Kreg Jr Walking when drilling

[Patrick]

I know that I am doing something wrong, just not sure what. 

 

After I clamp the jig to my wood and start to drill the jig starts to walk to the r ight a little bit.  I have the pressure of the clamp pretty tight, any more and I would be afraid of breaking the jig.  The wood is fairly slick and the bottom of the jig is too,  what gives?

[Adam Adolph]

I have had this problem before.  I usually reposition the clamp and the jig.  What kind of clamp are you using.  I made my own from a welding clamp (vice grip type) and some flat washers and of course a welder.  It seems to work well for me and I could customize the foot that would be on the bottom of my work surface to spread the clamping force over a larger surface.  I will post a pic of it.

[Johnny D. Rich]

I've clamped that little guy under some serious pressure and he's stood up to everything I could throw at him. I'd be more worried about denting the wood.

[Patrick]

Could using lower RPM's on the drill cause this?  I had my drill set in low gear for torque,  I later went back and did some more holes using the higher gear and things went fine,  not sure if it was due to drill RPM or something else.  

[KregRep]

A few things to consider...

 

1) Your drill may not be sharp.  Check it, and send it into Kreg for resharpening if necessary.

2) Make sure you're clamping hard enough (you said you were).

3) Use a higher-RPM drill.  

4) Make sure the drill is at full RPM before engaging the wood.

 

[Patrick]

Turned out it was drill RPM,  I was using a cordless drill that had 5 year old batteries on their last leg.  A new battery and setting the drill on the higher RPM setting got rid of the problem. 

[John Schaben]

Hi Patrick - Thanks for the feedback, good information to know. I wouldn't have guessed drill rpm would give that symptom.

[Ken Darga]

I haven't experienced any problems with the drill or guide moving/walking.

I use one of my drills, that has 2000 to 2500 RPM.

Slower rpm drills, such as with most cordless tools, don't have a high enough RPM, to make smooth cuts.

The higher speeds cut much smoother and faster--akin to a router---higher rpm will result in smoother cuts.

 

I drill the holes part way in, back it out to remove the chips---repeat as necessary, then continue until the drilling operation is complete.  

The drill bit needs to turn at a fast enough rpm, so the flutes on the drill bit, carry the chips out the top-side.

 

The Kreg drill bits and be sharpened, using ''diamond'' needle files.

I use the diamond files, made by EZE-Lap---they work great.

Various file shapes are available----vary handy tools for your tool box/work-shop.

 

You need a good light, along with a magnifier, so as to enlarge the viewing area, a 2-1/2 X power is sufficient.

 

Works for me.