Thread: Best dowelling drill bit

Your signature is incorrect, Hugh.

As per Roy Slaven and HG Nelson :

when too much ( footy, food, sex, etc) is not enough

Originally Posted by A Duke

Very likely as they did claim they were high quality, could they also have supplied the saw blades?
Regards

No. Certainly they don't do saw blades now, and I'm pretty sure they never have.

Originally Posted by JillB

Your signature is incorrect, Hugh.

As per Roy Slaven and HG Nelson :

when too much ( footy, food, sex, etc) is not enough

That's right. Enough is enough, more than enough is too much so therefore too much is not enough.

Hi Jill, come in late on this one and probably this thought could be described as coming out of left field.

I'm presuming you require a hole which has sharp edges with no breakout - I used to use a lot of wooden buttons some with flanges and others which were tapered plugs either to stand proud or be sanded down flush - so it is essential that the holes had completely clean edges, likewise when using a dowelling jig - mine is a FHP #25, made in Japan which looks very similar to your Silex.

I tried brad points, spade bits etc with no success. However, I did come up with an idea which was very successful though probably unorthodox. I used a Supercraft Auger bit [think brace and bit] and a largish drill stop collar to avoid going too deep. The auger bit has a fairly aggressive screw thread as a pilot to pull the bit into the wood so it is very easy to go too deep but the drill stop collar avoids this problem as the screw thread pilot on the auger simply stops in the hole as the thread fills with wood. The actual cutting edge of the auger bit has like a slicing blade on part of the circumference which cuts a very clean, precise hole with no chipout. The bits I have do not have the slab sided tapered top piece which is designed for a brace and bit.

There are some things to take into account - the auger bits are quite long and the dowelling guides quite short - you need to be perfectly aligned. I use a battery drill but very slowly as the auger works quite rapidly.

For perfectly clean holes for wooden buttons or dowels I have found this the best way but slow way.

Just a thought to add to the pile.

Regards,
Bob

Thanks for this suggestion Bob. I had considered it previously, but was concerned about the way the bit grabs the work, and also with the long length of it in a small jig - too easy to lose control

Dowels need to be spot on for edge jointing, which is why I have just purchased some of the better quality brad point bits - a CMT and a Colt 5 star 10mm bits to see how they go. Alread I have four 10mm BP bits that required a fair bit of downward effort, hence the loss of alignment I experienced, I suspect.

I got the P&N drill bit sets the other day. 15 pieces total, $50. Drilled 52 x 8mm holes in a row, through a lamination of 25mm Jarrah, 35mm QLD Maple, with a 3mm pilot hole going 2/3 of the way.

The bit still cuts well and the holes were nice and tight. I had to push firmly to get an 8mm aluminium rod into the holes. (The al rod was the handle of an Excel scalpel-style hobby knife. Exactly 8 mm.)