Transferring hole locations from a liner lock liner to a set of scales can be fairly precise.
It's usually not a problem with small holes as the drill bit will self center using the liner as a drill template. The problem is a larger hole like 3/16" the drill bit doesn't self center. Guessing and just trying to stab it in the exact center of your traced hole doesn't usually work that well.
Here is an example on a liner lock I am working on currently.
I could trace the holes and drill what I think is dead center. I know this won't work well because I've done it enough to know that. The smaller holes work just fine. The 3/16" will not be centered no matter how much I eyeball and center punch it or wave a chicken foot in the air.
First I used a couple drops of super glue to hold the liner to the scale. This pops off easy later by just bending the scale a bit.
These drill bits had a bump on the top that didn't let me line up the hole properly.
so I ground the little bump off...
Then swivel your drill press table to the side or figure out how to clamp the liner/scale down so it doesn't move. A quick Cam lock clamp fastened to your drill table works also. Just before clamping, put the (in this case 3/16") drill bit into the chuck upside down, bring it down into the hole and hold it in place while clamping your work in place. Don't let it move while clamping. I used a common one handed wood clamp to hold the work. A clamp that takes two hands doesn't work as you are holding the drill chuck down with other hand. I use a 123 block to get the work off the table.
Switch the drill bit to the right way and drill it. Your drill bit will be dead center of your hole.
If you have a drill press table vise, you can follow the same process. The problem with a vise is you can bend the drill bit by tightening so you will need to watch for deflection as you clamp your work piece.
There are other ways to do this too. I just happened to be working on this today and needed to show a couple of my guys here how to do this since they are working on their first liner locks.
It's usually not a problem with small holes as the drill bit will self center using the liner as a drill template. The problem is a larger hole like 3/16" the drill bit doesn't self center. Guessing and just trying to stab it in the exact center of your traced hole doesn't usually work that well.
Here is an example on a liner lock I am working on currently.
I could trace the holes and drill what I think is dead center. I know this won't work well because I've done it enough to know that. The smaller holes work just fine. The 3/16" will not be centered no matter how much I eyeball and center punch it or wave a chicken foot in the air.
First I used a couple drops of super glue to hold the liner to the scale. This pops off easy later by just bending the scale a bit.
These drill bits had a bump on the top that didn't let me line up the hole properly.
so I ground the little bump off...
Then swivel your drill press table to the side or figure out how to clamp the liner/scale down so it doesn't move. A quick Cam lock clamp fastened to your drill table works also. Just before clamping, put the (in this case 3/16") drill bit into the chuck upside down, bring it down into the hole and hold it in place while clamping your work in place. Don't let it move while clamping. I used a common one handed wood clamp to hold the work. A clamp that takes two hands doesn't work as you are holding the drill chuck down with other hand. I use a 123 block to get the work off the table.
Switch the drill bit to the right way and drill it. Your drill bit will be dead center of your hole.
If you have a drill press table vise, you can follow the same process. The problem with a vise is you can bend the drill bit by tightening so you will need to watch for deflection as you clamp your work piece.
There are other ways to do this too. I just happened to be working on this today and needed to show a couple of my guys here how to do this since they are working on their first liner locks.
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