Make Your Own Palm Drills
How to make a Palm Drill
Learn how to make a Palm Drill. Palm Drills are such a useful tool for Forest School and are perfect for children to use. It is possible to find them online but in this video we will show you exactly how to make your own and it’s easier than you think!
How big should my Palm Drills be?
By learning how to make a Palm Drill, you can decide how big you want the handles to be, depending of the age group of the children you are working with.
Young children need smaller handles that can fit easily in small hands and older children and adults will need larger handles.
Like any other drill, you will need different size drill bits for different jobs. Older children might want to make something more intricate and need a thin drill bit and younger children will be fine with a medium size or larger drill bit.
In this video, we used holly but you could also use other types of wood. We’ve also tried apple wood.
Do I need to use glue?
When you make a Palm Drill, you can squeeze some glue into the hole after you drill it. This will make them more likely to last longer and stay in place, but by using fresh, green wood, as it begins to dry it will contract and squeeze the drill bit in place.
You can finish up by rounding of any sharp edges of the handle with sandpaper, carve a design into the bark or colour the ends with paint.
You will need:
- Drill bits
- A drill
- Some green wood (freshly cut – we used holly)
- A vice (optional but much easier for the drilling)
- Epoxy resin glue (optional)
