Drilling

Here's the view down the hole drilled thru the hand on a fan back, really nailed this one.  I used to do this on the bench, and it was sort of hit and miss, but now I drill it just like the rest of the holes in the arm rail, in place.  I use a target and line it up and drill, aiming the drill thru hand.  You have to trust yourself (and the technique), and of course you can always adjust it when you ream, but believe me--the truer the hole, the easier the ream.  I use a reamer from Elia Bizzari that works great.

This is the arrangement I use for drilling the hands, and the arm rail for that matter.  The supports idea I got from Drew Langsner's book, and it works great.  I drill, ream and adjust the hand holes to get the correct placement and angle, then I drill the rear center spindle, and once it looks good (there is some wiggle room here) I drill the rest of the holes.  Then I run a spade bit up thru the hole in the arm, and drill the holes in the seat.  This assures perfect placement and a much less nerve-wracking assembly.  Careful with spade bits though, be sure to check the hole size, they tend to be off.  I usually draw file them to undersize them a little, this assures a tight fit.  The drill with the pencil and the target I got from Pete Galbert.  It works really well, check out his blog at Chair Notes.  Mine, for whatever reason, aims right.