George Vondriska

Using a Forstener Bit

George Vondriska
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Description

The forstener bit is a great woodworking specific drill bit and a must have for your woodworking shop. Unlike brad points, twist bits and paddle bits, a forstner bit allows you to cut bigger holes using your drill press. They make a higher quality cut and leave a smooth inside wall and a flat bottom. George Vondriska also demonstrates how to use a forstener bit to make a mortise using a drill press with a series of overlapping holes.

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One Response to “Using a Forstener Bit”

  1. tezp1936

    Can't get the video to play all I get is a still frame advert!

Forstner bits like the set that I have here are a great woodworking specific drill bit for you to have in your shop. Couple of things we need to know about using them and a couple of attributes that we should talk about that'll speak to why you should have them. So, one of the things Forstner bits offer is the ability to drill larger holes. So I've got a two inch Forstner bit in the drill press now, when we get up to these bigger holes it's something that brad points and twist bits and paddle bits just can't really help you with. Maybe I can get a paddle bit this big but the cut quality is going to be nowhere near as good as I can get off the Forstner bit.

So one of the premises from a Forstner bits is nice sidewalls and a nice flat bottom on the hole. Let me show you what I mean by that. I'm working here in quarter sawn red oak and even in this hard material, we've got a nice surface on the inside of the wall here. Nice flat bottom on the bottom of the Forstner. Now, one of the things we can do with a Forstner bit that you really can't do with any other bits is drill overlapping holes.

So what I can do is get the center point of the bit over here, where there's still a little bit of meat left, adjacent to where I counter board. Then I can come back in between and take out the high spots. And with that series of overlapping holes I can create a pretty good looking oval. Now this is on a really big scale. Think about what I'd have if I did this on a smaller scale, if I was doing an oval with a quarter inch or a three-eights or a half inch Forstner bit, we'd call that a mortis.

So a Forstner bit is a real effective way to make mortises here on your drill press. One of the things we want to pay attention to is a type of shaving that we're getting off the Forstner bit. Anytime you get to a larger diameter cutter, you should be running it at a lower RPM, same is true with router bits. So as I get to these big diameter Forstners I need to lower the RPM on the drill press. If you're getting sawdust or certainly if you're getting smoke off of the hole you're drilling, that Forstner bit is either running too fast or it's dull.

If you know it's sharp and you're getting sawdust instead of shavings, you're running it at too high in RPM and you need to slow it down. So Forstner bit are a great addition to have for your woodworking shop. And they're going to add a lot to the capabilities of what you can do with your drill press.

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