Yeah buddy! Colt 5 Star brad point bits may very well be as good as a Forstner bit in 1/4" and larger sizes. I know that in 1/4" and larger you don't need a backer board to prevent tear out on the back side of a of the hole. It is some times hard to tell which side the hole started vs. penetrated.
Yeah, and you are the one who hooked/turned me on them ... by giving me one.
Thanks again! :)
- eWoodShop:
LOL, did you buy more? I was at Cornerstone hardware several months ago and loaded up on a bunch of them from their clearance table.
I am real picky on what I use them on.
I've bought a number of them from Woodcraft but they no longer carry them. :-(
Might be why he did not mention Woodcraft. ;~)
For drill bits, I'm of the school of "buy a cheap set and replace them as needed with good ones". Some will never be used. Router bits are the opposite, IMO. Buy really good ones, as they're needed. The sets always include some that I'll never use. Drill bits are a lot cheaper than router bit, too.
I have an use them but I'm always afraid of burning them, so only use them when needed.
No.
A single pass as fast as possible to minimize heat build up.
Lew
... or a drill press.
No. My original post.....
"Forstner bit, for sure. If you're using a drill press and can clamp the stock, drill a 3/4 or 7/8 hole first, then drill the finished 1' hole. One thing that makes sloppy holes in hardwoods is the release of tension in the wood as it's being cut. This can cause burning and an oblong hole after the wood inside the hole has released and warped/swelled a bit.
Drilling the smaller hole first allows the burning to happen on the smaller, unused hole. When you go to cut the finished hole, the chips have an escape route and there will be less friction. Also, if you're
*really* concerned with the perfect hole, let the wood sit overnight after drilling the smaller hole to allow the freshly cut outside surface (inside the hole) to acclimate. Cut the finish hole after that and it will be perfect."wrote
I use them for everything. When they get dull a dremmel tool with a cutoff wheel sharpens the larger sizes very nicely. Triangle files of different sizes for the small ones and not too dull larger ones.
"Edward A. Falk" wrote > Not necessarily.
True, that works great and I have been forced to do that many times, but why, when you don't have to.
The original talk was about drilling a smaller hole with a forstner, then opening it up to the final size with the final forstner.
When using a twist bit, the wood is compressed outwards, a certain small amount. Drilling undersized and then going to the final size is a viable strategy. The wood is cut across the width of the hole, and forced upwards along the flutes, which both contribute to the compression.
But a forstner cuts the outer edge of the hole while there is still wood on both sides of the cut, so the wood is not compressed to either side of the cut. The inside of the hole is then removed, and the chips brought out through generous relief openings in the bit. There is no compression of the hole. So why drill the same hole two times? I don't know why you would do it on purpose.
I think it was my original reply that brought up drilling a smaller hole, then the finished hole. It wasn't for compression of the waste, it was for stress relief in the wood, and for the slight warping of the wood after being cut. Similar to when people will turn bowls on a lathe from non-segmented stock. It is common practice to turn the bowl down to a rough size, bigger than the finish size, then let the rough bowl warp from the stress relief and relative humidity change, then turn it to the finish size and shape.
I brought up the technique for anyone would need a perfect hole, not necessarily for the OPs intended purpose. This is not something that needs done for 99% of what we do as woodworkers, but if you're doing a project where a large hole needs to stay round, say for some sort of jig or other thing in which a dowel will be inserted and removed from a hole, it can really help keep the hole truly round.
Try it sometime. Cut a 2" hole in a large piece of wood, then measure it with accurate digital calipers. Take it inside the house overnight or for a few days. Measure it again and in many cases it will be slightly oblong.
Forstner bits remove a lot of material and typically require more effort from you to feed the bit. If the final size forstner is not having to remove all of the material at once it is easier to feed.
"tdacon" wrote in news:lu5jma$ff9$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
Can't say I've really experienced that problem with Forstner bits - usually once the body of the bit is completely in the wood, it tracks true without any particular effort.
What is handy, when using a Forstner in a hand drill instead of a drill press, is to use the drill press to drill a hole thru a block of scrap, and clamp that to the workpiece, to guide the bit getting started.
John
Hole saw. Clear the sawdust out frequently, it's just as fast as an auger and similarly accurate.
Wouldn't use a Forstner unless it was a stopped hole, or some precision requirement on diameter (as, for doweling).
I'd use the forsner if I had it and didn't have a hole saw. I'd use the hole saw if I had it and didn't have a forstner. I'd use a 3/32 pilot drill and an auger or spade - coming in from the back a short distance first, then turning the work over and finishing from the front. A speedbore spade would be my choi auger - but the drill press would not be optional.
I drilled the 3/4" dog holes in my 2+" thick bench top with a big plunge router and appropriate bit with 1/2" shank. The big 3 hp Porter Cable plunge router.
Basically, you use what you've got. If you have more than one option, you use the best you have. If you have no options, you buy what you will get the most use out of or what you otherwise would have a hard time getting permission from SWMBO to buy!!!!
John McCoy wrote in news:XnsA3A1CCE347620pogosupernews@78.46.70.116:
Maybe I missed this in all the previous replies. How about an ol' fashioned human powered brace and bit? No burning up motors. Real time error correction, speed control, and you can still listen to your shop music without an electrically powered tool buzzing away. :)
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