Forstner versus Morse Taper drill to bore holes for peppermill

[David Castonguay]

Looking to turn my first pepper mills this summer. I suspect that once I get started they will be a regular product that I will gift to family and friends and perhaps even sell, so I am exploring the tooling options for boring holes. I will be making reasonable sized mills (8"-14")

I have read that Forstner bits on extensions can flex and bore holes that stray from center. I have also read (and seen on YouTube) some people using taper drills. They report that these drill bits do not flex as much and bore truer holes.

I have a used Powermatic 3520b.

The taper drill bits in the larger sizes do not seem to come in MT2; rather, they are MT3 or MT4.

Do people use some type of adapter in the tailstock or is there another preferred option?

Looking forward to receiving your advice.

DOC

[Chris A Lawrence]

Forstner bits will drill straight if you start them without the extension first. Once the the sides of the bit are completely in the hole it will guide it straight.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

+1 to above.
Depending on the kit, if your kits have the outer recess for the parts to be installed into, drill the big hole first, to the correct depth, then start the inner hole. The pilot point from the big Forstner will center the smaller bit in the mill. AFTER you start the smaller hole with the Forstner, I use a spade bit that is smaller than the Forstner to drill most of the waste. The spade drills faster, you can sharpen them easily, and they cheap. After the spade bit, drill with the expensive hard to sharpen Forstner which makes nice straight holes. Good luck.

[John K Jordan]

I like taper shank bits but don't use them for holes over 1" diameter. You can get adapters for the larger Morse tapers but the bits themselves start getting expensive the larger they get. In addition, you are still drilling with a twist drill which can be aggressive and may not even cut cleanly in the larger sizes compared to a Forstner bit.

For pepper mills I always used Forstner bits, first drilling as deep as possible without the extension, as Chris mentioned.

One thing I started doing years ago which really helped drilling deep holes with Forstner bits: I always direct a constant stream of compressed air into the end behind the bit. This not only clears the chips and cools the bit directly, it can reduce the heat from friction from the chips in the hole. Without the compressed air I had to stop and clear chips a lot.

If you plan to turn a lot of pepper mills, you might consider the tool designed to make several cuts at once to fit the ceramic Crushgrind mechanism (the only mechanism I'll use). I haven't tried this tool but it was discussed in an earlier thread here on SMC. https://www.woodcut-tools.com/store/p52/Mill_Drill.html I didn't hunt for it but I think you can buy them from other dealers.

JKJ

Looking to turn my first pepper mills this summer. I suspect that once I get started they will be a regular product that I will gift to family and friends and perhaps even sell, so I am exploring the tooling options for boring holes. I will be making reasonable sized mills (8"-14")

I have read that Forstner bits on extensions can flex and bore holes that stray from center. I have also read (and seen on YouTube) some people using taper drills. They report that these drill bits do not flex as much and bore truer holes.

I have a used Powermatic 3520b.

The taper drill bits in the larger sizes do not seem to come in MT2; rather, they are MT3 or MT4.

Do people use some type of adapter in the tailstock or is there another preferred option?

Looking forward to receiving your advice.

DOC

[David Castonguay]

Outstanding advice, friends!

[Tom Wilson66]

+1 for what Kyle said.

[Brice Rogers]

+1 to above.
Depending on the kit, if your kits have the outer recess for the parts to be installed into, drill the big hole first, to the correct depth, then start the inner hole. The pilot point from the big Forstner will center the smaller bit in the mill. AFTER you start the smaller hole with the Forstner, I use a spade bit that is smaller than the Forstner to drill most of the waste. The spade drills faster, you can sharpen them easily, and they cheap. After the spade bit, drill with the expensive hard to sharpen Forstner which makes nice straight holes. Good luck.

Eddie Castilin has a video on how to sharpen the Forstner. It is actually pretty easy. Check out Youtube and/or Google it.