OK which tool???
- Thread starter GoBigRed
- Start date
You have to decide on what you're willing to pay for; cost vs. quality. The SB Pro apparently gives you perfect drills for a high cost. The SB/Block can give perfect drills with care, at a lot less cost. Racing in the scouts? Racing in the leagues? Get what you need, can afford, and/or can justify.
V
Vitamin K
Guest
I would assume that all of the "Big-Leaguers" employ some process similar to what's been demo'd by Lightninboy and Bracketracer to check the quality of their drill jobs. My hypothesis is that if you have a reliable way of verifying your drill, any of the the options can work for you. With the "old school" Silver Bullet/Block, you may end up tossing some bodies that don't come out perfectly, but this may be worth the cost difference (assuming you already have a drill press). The machined fixtures, OTOH, seem to offer more consistency.
Wouldn't recommend the shim/drill table approach unless you have some alternate method of testing and correcting the final alignment. /images/boards/smilies/wink.gif
Wouldn't recommend the shim/drill table approach unless you have some alternate method of testing and correcting the final alignment. /images/boards/smilies/wink.gif
I'm with HurriCrane here, exclusively drill jigs. Along with working on something else to make things easier and more precise for my Proxxon and Silver Bullet combo.
GravityX said:
I struggled to use the Silver Bullet. If you can design a method/tool to make the Silver Bullet easier to use and repeatable, I want one!!!!
The ONLY good blanks I have drilled with my, I will call it, "not the Silver Bullet Pro" have been after I made sure all my drill table adjustments were made and I dialed in and started using the laser crosshairs.
I use a mechanical pencil so it's always consistent in width.
However, it can be hard to see that the laser crosshairs are dead center on your pencil mark.
To fix this I have found putting WITE OUT on the wood and sanding it smooth around your pencil mark gives me the best color contrast between the pencil mark and surrounding area. You get a better defined "bright spot" on the lasers when they cross over your pencil mark.
I use a mechanical pencil so it's always consistent in width.
However, it can be hard to see that the laser crosshairs are dead center on your pencil mark.
To fix this I have found putting WITE OUT on the wood and sanding it smooth around your pencil mark gives me the best color contrast between the pencil mark and surrounding area. You get a better defined "bright spot" on the lasers when they cross over your pencil mark.
- Nov 24, 2011
- 3,903
- 30
- 48
- 13
If my drill press broke to tomorrow, it probably would not affect me. I would say the original silver bullet changed derby racing forever, but these new drill jigs are the next up and coming and will level the playing field. They will again change the course of derby racing.
I have heard people say the pro jig is expensive, but how much would a good quality drill press cost with the original bullet, plus the time/equipment to level the press, the wood wasted, time invested, etc? The bullet pro jig is worth it's weight in gold too me.
I have heard people say the pro jig is expensive, but how much would a good quality drill press cost with the original bullet, plus the time/equipment to level the press, the wood wasted, time invested, etc? The bullet pro jig is worth it's weight in gold too me.
Kinser Racing said:
I use a fence, but do I rest the combination square on the table somehow as well?
- Nov 24, 2011
- 3,903
- 30
- 48
- 13
V
Vitamin K
Guest
Check out 5Kids' setup for his Silver Bullet-esque tool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n-P4z6EwD4
I went to my drill press with my combination square and now I'm more confused than I was before. Lol. At least I have three blanks that I got absolutely dead on out of the about 30 I cut out of basswood, BSA blocks, and poplar.
I recently ordered a pre drilled block from one of the vendors, which I believe was drilled with a jig, and it's worse than half of the blanks I threw away. It wasn't one of John's blocks though just fyi.
I recently ordered a pre drilled block from one of the vendors, which I believe was drilled with a jig, and it's worse than half of the blanks I threw away. It wasn't one of John's blocks though just fyi.
Similar threads
