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When I first started woodworking,
I wasted a lot of money on
tools that almost did the job I needed
them to do. Only to find out afterwards
that there are actually specialized tools
that work a little bit better
and maybe they cost a couple bucks more.
But oh my gosh, do they save me
heartache when they actually have a cleaner cut
or just a better result.
So in a sort of "buy this,
"not that" fashion, I'm going to show you
some drill bits today and these are three
sets. They all do three different things,
but I'm gonna show you which one I
think you should avoid in which one I
think you should purchase and you're gonna find
that a lot of these tools
that maybe were intended for the construction industry
where a rougher cut is totally acceptable,
but they don't necessarily translate to "fine woodworking."
Right? So let's jump in.
First, let's talk about regular drill bits.
I've got two examples here,
a standard twist bit and this is called
a brad point bit and obviously they look
very similar, but where they differ is at
the very tip with the type of cutting
action that they have a twist bit has
this conical shape here. So as you start
drilling at this point, there is potential for
the bit to wander a little bit.
So if you need a very exact hole
in a very exact location,
these can be just a little bit tricky
to line up. Also, they don't have anything
that's really severing the wood fibers on the
outside. So as these parts here start to
scrape through the wood, you can end up
with tear out on the outside
and it depends on the material
you're cutting, the speed you're cutting, all
that stuff, but that's the potential for things
to go wrong. On a brad point bit,
the thing that gives its namesake here is
this center spur that allows you to get
pinpoint accuracy. So you can go put a
little tiny dot on something
and make sure that this little spur goes
into that dot. You're gonna get a perfectly
located hole in this particular type of brad
point bit actually has spurs on the outside
as well, which increases the chances of a
tear out free cut. All right,
so this one tends to be a lot
more accurate. While I always recommend
that you have a nice big set of
twist bits so you can get all the
different fractional sizes. You could have things
that drill in metal. And of course we all
have house projects where sometimes the brad point
bit just doesn't make any sense.
But in addition to this,
you are definitely going to want a smaller
four or five piece set brad point bits
in the most common sizes.
Now, if you're looking to make holes of
a larger diameter, you're probably going to go
to bits that look like this.
This is a spade bit very common,
very inexpensive. And these are often used in
the construction industry. Think about if you're fishing
Romex through framing or plumbing or something,
you could plow through some soft woods with
this very, very quickly. But you do have
to be careful because of this sort of
rough shape. If you happen to angle it
just the wrong way, it can catch
and send your drill flying into your face
if you're not in a great position.
So you have to be careful with them.
And if you try to use this in
hardwood, the results just won't be great.
Alright, you're gonna get tons of tear out,
it's just not gonna look good
and it's again a safety issue.
So in fine woodworking, we tend to gravitate
toward a more expensive option,
but much higher quality and that's a forstener
bit. Forstener bits are slower cutting.
You have more control, probably still a good
idea to use a drill press when you
use them, but the hole itself is going
to be a nice flat bottom.
So if you're doing like european cup hinges
or something like that, a forstener
bit's going to be the way to
go. And honestly, I have to say
that I don't see any reason for a
typical furniture shop to actually even have a
spade bit, maybe for house projects,
but ultimately, this doesn't even need to be
in the arsenal. Lastly we have counter sink
bits. So these are specific drill devices
that not only drill a pilot hole but
also result in a counter sunk section of
the hole that allows the head of a
screw to go either flush or below the
surface. So very handy if you're driving screws
into a project. They come in all different
shapes and sizes. But what I have found
over the years is ones like this
that have a simple collar
and a little bit less expensive,
these will actually do two things
that are bad. One is they mar the
surface, you can get burn marks or dents
and indentations around the hole
and that's no good. Also I find
that they tend to clog
and I have to clear out the area
between the cutters. So what I recommend youy
get is something, there's a few of these
on the market, but this one in particular,
this Amana counter sink bit is amazing.
It's got a nice wide support which serves
as your stop and because of the size
and maybe even the material,
I find that I don't get any burning
with this whatsoever. Also because of all of
this extra space here around the cutter,
you never have to clear out chips,
it just kind of a sort of fall
on the surface and a little bit of
air. You can blow it out of the
way so I never have to clear out
clogs. This is by far the better counter
sink bit. Now, another option I should mention
here is you don't necessarily have to get
an all in one counter sink bit like
this. You can use regular bits to do
your pilot hole and then you could use
a specialized counter sink bit.
That's just a separate tool.
If you want to go that route
with separates, it works just fine.
But I think it's a lot easier to
have one that does everything in one shot.
Alright, so I hope you found
that helpful. Maybe this will save you a
few bucks by getting the right tool in
the first place, you know.
Have anything to add to this list?
Or maybe you disagree with my opinions on
this. Let me know in the comments.
Alright. Thanks for watching everybody.
We'll catch you next time.
And this particular type of Brad Pitt [Laughter] Brad Pitt...