Has anyone had any problems drilling into hardwoods? I normally build with softer woods and sheet goods but over the weekend I put together a hardwood face frame and found that I got some wood burn and struggled to set some pocket holes into the wood.
Any tips or tricks that you can share?
Tags:
1) How sharp is your drill bit? Time to replace it?
2) Was it working good the last time you used it? I have done some really stupid things like trying to drill holes in reverse - took a lot of "push" on the drill, but got through the wood...and then I realized I had just used it to back out some screws and forgot to change the direction of the twist.
First - I'll second Al's question about the bit condition.
Second - cordless drill = not enough rpm.
None of the above, not in reverse and I do my drilling with a conventional cord drill to get the RPM up on the drill. I thought it might have been a dull bit however it tried it on some pine right afterwards and it worked great.
I also spoke what a fellow wood worker here that uses the same wood species (Saligna) and he has the same problem with a brand new bit. To over come this he first uses a normal metal bit to cut the initial hole and then follows it up with the Kreg bit.
Could it be that the wood is just that hard?
I purchased a set of wood boring bits---( not cheap).
When I go them home, I made a close inspection of the sharpness of the cutting edges of each, using a magnifier.
WOW!---was I surprised to find each bit had ''burrs'' on the cutting edges.
It appeared, to me, the grinding was done by inferior grinding tools/equipment.
NO WAY were the bits sharp to meet my standards.
After sharpening each bit, using diamond steel files, they cut very smooth.
I revisited the dealer, discussed the matter of the bits ''out of the package'' condition.
We opened and examined each set of bits---all had the same inferior (not sharp) cutting edge.
The salesperson, packed them all up, and was preping them to return.
Hi Donald,
I started doing exactly the same thing. I thought that maybe the dust clearance was getting blocked due to the type of wood. Perhaps it is because of the flat seat head of the drill bit? I tried drilling with and against the grain with little difference.
What is a proper solution though? The two step drilling or two bit drilling takes up tons of time in a project.
Since I also work with steel, I also know that with hard things I must drill at slower speeds. When you see your piece burning, it's time to adjust your speed to a much slower speed. And of course sharpness. When you burn your wood, it's time to either get a new bit or sharpen the one you have. I have a special bit sharpener that has paid for its self many times over. New bits may look sharp and you may think they are sharp, but put a magnifying glass to them and you will see that they are not.
Hi Donald,
I started doing exactly the same thing. I thought that maybe the dust clearance was getting blocked due to the type of wood. Perhaps it is because of the flat seat head of the drill bit? I tried drilling with and against the grain with little difference.
What is a proper solution though? The two step drilling or two bit drilling takes up tons of time in a project.
Good point. I need to maybe check the bit out under a magnifying glass to make sure it is sharp enough. I am not sure though if you would be able to sharped a Kreg bit though? I did try slow the speed down but did see that much change. It might be due to the flat area in the bit that starts to rub flush. I def going to check it out tonight. Thanks for the idea.
Antoine boyd said:Since I also work with steel, I also know that with hard things I must drill at slower speeds. When you see your piece burning, it's time to adjust your speed to a much slower speed. And of course sharpness. When you burn your wood, it's time to either get a new bit or sharpen the one you have. I have a special bit sharpener that has paid for its self many times over. New bits may look sharp and you may think they are sharp, but put a magnifying glass to them and you will see that they are not.
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