After setting up the drill press, drilling a 1 1/4" hole for my ring to sit in with a forstner bit, putting the cork ring in said hole, and putting a 1 inch forstner bit to drill the recess for my hood, for the life of me I can not get the hole centered.

Since the rings are just a hair bigger than 1 1/4, I have removed the board that is holding my rings, dremeling with a sanding drum just a hair off the diameter so they fit snug, but then I lose the center. Then, I had the great idea to drill the hole to hold my rings with a 1 3/8 bit, and then build a tape bushing on the ring so it fits tight in the hole. As you can imagine, somehow it isn't centered.

I've wasted like 30 rings at the moment @#$%& around with this so if anyone has any suggestions that doesn't entail buying a crafty cutter, I'm all ears.

mud hole has larger rings I think , up to 2 inches I think

William Sidney
AK

Matt,
When I make a hidden hood that needs the hood recessed, I trace the outline on the cork ring.

Then, I use a flat ended rotary rasp to size the hole in the cork for a perfect fit. It only takes a couple of minutes and it is easy to keep the hole centered.

[www.craftsman.com]

Just start in the center and work out to your recess line.

Be safe

Get a long bolt the diameter of your ring's original hole, put a tape arbor on it the size of your reel seat hardware, slip the hardware on with seat hood against the cork, draw your outline and finish the hole by any means you like. Everything should stay centered that way I'd think.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2015 02:55PM by Spencer Phipps.

To follow up on Spencer's answer, use a Dremel tool with a fine grinder to cut it out once you have the outline traced.

As I said in my earlier post I prefer to use a cutter that is near the size of the finished hole. This will let a person make a round hole more easily as compared to using a very small and or fine cutter.

If the rasp is near the size of the finished hole, one only has to make the hole depth correct, and then gradually enlarge the hole to the finished size.

I never had any luck using a drill bit for any sort of cork recessing.

I have found that the drill bit tends to tear the cork. But, the rasp, grinds away the cork like sandpaper very smoothly with no gouging or tearing of the cork.

Be safe

Drill your 1-1/4" hole in a clamped down piece of wood. Make sure nothing moves while now installing 1" forstner. Now drill into the 1-1/4" hole to see if both bits are running the same or if one is a little crooked or has a little wobble.