Drilling holes for flange screws in wood - suggestions

[Jimi]

This is probably woodworking 101 ...

... but I need to drill a few (three to be exact) small holes for the flange on a lensboard. Is it advisable to drill all the way through (screws are shorter than the thickness of the board) or should I just start the holes and drive the screws (2 mm) into the wood with the screwdriver?

[Drew Wiley]

Depends on what kind of wood it is, namely, how hard or potentially split-prone. But drilling slightly less than the full thickness might keep the inner surface easier to clean etc.

[Tin Can]

Depends on how much the lens weighs

Type/condition of wood and thickness

Big/heavy lenses I use bolts, washers and nuts

[LabRat]

Pre-drill the holes to the screw body size... Then take a drop of superglue inside hole to harden wood before screwing in...

You can drill through wood or partially drill... Your choice... Clean hole out well to remove wood debris first... You can tape a drill bit with the proper depth you want...

You often don't need a power drill for softer woods, a drill bit on a handle will do...

Steve K

[Greg]

Depends on how much the lens weighs

Type/condition of wood and thickness

Big/heavy lenses I use bolts, washers and nuts

Agree 100%. I once attached a large, heavy Buhl projector lens to a wooden Sinar type board with 4 screws (the flange was attached to the lens with hot glue). Grabbed the lens once and it easily came off the lens board with the screws falling to the floor. The hot glue held! Since then I only use bolts and washers.

[Jimi]

Thanks for the suggestions!

The lensboard is made of cherry (new), the lens is a small and light Tessar. I am using a 1.5 mm drill, for 2 mm screws.

[Ron (Netherlands)]

You can shorten the screws a bit. However I would rather glue a piece of wood as backboard so that you have more flesh to screw in.
Here I laminated two different pieces of wood when making a new board for my Sanderson A-Pattern - the backboard is made of beechwood, the front of mahogany:


Lens boards - DIY ( 1 ) by Ron (Netherlands), on Flickr

[Drew Bedo]

I have drilled all the way through and used bolts backed with washers and nuts.

[johnasavoia]

A longer screw/bolt with a nut and washer is cheap insurance no matter what the lens size and weight.

[LabRat]

There are times when the rear lensboard has to fit flush on FS, so different holes are needed to secure flange...

Another way to mount flush is to countersunk the rear holes and put screws with nuts on flange side (if there's room for nuts on front)...

Steve K