Question
Where can I find 4mm bits with shanks that will fit in a 1/4" or 1/2" router collet? I am using a plunge router to drill for 4mm shelf pins.
Forum Responses
(Solid Wood Machining Forum)
From contributor K:
Back in the mid-eighties, I made up a bunch of templates for doing this for upper and lower cabinets to make it easy for small shops to get over into the 32 MM system. The trouble was that I may have been a little ahead of my time for Arkansas. I can drill 90 holes per minute with a plunge router and one of these templates. I have a friend with a machine shop that can make 1/2" to 10mm bushings that can be bonded together with the red Loktite if you want a lot of them. I use a 5mm bit because the system screws for all the hardware that I use is this size.
The third row was for bookshelves, which I normally made 9" deep. The base template was the same size that I normally made the ends of my base cabinets, with all of the holes for a top drawer, and hinge mounting plates and for 3 and 4 drawer banks. The holes in the template are 18 mm because all of the plunge routers back then came with that standard size guide bushing. I made a special router bit that even chamfered the edge of the holes to help funnel the collet in. I later made some 16-mm because the 18 became hard to get.
It was a darn good idea, just too far ahead of its time for my area. I couldn't get these guys around here to give up their stile and rails. There is something nice about being able to drill all of the necessary holes in a cabinet in a minute or two, then screw all of the hardware on while it is laying on the workbench without even having to take out a tape-measure before I even assembled the box.
