I need to drill pilot holes through 1×1 and into a stud, with the 1×1 flush with the wall. I figure the hole has to be no more than 5/8" from the wall. My drill is too wide to drill a perpendicular hole that close to the wall.
For reference, this is a follow up to a different question Can I safely hang pegboard between studs, rather than across them?, where a user recommended I attach 1×1 to the studs. I didn't think of it at the time, but the closest my drill bit can get to the wall while remaining perpendicular to the 1×1 and stud is a little over an inch.
I tried Googling, but that kept bringing me to right angle adapters and flexible extenders – but every time I looked at one, they were clearly meant for driving, not for drilling. They also seemed focused on solving the problem of having insufficient space between the drilling surface and some other parallel obstruction, not the distance from the desired hole to a plane perpendicular to the drilling surface – because they don't give a specification for the diameter of the chuck and its clearance from the top edge of the tool.
How do I drill a hole that close to the wall?
Best Answer
Various methods, the most accessible of which tends to be a long drill bit - 12-18" long, allowing the chuck to get out of the way.
If you don't flex the bit, the slight angle (not quite perpendicular) is generally not a problem, but under the guise of "aircraft drills" there are very long bits with short flutes and a long smooth shank that flex sufficiently that you can get them perpendicular, if needed.
A physically smaller drill chuck is the more obvious but generally less accessible method.