I’m new to woodworking and all of the big shiny tools in the woodshop. I’ve taken the woodshop safety course and that’s basically all the experience I have. I have a need to:
Cut some PVC piping
Cut some wooden dowel rods
Drill holes into the PVC piping
I am thinking about using the miter saw to cut the PVC and wooden rods and the drill press to make holes in the PVC. Are these appropriate tool choices? How do I make sure the PVC pipe stays put when I try drilling a hole into it? Would using a handheld drill be better for making holes in a PVC pipe?
Do I need to be careful with plastic waste? I’m not sure if the sawdust gets composted or disposed of in some special way. If I remember correctly from the safety course, it just gets thrown out in some bin out back.
Your tool selections are the ones I’d use. The best way too secure a round object for drilling by clamping it with V-shaped blocks, but if you’re careful about centering PVC pipe would probably stay put just clamped down to the table.
Our sawdust currently goes to landfill; most of it is compostable, but we don’t really have any way to keep non-compostable debris (like plastic shavings) out of the system.
I see, thanks! By V-shaped blocks, do you just mean two pieces of wood attached in a V shape? Do we happen to have any laying around at the woodshop? I know there are plenty of clamps but I feel like I wouldn’t be very good at centering the PVC pipe unless the drill press has a groove in it or something.
Yeah we allow plastic chips to go into the dust collector all the time.
Only minor note to bring up is the PVC can’t be cut on a laser. It’s a lot of chlorine by weight and produces corrosive gases. That’s only because laser burns it away, no ordinary bladed/toothed cutting tool has any issue with PVC.
something like this is a v-block. Doesn’t need to be metal of course, wood will work but it needs to have a flat bottom for stability. You can probably find a piece on the scrap cart and cut the groove on the table saw.
Also, depending on how many/what type/the size of the holes you need, you could probably get away with a slow hand drill if you use a center punch or pointy object to start the hole and start with something small like 1/8" and work up to your desired size.
But if you have a lot of holes to make, then the drill press is probably best.
I’ve had no trouble cutting wooden rods and PVC pipes on the miter saw by hand. Just hold it with firm pressure both down and toward the fence; you’re basically using the intersection of the fence and table as the V-block. I would use an actual V-block for drilling then. If you want your holes precisely through the center, I’d probably make a simple center drilling jig, which would include the V-groove.
