Oval Shaped Hole

[phrog]

I'm going to be making a nutcracker in which I need to make a closed (not all the way through) oval shaped hole in a small block of wood. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on this. Thought about making two overlapping holes and clearing the material between but wonder if there is an easier or better way. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[LCHIEN]

I would say a lot depends on the following factors:

• Diameter of the hole

• Thickness of the material

• Aspect ratio of the holes, e.g. the amount of overlap, at some point it becomes a slot

• Ends to be perfectly round or kind of pointy (true oval or more eccentric or ellipse egg shaped)

techniques include

• overlapping holes with a drill press and fence (can be difficult if the overlap is small, the bit tends to flex and fall off the side)

• Drilling one starting hole and possibly the end hole and slotting on a router table with end stops (works well if your hole is a standard slotting router bit diameter

• drill a hole and file patiently (got to be big enough for the file)

I just read again. I see you want a closed end hole. More things: How large a diameter, whats the aspect and does the bottom need to look nice or will it be hidden?

[jdon]

Not easier, esp. for a one off build, but to give the smoothest finish, make a template and use your router with an edge guide.

[LCHIEN]

if you have several, jdon is right, a template and a router will give you nice consistent holes.

[phrog]

The hole is 1 3/8" at its widest and 1 1/2" at its longest. Sorry, I should have stated that earlier. It has to be smooth on all internal walls. The bottom can be flat. It is an ellipse. The hole is where the nuts are inserted and a large screw mechanism comes up from the lower internal wall to crack the nut. Will post photo later.

[capncarl]

If you have a mill type vice you can easily stretch a holein the drill press. Done in small steps it is not hard on the drill Chuck. Then run it back and forth to clean out the Spurs. Harbor freights vices are fine for the job and you will find many uses for this vice.

[phrog]

If you have a mill type vice you can easily stretch a holein the drill press. Done in small steps it is not hard on the drill Chuck. Then run it back and forth to clean out the Spurs. Harbor freights vices are fine for the job and you will find many uses for this vice. [ATTACH]19770[/ATTACH]

I have a HF mill vise (I think it is the one you have pictured.). But I'm not sure what you mean by "stretch a hole."

[capncarl]

Start the hole where you want it, index the vice to the desired end of the hole and drill it. Chuck up a straight router bit and clean up the long sides using the mill vice x or y screw, just like your drill press was a horizontal milling machine.
capncarl

[phrog]

Start the hole where you want it, index the vice to the desired end of the hole and drill it. Chuck up a straight router bit and clean up the long sides using the mill vice x or y screw, just like your drill press was a horizontal milling machine.
capncarl

Thanks.

[jussi]

Make a template using a ellipse jig. There are several on the market. Or if you don't want to buy one you can build your own. Just search for router ellipse jig. I have one from microfence.

[LCHIEN]

Start the hole where you want it, index the vice to the desired end of the hole and drill it. Chuck up a straight router bit and clean up the long sides using the mill vice x or y screw, just like your drill press was a horizontal milling machine.
capncarl

I guess the key is the router bit... drill bits don't like to cut on the side.
You also have to be careful about too much side load... if I load mine too much it makes the drill chuck fall off the tapered spindle.

I guess the router bit should turn as fast as you can make the DP go... 3000 RPM? THat's still much slower than you get with a router (usually 20,000 RPM with a 1/2" straight bit)?

[capncarl]

Jessi, I'm not sure you would even have to make an ellipse shaped jig, a rectangle box may create a desirable hole with a large router bit, considering it is only going to be 1 3/8".
Lchien, I have fairly good luck with router bits but you are correct that you do not want to put much side load on the drill. For clean up of the slot, if it is a large enough slot, I use a small sander drum. I think I have a 3/4" drum with a 1/4" shaft. With this mill/drill set up I can cut mortise slots in table legs.
Capncarl

[phrog]

J
Lchien, I have fairly good luck with router bits but you are correct that you do not want to put much side load on the drill. For clean up of the slot, if it is a large enough slot, I use a small sander drum. I think I have a 3/4" drum with a 1/4" shaft. With this mill/drill set up I can cut mortise slots in table legs.
Capncarl

I was under the impression that putting a side load on a DP would put great strain on the bearings. Therefore, side loads are to be avoided. Guess it depends on the load from what you'all are saying.

[capncarl]

I was worried about the side load as well, but now you see a lot of sanding drums and other drill press attachments that puts a lot of load on the spindle. A couple years ago I graduated from a drill press to a bench top milling machine for my metal working but I still use it for wood although the spindle speeds are slower.
Capncarl

[atgcpaul]

So practically speaking, you just want the nut to fit in a hole, right? And I guess it's just oval to more closely match the shape of the nut, right? Making the hole oval doesn't make it crack nuts any better, does it?

I would probably make the hole bigger or just overlap two holes to approximate the oval and then clean up the sides with a chisel.