Horizontal Drill Press needed

[whitephoenix]

I am drilling the ends of a lot of 2x2s for a project and need to make or buy a cheap horizontal drill press, anyone out can help me?

[Lazarus]

Here is something I did when drilling a lot of holes into the end of some 2x2s I was using as railing.

I cut a 2x2 out of hardwood, and then drilled a hole directly in the center using my drill press. Since I had a drill bit that was plenty long enough, I used a 5" block. I purchased a piece of metal tubing from a local hardware store that wasjust large enough to fit my drill bit inside of. I then glued the tubing into the center hole on my block.

Once the tubing was in place, I fashioned a collar on the block so I could just slip it over the 2x2s and not need to worry about getting it aligned every time by hand, and then have to hold it there. I also put one of those collar/depth-stop guides on my drill bit that was 7 1/2 inches from the tip.

To drill the holes, I just used a hand-held drill and placed the bit in the guide block and ran it down until the depth-stop hit the block. I ended up with hole that were all located in the center of my 2x2s and were all the same/correct depth. The 5" block and tubing kept the bit from wandering off center and kept the hole plumb.

It was easy to make, and easy to use. I still have it hanging around the shop and have found other uses for it since the initial use. As a bonus, it cost me about $2 to build.

Hope that helps :)