forstner for cordless drill

[No skills]

Hello there.

Are there any forstner bits that are good for use in a cordless drill other than the zorbo (sp?) Festool bits, just had a browse on Axminster and see some by fich (again sp?) that look promising.
I want something fairly fast cutting but but neater than spade bits, I have some dewalt self feed bits for larger holes but want some bits that are not lead screw dependant (like the dewalt or standard augers).
The fich range of lip and spur bits look quite good for smaller holes, anybody using them??

 

[sunnybob]

wide forstner bits have huge torque when cutting. Using them in a hand drill could well have you spinning round but the bit not moving. Then again, that torque will drain a battery much faster than ordinary drill bits will.
Can you not use a drill press? You can buy them for very little money.

 

[lurker]

I wanted a particular size a few months ago and tool station had a clearance sale on of a brand called punk.
I bought several thinking I could use them as semi disposable ones.
They turned out to be very good.
Would like to track another supplier of these.

 

[No skills]

I've got the bigger ones (dewalt as mentioned), I'm after smaller stuff - say 20mm thru 35mm. I think the fich lip and spur bits will suit me up to 20 odd mm.

This is for handheld cordless use, sick and tired of poor quality bits and poor cutting spade bits.

Drill press certainly has its place but I've not seen one sub £500 that I would buy

 

[sunnybob]

You can buy drill presses that are just frames for you to put your drill into. I've had a wolf press that I bought for a tenner at a car boot sale twenty years ago. Holds a ryobi powered hammer drill at present, but takes any drill with a standard collar size.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I wanted a particular size a few months ago and tool station had a clearance sale on of a brand called punk.
I bought several thinking I could use them as semi disposable ones.
They turned out to be very good.
Would like to track another supplier of these.

I bought "Punk" branded stuff in Travis Perkins. Worth a look.

 

[Droogs]

i bought a set of forstner bits from costco a good while back that although imperial in sizes went from 1/4 up to 2 1/2" and have lasted very well. They may still have these and they were around £40 iirc

 

[Alexam]

Should Fostner bits be run particularly slowly. I havent looked this up and should, but perhaps you know the ideal speeds?

 

[woodenstx]

I use the Screwfix (possibly Titan) Forstner set in a cordless drill. Granted the batteries are tired but it does a good enough job.

The only problem I've found is sub 20mm and the holes need constant cleaning out otherwise the bit just clogs up and stops ctutting

 

[Beau]

The fisch wave bits are fantastic in cordless or drill press

 

[LancsRick]

You don't need to run them particularly slowly (most of the time my pillar drill is left on the same speed), but if you are cutting particularly hard material (and therefore progressing slowly), you might want to slow it down if you see burn around the edge of the bit, since it's a flush cut.

Using a pillar drill also helps with the issue that woodenstuart mentions as it's easy to back the bit off a bit so it clears, then progress again.

 

[sploo]

IRC (some of) FAMAG's Bormax bits are advertised as being suitable for handheld use. Not cheap - especially the Bormax3 version, but they are absolutely superb.

Easy (UK) purchase here: http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/FAM ... rills.html

If you do have a friendly family member coming over from Germany then you can save a packet, as they're considerably cheaper "at origin".

 

[No skills]

Ahh I didn't know about famag, will investigate. Thanks.

 

[sploo]

Ahh I didn't know about famag, will investigate. Thanks.

They're *very* nice. Just don't ask your wallet for permission first :wink:

 

[Nelsun]

I've made good use of the Screwfix imperial set. For £40 they have lasted better than I thought.

Does anyone have any experience with the Trend Snappy bits? £75 is a lot to put down blindly on a 5 piece set.

 

[ED65]

I want something fairly fast cutting but but neater than spade bits?

If the neatness of the hole is the main requirement have you tried re-sharpening your spade bits? Obviously Forstners excel at this but you can get very good results from spade bits if they're properly sharp (which often means not using the factory grind).

Some people mod theirs to improve performance by filing near the outside edges to produce a spur on each wing, similar to what you get on some manufactured ones, but I think if they're just good and sharp with a slight upward angle on the wings you get equivalent results and they're much easier to resharpen:

https://baileylineroad.com/cheap-bits-d ... eat-holes/

In this link Maxwell says "Watch and learn how to sharpen spade bits so they’re as good as new" but I think for a lot of us they'll be better than new.

 

[No skills]

Funny you should say that, I've messed about quite a lot with sharpening spade bits at work and had them work better after resharpening than they were new. My preferred shape then is what dewalt now sell, should have patented that one

The spades tend to work better at higher speeds ime, I think the forstners will cut well at a slightly lower speed letting me control things a bit better, especially if I want to cut at an angle.

 

[sploo]

Funny you should say that, I've messed about quite a lot with sharpening spade bits at work and had them work better after resharpening than they were new. My preferred shape then is what dewalt now sell, should have patented that one

The spades tend to work better at higher speeds ime, I think the forstners will cut well at a slightly lower speed letting me control things a bit better, especially if I want to cut at an angle.

If you're going in at something other than 90 degrees, FAMAG also have a type of Forstner with a removable/adjustable centre drill - so you can extend it to get a "pilot" into your material when drilling in from an angle.

 

[MusicMan]

Lubricate with beeswax.

 

[woodenstx]

Have to say, the Dewalt "extreme" spade bits produce rather good clean holes, and they seem to stay sharp for a long time.