Drilling with Forstner Bit

For many of my bowls, I flatten spots for a 3" faceplate with a 3 1/8" forstner in a 1/2" drill. I am considering a new drill and was wondering if a hammer drill works better for this application.

Thanks,

Derek

Reply to
Derek Hartzell
Loading thread data ...

The correct drill for large Forstner (or any type) bits is a drill press (and sharp bits). If you don't already have a drill press, IMHO this is the investment you want to make.

Hammer drills are for drilling rock and concrete, not wood, although they're also useful for driving self-tapping screws through tough hardwoods.

Reply to
DJ Delorie

A hammer drill is good for things like concrete, where the impact fractures the structure. You want just the opposite type of action with a Forstner bit: SMOOTHNESS.

If you don't have a drill press, you might consider chucking the bit in the lathe, and resting the wood against the tailstock.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

I guess that I don't understand the usefulness of using a drill bit to make a flat spot for a faceplate.

You can just as easily mount the blank between centers and use a gouge to make the same flat spot. True, you can't get all the way to the center but most faceplates have a hole up the center anyway and what you can't get to with the gouge you can knock off with a chisel after you dismount the piece.

Bill

Leo Lichtman wrote:

Reply to
Bill Rubenstein

Bill, Same here. I've never used a big drill bit to make a flat for a faceplate, but I have used a spade bit as a small rotary planer to make a smooth spot for a spur center on very rough or bark surfaced blanks. Usually I just use a two prong center with long spurs or a 2in. faceplate with sharpened bolts as spurs.

And also with you: even poorly balanced blanks don't tend to fly out of well seated centers. :)

BTW, do all Forstner type bits cut the bottom of a hole square to the sides?

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

formatting link

Reply to
Arch

In a word, "NO!"

Reply to
Barry N. Turner

How much does a 3 1/8 inch forstner bit cost? Just wondering!!!

Reply to
Jo-Anne & Edward Tabachek

Bill,

It is easier to turn w/o the tailstock in the way. I can swivel my headstock while I turn. I turn a natural edge bowl with the faceplate on the top of the bowl. I make a mortise for a chuck and then turn it around. If you ever cut a piece into thirds or fourths as shown in the Del Stubbs video, sometimes the sharp corner of the bottom is off center and it makes it a lot more difficult to prepare a spot for a tail center. Also, I sometimes like to turn the piece (for instance a half log) so the flat is not perpendicular to the tailcenter to allow for a better natural edge. So for either of these cases, I need to manually chisel a spot for both the drive center (through the bark) and the tail center. That doesn't seem to deliver any time savings versus drilling with a Forstner like I do now.

DJ,

I do have a 1/3 hp, 9 inch swing drill press, but it only goes down to 600 rpms and has no guts at this speed (due to the small size of the motor pulley at this ratio) compared to my 1/2" handheld drill. I really could use a bigger drill press....

Leo, I fear that drilling with the lathe would be rather dangerous. This size bit has a lot of torque and you would have to simultaneously hold the wood from spinning and maintain pressure with the tail center to keep the drill bit from reducing the pressure and causing the tailcenter to release as the drill bit feeds.

All, The way I drill is that I put the long sides of the half or third log between my feet and prop it up with one foot or the other if needed to level the log section and then reach down and drill it with a 1/2" Craftsman drill that I have had for years. It works fairly well, but is a little short on power. The motor is 3 amp, 600 rpm speed. I have been considering that a newer drill with a 6+ amp, 850 rpm speed might work better, so I was also considering the hammer models.

I have thought about a big drill press, but it would take some special clamps to get the piece angled how I want it, centered both directions and firmly held. It would probably take a long time to set up.

I guess I was theorizing that if a mechanic can tighten lug bolts (with a short handled impact wrench) tightly without ever experiencing the massive torque that would be required without impact, maybe a drill bit could similarly operate in a more controlled manner. I don't have an impact drill so I've never tried it.

Derek

Reply to
Derek Hartzell

Derek, I have used a 3 1/8 inch forstner bit for about 3 years, to do just what you are doing, only I have a big drill press. Before I got the big bit, I would use a 1 inch bit and would set the depth stop. Drill the center hole first, then work your way around it until you have a hole big enough. You need to have a flat bottom, which takes good chainsaw work. Big bowl blanks are easier to do because the weight helps to counter the torque of the bit. Smaller blanks are dangerous because a catch can send them flying, and when drilling on an uneven surface, you can get catches. The bit can travel sideways if it is dull, and if the surface is uneven (high side and low side). I can't imagion trying to drill with a 3 1/8 inch bit in a hand drill, that scares even me, and I'm fearless. robo hippy

Reply to
robo hippy

==========================

I can tell you that is dangerous! I have a cresent scar on my left hand from a 1 3/8 Forstner that skidded out on a clock blank a few years back. Caught right in the web between the thumb and forefinger.

Ken Moon Webberville, TX

Reply to
Ken Moon

I agree with the folks that start out bowls between centers. That's the best way. It lets you adjust for best grain patterns. Even if you have a swivel headstock, you can start between centers, with the bottom of the bowl towards the tailstock, rough it out, turn a tenon, then mount in a chuck...and then you can turn without the tailstock.

Prior to starting between centers, I used a Makita portable planer to flatten the base for attaching a faceplate (Model N9100B, $139 at Amazon). A useful addition to the shop for other things as well.

I can't imagine doing that with a big forstner on a rough surface. That's for braver souls the me.

mmi

Ken Mo>

Reply to
Me myself and I

Reply to
Jim Pugh

Derek, a drill press fixture is fairly simple and doesn't have to be handsome. Mine is two ~ 10" long sections of 2x6 joined together at the ends to make a right angle. This is laid on one side and fastened to a piece of 3/4" ply of a suitable size to fit on your drill press table. Place the 2x6 angle mostly toward one corner but leave enough of the plywood showing outside for some clamps. I place the bowl roughout into the angle of the sides, turning it until it is fairly well supported by the sides and shimming underneath to get the surface to be drilled relatively level. This takes moments. I have a large, cheap strap clamp that I wrap around the bowl blank and around the outside of the 2x6 angle. This keep the piece from spinning while drilling with the large bit (but doesn't keep the fixture from spinning. DAMHIK). Decide where you want to drill (find the center) and position the piece under the drill bit. I use at least two of the squeeze type quick clamps to clamp the plywood to the drill press table. I have my drill press speed set at about the slowest it will go and have at it. The fixture costs next to zip, looks like crap and works like a champ. My kind of tool.

Reply to
Jim Pugh

I've used forstner bits to do tenons for the chuck, but can't see them as a face place tool... hmmmmm..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Reply to
mac davis

Don't you mean _Mortise_ Mac? Hmmm are yah off yer meds. Can I send you a new supply of Viagra to perk ya up there? LOL

Have you been studying the Queen in Alice In Wonderland? (words mean anything I want them to... paraphrased a touch...)

Couldn't resist -- have a nice day and enjoy yourself.

I will be expecting a return shot -- make it a nice soft lob willya. I'm off my meds too. LOL

Reply to
WillR

OK, I'll ask. How does something which makes a hole make a tenon?

Now a holesaw....

Reply to
George

I can't take Viagra, Will.. my lathe only has a 9 1/2" throw.. *g*

(I checked my Oneway manual, and it calls a hole a "tenon")

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Reply to
mac davis

I don't know, George, but that's what Oneway calls it when you grip the inside edge of a hole.. lol I think that a holesaw, if you left the center part attached, would make what Oneway calls a "foot"...

Or, as John Madden says, "1 knee equals 2 feet"

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Reply to
mac davis

Send the AIW and underline the passgae with the Red Wueen. What can I say.

..oh... and try a #2 stretcher -- it worked for me.

Reply to
WillR

Now I might expect that from Oz, things being upside down and all, but Canada?

It's a different world.

Reply to
George

InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.