USING FORSTNER BITS WITHOUT A DRILL PRESS
John McDermott
If one drills an accurate pilot hole, is it possible to use
a Forstner bit without a drill press?
John
bill nelson
:
: If one drills an accurate pilot hole, is it possible to use
: a Forstner bit without a drill press?
I don't believe that a pilot hole would help much.
I have use Forstner bits freehand. You have to go slow, and have
a steady hand.
Bill
Christopher J. Shaker
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Path: cronkite.cisco.com!decwrl!spool.mu.edu!darwin.sura.net!ra!bullwinkle!mcdermot
From: mcde...@itd.nrl.navy.mil (John McDermott)
Sender: use...@ra.nrl.navy.mil
Organization: Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1993 21:01:31 GMT
Lines: 6
If one drills an accurate pilot hole, is it possible to use
a Forstner bit without a drill press?
John
John:
I am not sure whether this is safe or not, but somewhere, I've seen
described a trick of using another piece of wood which already has the same
diameter hole made in it with the correct alignment as a guide for the
handheld forster. It looked something like this, I think:
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-------+ +-------+
| |
-----------------------| |-----------------------------------
| Forstner Bit | Guide board with pre drilled hole
| | holds forstner in alignment
----------------------|/------\/-------\|---------------------------------
Board you are drilling a new hole in
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Backup board (scrap)
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I have not tried this, if you want, attempt this at your own risk,
Chris Shaker
+-------------------------------------------------------+
| All opinions are completely my own, and do NOT |
| represent my employer. |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------+
| Christopher J. Shaker | email: sha...@cisco.com |
| cisco Systems, Inc. | |
| P.O. Box 3075 | |
| 1525 O'Brien Drive | Phone: +1 415.688.7886 |
| Menlo Park, CA 94025 | Fax: +1 415.688.4575 |
+-------------------------------------------------------+
--
+-------------------------------------------------------+
| All opinions are completely my own, and do NOT |
| represent my employer. |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------+
| Christopher J. Shaker | email: sha...@cisco.com |
| cisco Systems, Inc. | |
| P.O. Box 3075 | |
| 1525 O'Brien Drive | Phone: +1 415.688.7886 |
| Menlo Park, CA 94025 | Fax: +1 415.688.4575 |
+-------------------------------------------------------+
nic...@nicad3.nic.bc.ca
I have used Forstner bits without a press on several occasions without
pre-drilling a pilot hole, and have not encountered any problems.
john nicklin
DX...@psuvm.psu.edu
I drilled many many many holes with a 2 1/2 inch forstner bit installing the
central vac in my new house. It required a large 1/2 drill motor and a
fairly slow feed rate, banged my wrist up more than once, when I got in a
hurry. BTW: They do an excellent job..
Brian
Martins Skele
>In article <CDGt...@ra.nrl.navy.mil> mcde...@itd.nrl.navy.mil (John McDermott) writes:
> Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
> Path: cronkite.cisco.com!decwrl!spool.mu.edu!darwin.sura.net!ra!bullwinkle!mcdermot
> From: mcde...@itd.nrl.navy.mil (John McDermott)
> Sender: use...@ra.nrl.navy.mil
> Organization: Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC
> Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1993 21:01:31 GMT
> Lines: 6
> If one drills an accurate pilot hole, is it possible to use
> a Forstner bit without a drill press?
> John
You need a slow enough speed to be able to control the bit when it bites on one side
slightly more thean the other. I've never had trouble using one with a brace. A very
large forstner bit in a big handheld drill is commonly called a "hole hog". It is used
cut holes in 2 by X lumber for toilets and sewer pipes. Of course the accuracy depends
on how much practice you've had.
rdw...@gracehosp.ns.ca
>
>If one drills an accurate pilot hole, is it possible to use
>a Forstner bit without a drill press?
>
>
>John
I have had good experience with the smaller bits (up to 1.5")
with a handheld drill, slow it down or it'll twist your hand off
G. Paul Houtz
>If one drills an accurate pilot hole, is it possible to use
>a Forstner bit without a drill press?
----------
There is some information missing here.
What size Forstner bit?
If it is a 3/8" Forstner bit, I would say it shouldn't be too difficult
to do.
If it is a 35mm Forsner bit, you are likely to get injured doing this.
With a bit larger than about 1/2", the stresses start to get pretty
high. If you clampt the work, the drill is likely to be pulled out
of you hands.
If you want to drill larger holes, get a jig (like the General) that
you mount your drill in, and then clamp the jig to the work. Then
go slow.
Most of the larger Forstner bits are not recommended in anything other
than a drill press. That is why I bought an el-cheapo Taiwan bench
drill press for $125.00.
Steven Bellovin
> mcde...@itd.nrl.navy.mil (John McDermott) writes:
>
> >If one drills an accurate pilot hole, is it possible to use
> >a Forstner bit without a drill press?
> ----------
>
> There is some information missing here.
>
> What size Forstner bit?
>
> If it is a 3/8" Forstner bit, I would say it shouldn't be too difficult
> to do.
>
> If it is a 35mm Forsner bit, you are likely to get injured doing this.
>
> With a bit larger than about 1/2", the stresses start to get pretty
> high. If you clampt the work, the drill is likely to be pulled out
> of you hands.
A few days ago, I tried using a 3/4" Forstner bit in a hand-held drill
(a Panasonic 9.6V cordless) to drill a hole in white oak. I got nowhere,
fast. Perhaps I didn't have it square to the work -- but I just couldn't
drill it. I moved the work to my drill press, and the bit cut through
the oak as if it were pine. Instant hole -- no fuss, no muss, no bother.
There's obviously some question of technique here; I wish I knew what
it was....
Bennett Leeds
> mcde...@itd.nrl.navy.mil (John McDermott) writes:
>
> >If one drills an accurate pilot hole, is it possible to use
> >a Forstner bit without a drill press?
> ----------
>
35mm is just a tad over 1 3/8": I've succesfully and uneventfully drilled
several holes in 3/4" walnut with a 1 3/8" Freud Forstner bit using my
hand held Sears VS 3/8" drill, at a fairly slow setting.
> Most of the larger Forstner bits are not recommended in anything other
> than a drill press.
Absolutely. The question is what is meant by "larger." If you need to drill
at an angle you should use a drill press with any bit.
Differences in Forstner bits can also affect how safely one can drill with
a hand held drill. For instance, the really expensive Convaloco Forstners
have a tiny center point that doesn't do a good job of guiding the bit -
the bit really depends on the circumferential guides. The Freud bits I
used have a much larger center point. I'd also be more wary of using the
saw-toothed psudeo-Forstner bits than the straight true Forstner pattern,
but I don't have too much direct experience with them.
Finally, I think drilling a pilot hole would actually make the drilling
much more difficult, as the center point has nothing to bite into.
- Bennett Leeds
ben...@adobe.com
Patrick Leach
|>
|> Most of the larger Forstner bits are not recommended in anything other
|> than a drill press. That is why I bought an el-cheapo Taiwan bench
|> drill press for $125.00.
Hmm, then how did them oldtimers use 'em in their primitive bit braces?
You coulda saved yourself $105.00 had you bought yourself an el-cheapo
Stanley brace.
--
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Patrick Leach
Just say Forstner's have been around for ~100 years.
etc.
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G. Paul Houtz
>In article <432...@hpcc01.corp.hp.com>, g...@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (G. Paul Houtz) writes:
>
>|>
>|> Most of the larger Forstner bits are not recommended in anything other
>|> than a drill press. That is why I bought an el-cheapo Taiwan bench
>|> drill press for $125.00.
>
>Hmm, then how did them oldtimers use 'em in their primitive bit braces?
>You coulda saved yourself $105.00 had you bought yourself an el-cheapo
>Stanley brace.
----------
The recommendation probably means that the bits are not to be used
in a hand-held power drill. I wouldn't know about a brace and
bit, as I don't own one.
My own budget is not so tight that I need to scrimp and save every
penny, so $105.00 doesn't seem like much money to me, really. Others
might not be so fortunate, so your input is very helpful.
I just did a $65,000 remodel of my home at a cost of about $32,000
because I did much of the work myself, so springing for $125 for a
drill press I wanted anyway doesn't seem like much, especially since
I got really nice results and the drill press speeded up a lot
of operations.
I am in awe of people who use hand-tools, and I think they are
great. However, I don't see too many contractors or people working
within tight schedules (like I had to with my kitchen) doing a lot
of work with hand tools when power tools are available.
I don't know if this is because it is too time consuming to do work
with hand-tools, or if it is too time-consuming to learn, or if it
is just a misperception on the part of industry that hand tools are
slow.
I do know that it was a lot faster cutting out my countertop base
and mounting rails on my tablesaw than it ever would have been using
a hand-powered rip saw. My own conclusion is that the drill press
is a time saver over a brace and bit. I leave others to draw
their own conclusions.
Dave Tardiff
> I am in awe of people who use hand-tools, and I think they are
> great. However, I don't see too many contractors or people working
> within tight schedules (like I had to with my kitchen) doing a lot
> of work with hand tools when power tools are available.
>
> I don't know if this is because it is too time consuming to do work
> with hand-tools, or if it is too time-consuming to learn, or if it
> is just a misperception on the part of industry that hand tools are
> slow.
>
> I do know that it was a lot faster cutting out my countertop base
> and mounting rails on my tablesaw than it ever would have been using
> a hand-powered rip saw. My own conclusion is that the drill press
> is a time saver over a brace and bit. I leave others to draw
> their own conclusions.
Even when you're working on a tight schedule, hand tools have
their place. I'm rebuilding my kitchen now, and I'm trying to work
quickly since the 20' hole in the house makes it sort of hard to keep
warm. While the power miter saw, circular saw, and reciprocating saw
have been invaluable and have seen very heavy use, I've also used the
block plane and both crosscut and rip handsaws where appropriate.
When they were used, the operation was far safer and quicker than trying
to accomplish the same task with the aforementioned noisemakers, and
the result was also nicer.
--
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Dave Tardiff tard...@apollo.hp.com
Patrick Leach
I'm kinda going out on a limb here, but I'll bet that you've never used
a rip saw, right? I think you'd be surprised over just how fast a 30" 5pt.
rip saw can consume wood. Certainly nothing will ever beat the tablesaw
when ripping 100's bf, but a rip saw quite often will on the one-off pieces.
Besides, can you play 'Lady of Spain' or 'Kumbaya' on your table saw?
--
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Patrick Leach
Just say Time is the grim reality of woodworking today.
etc.
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