Double drilling pinblocks: Hand held versus drill press.

[Ron Nossaman]

>Does anyone have any experience double drilling (initial smaller drill
>followed by second drilling of desired target) pinblock by hand (hand held
>power drill) rather than on a drill press who can comment on consistency
>and comparative results in terms of torque?
>
>I was wondering if the double drilling method improves torque consistency
>enough that you could consider doing the job with a hand held drill.
>
>David Love

Sorry, no real help here. I've never drilled a block freehand. My 
experience with drilling other holes in two steps for other purposes, 
however, suggests to me that your success will depend on your ability to 
feel the direction of the pilot, and adjust the angle accordingly for the 
second pass down the pilot hole. You will, or you won't. It depends on what 
you feel, how you react, how tired you are, and the whim of Babbakazoo, the 
God of random chance, on any given hole. Up to half a dozen holes, I'd give 
a steady handed individual of above average mental focus a pretty good 
chance of success. For a 250 hole excursion requiring reproducing a 
nominally random pilot hole angle on each and every one, I'd say you'd 
better have a pretty forgiving pinblock, a better than average feel for 
what's happening, or generously low expectations of uniformity if you 
expect to win. It can be done, but I'd hesitate to guarantee it for most folks.

This is from a "glass is half empty", "Murphy was an optimist", and "Never 
fly higher than you're willing to fall" guy, so take it accordingly. In the 
end, you do what you think is supportable by what you know you can do.

Ron N