drilling problems

[grizzdog]

turned my first plugs tonight but when i went to drill the holes for the eyes pieces of the wood were chiping away,how can this be stopped?

[J_T_R]

This can happen for a number of different reasons. First off, my guess would be that you are using regular drill bits, which is okay, but they have to be very sharp. If they arn't sharp, then the chipping is inevitible. My first pick for drilling eyes would be a forstner bit. You can go to Lowes and get a set for about $20. Forstner bits not only cut a clean hole, but they also leave a flat hole to set the eyes in, rather than the rounded hole that the regular bit uses. I also like the forstner, because they are easy to drill exactly where you want, instead of the regular bit which will wander.

[grizzdog]

yea it was a regular,ill pick up a set tm.thanks alot!

[saltyric]

Ditto on JTR, but More importantly, lets see the plugs!!!!!

[pbadad]

A set of BRAD POINT wood bits will do the job also. Sears has a nice set around $20.

[Charleston]

Brad points for hook holes.
Forstner bits for eye holes.
Here is the sim ple explaination for why you had the problem; Regular drill bits are designed to cut the bottom surface of the hole only. They leave the side walls of the hole as a by-product.
Forstner bits are ground to cut the bottom of the hole and the sides at the same time.
It's a simple thing, use the correct tool to do the job.
If you go to Lowes to buy them look at the Forstners that are individually packed and made by Freud. They go for around $8 each but you only buy the sizes you need. They are a much better tool than the ones you find in the sets.
Good luck.

[Adam R]

Are you using a drill press or hand drill?

[ProfessorM]

I also find those cheap forstner sets are often not sharpened very good. Buy some decent quality forstner drill bits. I never even use the larger ones that come with the sets so a few smaller single ones of good quaility are a better bet IMO. I also find that the soft woods, white and red cedar especially, even done with forstner bits will chip the wood along the dia. of the hole. I don't have any problem with ayc, tighter grain, or good tight grain pine and really never a problem with hard woods like maple and such. The open grained woods are toughter to deal with so I would expect some tears. If I have the time I usually use a carbide end mill at high rpm which eliminates all the problems, but usually just use a hand drill. Just my 2 cents, which ain't worth much.

[grizzdog]

iam hand drilling the plugs,plug pics soon!!

[Adam R]

Tear out is pretty common with hand drilling. Dull bits and too low RPM's I would bet are the cause. Try to keep the bit speed up. It's happening when you first start drilling the eye and when you've reached the finish depth and begin to backout the bit?
Like everyone above said, brad points are much easier - the more sharp, the better. Hope this helps.