I would like to "customize" my Ikea Billy.
Therefore I would like to drill holes for the wooden dowels as well as the steel "dowel screws"
Is there a specific drill I could buy somewhere ? If not, how to determine which drill size I should use ?
Drill for Ikea dowels
drill
Related Solutions
Buy a self centering dowel drilling jig. Lee Valley has them, as will virtually all wood working supply sources, Rockler, for example.
The jig clamps to the end of your board, and then you drill through a hardened drill guide into the board, using a hand drill. These dowel jigs used to be much more common in the days before biscuits, pocket screws, etc.
If you are set on using a hand-drill, there are jigs available that will keep the drill perpendicular to the object being drilled. Alternatively, holding a level against the drill will help you keep it aligned.
I would suggest using a Forstner bit instead of a spade bit. Spade bits can jump around a bit, tear out and are not that precise. They are good for rough work, but a Forstner bit will give you a much cleaner cut.
That being said, a drill press is the best tool for this, and they can be purchased relatively inexpensively. You could also find a "maker" workshop in your area, or a college with a shop where often you can rent time and use their tools.
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Best Answer
No.
I'm pretty sure those are standard metric parts. You just use any appropriate-sized metric wood drill-bit.
For the wood dowels, measure the diameter and round to mearest mm. That's the size drill you need. Wood dowels tend to expand if they are not kept really dry, so round down. The most common metric sizes are 6, 8 and 10 mm.
For the metal cam-lock "dowels", you measure the inner diameter of the threaded part, like you would with any wood-screw. I think Ikea sometimes use threaded inserts for those, the thread may not be designed to cut a mating thread into chipboard. Note that some alloy-cams are very weak and brittle, I would try to find some good quality ones (or use a different type of fastener entirely)
You can do your measuring with a vernier caliper (or digital caliper if the batteries haven't died again) or just hold the thing up to the light and try various drill bit shanks behind and in front of it. A good alternative is to measure the Ikea-provided holes by dropping metric drill-bits into them backwards until you find a good fit.
You can always do some tests in scrap wood to reassure yourself you have the right sized drill-bit before making holes in any important material.
Lastly, you don't have to use Ikea hardware of course. You can be inventive with other fastening systems that work in chipboard. Screws, ordinary glued dowels, furniture-blocks, knock-down blocks etc. I sometimes have to be creative when repairing relatives' Ikea or Ikea-like furniture :-)
"Dowel points" can be useful for marking where to drill.