DIYbanter - View Single Post

-MIKE-

On 1/12/18 7:25 PM, wrote:

So Mike, your observation seems to have some merit as a few folks
thought the forstner bits weren't sharp. This could be something, it
could be nothing. Forstner bits weren't meant to be used by hand,
so it's hard to get a good take on this one. On one hand I would
doubt that the home woodworker would know that drilling hard white
oak with this contraption by hand would be a bad idea, but on the
other Kreg doesn't provide any warning about drilling really hard
woods, small knots, or anything else. It also doesn't warn against
running your drill at high speed. I think I will meet with him to
check out the bit before he uses it if he gets the jig at WoodCraft.

I suspected that the bit might not be the best, but surly the thing can
cut 12 holes.
I just made a test cut in some rock maple with the bit I got from
Woodcraft.
The holes edges, cut by the pointed wings, were pristine. When it got
to the flat cutting edges for hogging, it slowed down a lot and stalled.
Of course, I may be going too fast. But also, all the edges on this
bit can be hand sharpened.

If my buddy was a little more trusting of his skills, I would help
him do what I did when these jigs were almost impossibly expensive
and still didn't work. First, with a bunch pf doors to do, I used
my bench drill press and a lucite marking jig from Woodcraft. Then,
a 35mm bit and a stop collar. Done.

These days, if I had just a few to do I would make my jig out of
1x4, with indexes in where I wanted them, and using the 1x4 setup as
a guide, drill down with a bit/stop collar setup. Yes, the jig would
only be good for one size hinge from one manufacturer but would be
quick to make and test. Sadly, he is still at the phase of his
woodworking experience where he feels he needs exactly the right
store bought tool for the job, so a two sided frame of 1x4 with a
template centered in it would be too much for him to trust.

If I had a woodworking school or taught it, after learning proper tool
use, I would spend the next sessions in teaching how to build 10 or 12
essential jigs. And I wouldn't show them any up front-- they'd have to
make their first attempts with their minds and intuition.

No building anything until they learned to build simple jigs.

--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
www.mikedrums.com