Thread: Drillling

Spiral bits are perfectly fine, but the diameter will change once it's been sharpened. We have a variety of dedicated drill bits set up at work, but most people don't have that option

If you are only drilling holes in wood then standard drill bits will do the job fine. If you want a non standard hole then you can use a slightly smaller router bit and tell the software to pocket the hole. However, if you are still doing this in wood then the normal drill bits are also suitable. Just remember that they have a point on them, so the depth you need has to take that into account. In general, when working with timber then within a half a millimeter is fine. Wood grows and shrinks anyway, so what is perfect now will be (minutely) different in 10 minutes time.

Thanks...just to be clear.."If you are only drilling holes in wood then standard drill bits will do the job fine"...could you confirm that you mean standard drill bits or standard router bits please?

Regards,
Rob.

Standard drill bits are fine.
You can even use brad point type bits or even spade or forstner bits.
I would tend to slow down a lot for the two latter types of bit.
I suggest that you do a few test pieces and this will immediately show you the results for these types of bits.
The main reason for using a router bit is because they are designed to cut on the sides of their flutes (and can therefore cut sideways) whilst the drill bits are usually only meant to cut with the point.
You can also use router bits in a drill but they are very hard to control because they (usually) lack a point.

We run our drill bits at 3000 rpm. If you can't slow it down that much, go to the lowest possible speed, but definitely don't run forstner or spade bits above 5000 - there's a serious risk of damage to the tool, work piece and your body.

Originally Posted by MarryU

So slow 3000-5000? Ur machine is a cnc router ? I see from somewhere that wood 10000-12000, metal less 8000, acrylic 15000 arund.

Skype marylee0411

The speeds you have are for routers and endmills, not drill bits.