Vertical holes using the Drill stand
It is very important that I can drill vertical holes, both for the clock and the face mechanism. If I can't do this then it will be pot luck if anything works.
To check this out, my idea is to drill a number of holes through 1 inch, or more, of flat hardboard (as these have parallel surfaces, unlike solid wood) from alternate sides and then measure how far the holes are apart. I got given a Digital Micrometer for my birthday, which is said to be accurate to 0.02mm - probably way in excess of my ancient tools.
From this I should be able to determine the N-S & E-W slope of the drill pillar and then add shims (under a working surface) to correct this. I must then reiterate this until I get vertical holes.
I should also be able to determine the consistency of the drill wobble - although what I can do about that, apart from buy a new one, I've no idea!
I also need to work out if the drill speed has any influence on the consistency of the holes and whether it is better to drill a pilot hole first or use a Brad Point bit (which seem to be mm these days and I expect the plans are USA imperial). So I can experiment after I have aligned the stand and see if I can improve matters.
Lots of people seem to say that one should use a centre punch first - I'm afraid I can't see this helps, as one can only position the punch by eye, not by measurement (but I stand to be corrected!).
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