aircraft counterbore. A forstner bit looks more like this,

[7mmfreak]

You'd know more than me. I call it that because that is what my invoice said.

[rossman40]

The Forstner bit will work well on plastic and wood but they are not designed for metal, beats them up bad. I've even cut fiberglass/Kevlar/carbon fiber with one but the part of the bit that scribes the circle dulls.

If your going to tie into metal then the piloted counterbore is the weapon of choice. Like on the HS Precision stocks, I'll recut the front hole to use the original factory screw (having to use 3 different allens on the ADL style to drop the action always got to me).

On the 700 rear pillar you have to remember that the trigger guard is at like a 4 degree angle to the action. You can dremel the pillar or tilt your table (I just use a wedge) and hit the top of the pillar with a 1/2" end mill. To clean it up and make it look pretty (cover any mistakes) you can bed the trigger guard.

[rio]

This portion of the process is what has held me up completing my rifle. Don't want to screw up the stock!