Drill Bits
- Thread starter SteveF
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
An ordinary quality auger is fine for 19mm holes. Spades are for butchery.
Spindle
Established Member
Hi
I prefer to use saw tooth bits rather than Forstner.
Regards Mick
I prefer to use saw tooth bits rather than Forstner.
Regards Mick
Eric The Viking
Established Member
- Joined
- 19 Jan 2010
- Messages
- 6,599
- Reaction score
- 76
I'm with Phil P.
Unless your bench top is thin, spade and Forstner bits are probably a poor idea: unless you've got a jig to keep a powered drill perpendicular to the surface, both can wander significantly. I've had trouble with cheap Forstner bits even in a drill press. In my limited experience, a sharp Forstner bit gave me the cleanest holes at 15mm upwards, but they overheat on deep holes and don't clear waste well.
I completely fail to see the point of TiN coating, too: it doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference to performance, and you lose it from the business end the first time you hone the things.
A brace and Jennings-pattern bit (or similar) gives you control and it's easy to stand a square alongside so you can keep checking you're going straight. Roy Underhill counts turns, so that he knows how deep he's drilled. I've never been that clever, but it shows they are precision tools in the right hands.
If Christmas present money is burning a hole in your pocket, have a look at Colt drills. Peter Sefton sells them (Axminster recently dropped the range for some strange reason), and they're the best wood drills I've ever used The "Five Star HSS-M2 Wood Drills" are both fastest-cutting and cleanest entry and exit holes (staggeringly good). They're also by far the most expensive, too, but invaluable when finish quality is important. The 10mm one I have is still Colt, but a different range (says "CV" on the shank and "TwinLand" on the packet). It's still brilliant, but the geometry isn't quite as good and the exit holes aren't quite as clean (still amazing compared to normal brad-point drills). Both types don't need a fast cutting speed - up to 3,000 RPM max. Smaller sizes to 3,500.
HTH,
E.
PS: All that said, I'd use a brace + bit !
Unless your bench top is thin, spade and Forstner bits are probably a poor idea: unless you've got a jig to keep a powered drill perpendicular to the surface, both can wander significantly. I've had trouble with cheap Forstner bits even in a drill press. In my limited experience, a sharp Forstner bit gave me the cleanest holes at 15mm upwards, but they overheat on deep holes and don't clear waste well.
I completely fail to see the point of TiN coating, too: it doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference to performance, and you lose it from the business end the first time you hone the things.
A brace and Jennings-pattern bit (or similar) gives you control and it's easy to stand a square alongside so you can keep checking you're going straight. Roy Underhill counts turns, so that he knows how deep he's drilled. I've never been that clever, but it shows they are precision tools in the right hands.
If Christmas present money is burning a hole in your pocket, have a look at Colt drills. Peter Sefton sells them (Axminster recently dropped the range for some strange reason), and they're the best wood drills I've ever used The "Five Star HSS-M2 Wood Drills" are both fastest-cutting and cleanest entry and exit holes (staggeringly good). They're also by far the most expensive, too, but invaluable when finish quality is important. The 10mm one I have is still Colt, but a different range (says "CV" on the shank and "TwinLand" on the packet). It's still brilliant, but the geometry isn't quite as good and the exit holes aren't quite as clean (still amazing compared to normal brad-point drills). Both types don't need a fast cutting speed - up to 3,000 RPM max. Smaller sizes to 3,500.
HTH,
E.
PS: All that said, I'd use a brace + bit !
Similar threads
