Turning a Spindle with a hole in the length

The spindle is going to be 2-1/16" in diameter (bottom half is already turned but i can redo it if needed) narrowing to a point at the top while the hole for the clock needs to be 1-3/8" in diameter. I'll attach a picture of the look I'm trying to go for (mimics an old hotel in Indiana) as well as a copy of the Sketchup drawing I made but with Sketchup what it is, it's not the prettiest. I want the wood surrounding the clock to look as much like the the hotel tower as possible.

This is the current bottom half of the tower; it is not completely finished yet as can be seen by the extra piece at the bottom over the tenon I'll insert to the base.



The design has the hole going all the way through the wood but the actual clock I purchased won't need access from its rear. So it will probably only be about a 1/4" deep at the very most.

The intent is to present this clock to the owner of the modernized version of the hotel (still has the original house with more rooms added on to each side) as a memento for his support to our motorcycle group (we visit every June and he will clear out his hotel for us). Therefore, the rest of the design will hold pictures from our past visits.

Sketchup Design


Original Motel

So, essentially you have a very thick dowel that needs a hole on the side. People drill holes into the sides of dowels all the time, so it shouldn't be too big of a deal.

The hardest part will be drilling the hole exactly where you want it and getting it drilled straight. You need to make sure the dowel doesn't rotate as you're drilling the hole. And you need to make sure the drill bit is properly centered on the curve of the dowel so that an imaginary line extending from the drill bit goes through the exact center of the circular cross section.

That's a bit confusing - let me try to explain it better. Imagine you lay your dowel/cylinder down on a table like a large rolling pin. If you look at the end grain, you can see the very top of the circle. Put a mark there with your pencil.

Assuming you're using a drill press, you can rotate that pencil mark a bit to either side and still hit that mark with the drill bit, but unless that pencil mark is top dead center, you will miss drilling through the center of the circle and the hole will be cockeyed.

If it were me, I'd use my drill press and use either hand screw clamps or a drill press vise to hold the piece still and make sure I'm drilling into the very highest point of the circle.

Another thing I would consider from your design is the clearance of the clock hands and the roof on top. Depending on how long the clock hands are, it may hit the overhang of the roof.