Forstner Bits

[Shane Sura]

Quick question for you all. I am looking for some large size Forstner Bits for making boxes. I probably only need 2 or 3 sizes. Does anyone know some place reliable that I can get them decently priced. Most of the ones I see online 2.5 - 3 inches are well over 30 a piece. That just seems too much to pay. I could always by the HF set for 59 but you know what they say about HF. I checked all the normal sources and they seem high. Any help would be appreciated.

Shane

[Nancy Laird]

Quick question for you all. I am looking for some large size Forstner Bits for making boxes. I probably only need 2 or 3 sizes. Does anyone know some place reliable that I can get them decently priced. Most of the ones I see online 2.5 - 3 inches are well over 30 a piece. That just seems too much to pay. I could always by the HF set for 59 but you know what they say about HF. I checked all the normal sources and they seem high. Any help would be appreciated.

Shane

Shane,

Woodworker's Supply has a line of large Forstner bits up to 4" diameter. The 4" is $28.99, the 2-1/2 is 15.99, the 3" is 19.99. See www.woodworker.com (http://www.woodworker.com). The stainless steel ones are a little more pricey, at $29.99 for a 3".

Nancy

[Mark Pruitt]

Shane, here you go. (http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2007/Main/320)

[Brodie Brickey]

Hartville tool had some of the forstners larger than 2 1/8" on clearance last month. May still be there. I do use the Harbor Freight for my mugs and haven't had any problems. The bits do dull over time, but I expect some of that because I'm often end grain drilling.

http://www.hartvilletool.com/

Here's a link to some oversized ones.

http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/12325

[Reed Gray]

Are you going to be putting them in a jacobs chuck and drilling on the lathe? Bits that size tend to spin out of the tailstock, as it is hard to get the chuck seated in the tailstock firmly. A small bit and then the appropriate turning tools can be faster, especially as you get more familiar with the process. With the bits, you still have to turn out the divot from the point on the drill. Some people will grind off the point so you don't have to do this. If you are going to be drilling on the drill press, you need something to hold the blank in place. Even if you can grip with one hand like a gorilla can, the bits exert a lot of torque.
robo hippy

[William Bachtel]

Hartville tool is the place to buy those. I got a few and they are great for the price. Proably half as much as somewhere else.

[Mike Ramsey]

If you are drilling out the whole of the box you might as well buy round
blanks, cut them on the bandsaw then drill them.....then sell your lathe!

[George Tokarev]

Have to nearly agree with Mike on this one. I wouldn't call the hole left by a Forstner anywhere close to the surface I'd like to have inside a box, not to mention that extra scribe around the bottom and the center dimple.

It's just too easy to hollow with an Oland or a pointy gouge to spend the cash on Forstners when you'll have to clean up the bottom and sides afterward anyway. Forstners tend to heat a lot when boring end grain too. Unless you're in the container versus the turning mode, I'd hollow with the turning tools or go half way and do what some do, bore a hole to establish desired depth plus 1/4 for cleanup then expand and bottom from there.

For long grain I'd use a brad point, for cross grain a Forstner.

[Roy Griggs]

Shane,
You might try here...www.wttool.com....a lot of their stuff is Tiwanese,
but of fair quality.
roy

[joe greiner]

IMHO, a Forstner bit is all but totally unsuitable for end grain boring. The problem is the cleanout chisels at the bottom aligned on the radius. A better arrangement for end grain would be aligned on a spiral, so that the cut is more like paring or slicing as you would use with a hand chisel on end grain. That said, they can be used by working up from smaller sizes, but only if the workpiece is "perfectly" centered under the drill press or on the lathe. This way, the rim cutters are doing the work, without troubling the cleanout chisels. As to the guide point, Forstner's original patent (US No. 155,148) didn't have the guide point, and his objective was specifically to avoid it so as to create a smooth bottom to the hole, by letting the rim cutters guide the bit.

Even with all that, an Oland-type tool will work faster and provide a better finish.

Joe

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Mike and George. Why use a drill bit to make a box. I can hollow a box faster than you can drill it. Then square the bottom up with a square scraper. Get Richard Raffans video on making boxes. Takes him about 30 seconds to hollow a box out with a gouge. I don't even use a drill bit to start a HF. I bore it out with a 5/8" bowl gouge and then start hollowing. Just my $1.298.