Travel Tool Chest & Workbench Build Process

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One of the jobs that's coming up soon is to make a few holes. There will be the 22 mm slotted holes that will serve two functions: handles for lifting the chest and spaces for clamps to hold the chest down to something-or-other. There will also be some smaller (8 mm) holes for the M6 screws that will hold the planing stops in place.

I've already mentioned that I'm trying to do as much as possible of this project with hand tools. Ideally, that means not using my Machine Mart pillar drill. In reality, I wouldn't consider it the end of the world to use a powered drill: I'm not trying to use hand tools for philosophical reasons, I'm using them because I prefer the peace and quiet that comes with them. Given that drills aren't especially noisy, they don't put me off in the way that an electric router would.

I've got a brace and I've got an eggbeater drill. They would almost certainly be fine for all the holes (and I'll probably use one of them for the 8 mm screw holes). However, I'd like a really clean finish and a square cut on the 22 mm slotted holes in the sides. It seems to me that the best way to achieve that would be to use a Forstner bit in a pillar drill.

With all that in mind, I spent £55 on ebay and on the way home from Dolgellau I collected this:

I tested it before collecting it, but I couldn't resist a proper test with a 22 mm Forstner bit when I got it home:

I definitely haven't got space in the workshop for this to live in there permanently unfortunately. However it's light enough to lug around without too much trouble, so it's going to get a permanent home in the dining room and be dragged out to the workshop when I want to use it. Hopefully if I ever move house to somewhere with a bit more space it'll get a permanent workshop home.

I also need to find a chuck key that fits it properly as it didn't come with one.

I am a hobbyist metalworker and woodworker. I work as an electronic design engineer and spend most of my working days in front of a computer so I enjoy having the opportunity to use my hands and make things in my spare time. I particularly enjoy making tools as I can then use them on other projects. This website showcases some of the things I've made.

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