Simple main line drill jig

[Three Maples]

Here is a mainline jig I made last year. Made out of scraps I had in stock. It will work on any size main line and can be adapted to different size drills. The basic is a 6 inch piece of 1 1/4" angle iron 3/16" thick with a slot ground in the top about 1 1/2 " from the end. Then I welded a piece of 3/4" thin wall tubing 2 1/4" long into the slot. I used a piece of stainless because I happen to have it and I figured it would not rust up. I made two drill holders one 5/16" and one 3/8". I used a piece of 3/4" Delrin (or acetal any plastic or other soft metal could be used) and turned a step 1 3/4 " into the adapter to just fit in the tubing. Next I drilled the Delrin with the drill I am to use on the line. The trick is to figure the drill stop distance before you drill and drill the Delrin to that depth and leave the drill in the delrin. The drilling will heat the delrin and if you leave the drill in the Delrin it will adhere to the drill. The first time you drill it will open up the angle iron or you can predrill the angle iron.
To use it simply put the drill bit in any battery power drill, hold the angle iron on any size mainline and drill. Delrin same as acetal can be gotten from McMaster Carr.
I used this on my 1 inch main line and to connect the saddles to my 3/4 in latterals worked great. Gary

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

Now that is some nice Hillbilly ingenuity. Many tradesman have a knack for it, but nearly all sugarmakers find a way to get it done with what they got.
Nice work..