Need to make flat bottom hole; Forster Bit? Any other tools?

[Greg L. Brown]

If I needed to make a flat bottom hole, I'd use a Forster bit, correct? They are sort of pricey though, and I rarely would need to make a flat bottom hole (the only reason I need it now is I'm mounting some board buddies on my TS fence). Do they make variable sized Forster bits? Would another tool do the job? (spade bits have too large of a "pre-hole" and would poke thru the other side).

Thanks,
Greg

[keith ouellette]

how wide is the hole? If not to wide then maybe a router bit.

I bought a set of forstner bits at harbor freight tools. the entire set was only in the $20 range. They cut real well.

You might use a hole saw and a chisel to pry out the piece. You can mark the depth on the outside of the saw in a few spots to make sure you stay level.I think hole saws are pretty cheap.

[Joel Goodman]

I needed to make some flat bottomed angled holes about 1" diameter and 5/8th deep. A 1/4" router bit (with a collar) used in a plunge router with a jig worked great. The jig was a round hole in a scrap of 1/4" plywood sized appropriately larger than the desired hole to allow for the collar -- it was mounted at the desired angle with some scraps of wood. These holes were in a chair leg so that the jig was designed to slide over the leg and register at the desired angle. It's a lot simpler than the confusing description -- I think the jig was 20 minutes to make. Then just plunge and run the bit around, increase depth and have another go. Obviously test in scrap first.

[Tom Veatch]

Plunge router, straight bit, guide bushing, and template.

[Joel Goodman]

Tom -- I was racking my brain for the more common name for "collar" -- of course it's "guide bushing"!