Hollow form stold my fostner bit and extention

[Harry Robinette]

Finally able to get in the shop and everything went haywacky.Put a piece on the lathe and rounded and shaped for a hollow form. My home made steady rest had a bad spot in one of the arms and of course it broke,make new one and get back to work. Decide to drill 1 1/4 hole to hollow to,everythings going good and I thought ohh idea. I usually blow the dust out every inch or so to keep things cleaned out.So I decide to tape the air nozzle to the tool rest on a constant blowing. Now what I think happened is the constant air blowing dried this very wet wood but after the bit cut a bunch and NOW the bit and extension are stuck to the point of the wood is going to be split off my equipment. The cutting head of the fostner bit is stuck between the bottom and a plug that's created itself from the drilling dust that the air drying making it into a plug.
I tried fwd,rev,pulling,wiggling and even tried to break the dust plug with a 3/16 all thread,It is not moving.
The pictures if you can see them show the dust plug right up to the shaft of the bit.
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[Dwight Rutherford]

Had that happen to me too. Took a dental pick with a hook on the end. Was able to pull the plugged shavings out bit by bit. Took me about 30 minutes to clear 3 inches of shavings and wood dust. Good luck !

[BILL DONAHUE]

Have had this happen as well. This is what I did and it worked, though not easily. First let everything, especially my Irish temper, cool off. Then, and this was about an hour later, cleaned out shavings and thought out possible options. One option was going to put the entire piece in the freezer. Don't know if that would have worked but before I got to it I put a lock-vise plier on the Forstner bit extension and started to wiggle it. That did the job but it wasn't easy.

[Thomas Canfield]

You might try straighting out a clothes hanger and using a section with the corkscrew end in a drill to drill through the plug in several areas to loosen the chips. A slow speed in the drill and pulling back often or when it "bottoms out" should break up the majority of the plug. It looks like you have pretty good clearance between bit shaft and wood bore, but expect the problem is below the extension enlarged area. That at least will provide a longer tool than a dental pick if you are down very deep. Even a little additional bend o end of wire to chew if needed. Good luck.

[robert baccus]

All good advice--one more to try. Spray WD40 in it , grab the bit with a very big vise-grip and bang down with a shop hammer. If this fails call Madame LeDouche.

[Dan Hintz]

Whatever you do... don't pour water into the hole in an attempt to flush it out ;)

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Harry, it's not the wood chips drying when drilling wet wood. It's the friction heat generated that causes the wet wood fibers to swell up that will lock the bit in place. It's always a good idea to pull the bit out about every inch or so to clear the chips. With that size bit you can generate a lot of chips in a hurry.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I know it's too late now, but I use a spade bit, one size smaller to drill first, then use the Forstner. Spade bits work well, you can sharpen them and they are dirt cheap. Drilling with the spade bit makes drilling with the Forstner way easy. Saves wear and tear on my expensive Forstners. And the spade drills fast too...... I would not do this on any machine other than the lathe. The lathe holds evertyhing solid and in line. This trick will NOT work on a drill press.

That is one nice looking piece of wood......

[Curt Fuller]

All good advice--one more to try. Spray WD40 in it , grab the bit with a very big vise-grip and bang down with a shop hammer. If this fails call Madame LeDouche.

I'll second the WD-40. I spray the hole as I'm drilling just to keep it from squealing and it also seems to help get the bit to slide out easier.

[Harry Robinette]

Thanks guy's I have a long 5/16 drill bit that I'm going to run down the sides and drill to loosen the dust plug. I was so frustrated last night that I was just trying to bully it and getting mad,after reading your reply's I think drilling is the answer.
Again thanks for the help.

[Mike Cruz]

Harry, the good news is that it looks like that wood is already cracking quite a bit. So, if you do have to break it to get your bit back, it may not be such a loss...

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I second Kyle's suggestion of using a spade bit. I've got a few in different sizes that I followed Dave Schweitzers idea of grinding off the point and regrinding the shape into a shallow arc with a scraper profile on both wings. It still cuts fast and has the added benefit of cutting a smooth bottom so you don't leave a nub in the middle when you're hollowing.
Spade bits are easier to get out if you drill too deep without evacuating the chips, too.