New Kinda Drill Bit

Oct 26, 2009 4 Replies

Or maybe an old one. At any rate, it cuts clean little holes in balsa wood, which is no mean trick (try it with a twist drill sometime). I did experience some break-through on the back side, but then I wasn't using the mandatory sacrificial backing board (what was I thinking!).



All you need to do is cut a sharp "V" groove in the end of an appropriate- sized bit of wire (I used an old bicycle spoke that happened to be just right to clear a #2 screw).



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Obviously it isn't going to be self-clearing like a Forstner bit or a twist drill, but it's OK in thin material, you can make it with a Dremel tool and a rectangular sharpening stone, and the price is right!


Tim Wescott fired this volley in news:8vidnda-

3p5QnnvXnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@web-ster.com:

An old one. It's a rough version of a "brad-point spur bit" used by woodworkers for exactly the properties you describe.

LLoyd

On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:24:58 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" wrote in :

Reminds me of a center bit. Dunno where I've got one or when I would have gotten it. It has a screw in the center and the cutting bits at the outside edges of the bit.

I'll have to look in my toolbox down at my family's camp. I must have gotten it for some chore down there once upon a time.

Marty

Also works good for putting holes in stuff like leather. I've turned them up on the lathe in all sorts of sizes.

Try making one that will clear a #2 screw! ;-)

Cheers! Rich

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