how do I drill out a 3 and 1/8th hole in thick wood?

allen levine

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The following pictures are of a prototype of a free standing small wine wack Im trying to make.
I used junk 2x6's and a damaged piece of plywood for the base, its only a sample to work on.
My problem:
even with my large forstner bit, its just not making the holes. It took me over an hour to get 2 holes, and the bit is just about shot, smoking, not cutting anymore.
There isnt a large choice for 3 and 1/8th forstner bits on the market.

I thought about using a hole saw, but they only go 1 and 5/8th depth.

any thoughts how I can drill through 4 inches, or do I have to make each board 1.5 inches and glue up after I drill?
Will a hole blade cut through walnut? cherry?

as seen in pictures, I gave up after the second hole, but I think my idea and design is obvious, what Im going for.(the top will be cut at 20 degrees also, I just didnt have long enough 2x6s)
 

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Nice design!
To use such a big forstner bit, a couple of things come to mind.
A bit that big has to run at a really slow speed.
It also needs to be sharp.
If it's smoking, I think the above 2 conditions are not being met.

Another thought, is to adapt the design, and have the holder U-shaped in cross section, with just the outer parts drilled out. Then you can have the same overall width, but just drill a couple of much shallower holes. You could also use a hole saw, drill a pilot hole all the way through, and then come in from both sides. You'd be limited to twice the max depth of the hole saw. All in all, that would probably give you a rougher cut though.

Just want to repeat, really clever design.
 
I would still go with the hole saw. Just go full depth and snap off the piece and go again until pass made all the way. By snapping I am thinking a wood chisel and breaking out what you have cut. I think the wing cutter won't like being in and out of the wood.
 
i like the idea allen, but wouldn't it be easier to use 2 thinner boards, say 1 inch, and drill the hole in both. another idea would be to have the one large hole in the back board, and the smaller one (1 3/8") for the neck in the front board. if you're getting smoke allen, you're pushing too fast, at too high a speed (damhik).
 
Make a template out of 1/2" MDF of the hole size you need. Use a hole saw for that. Rough out your hole in your work piece with a jig saw or scroll saw. Fasten the temple over the rough hole. Hot glue or double sided tape works well for this. Then use a pattern bit (router bit with flush bearing on the top) with the template to smooth the sides of the hole. Don't remove the template but switch to a flush trim bit (bearing on the end of the bit) and coming from the opposite side, flush trim the hole sides. You are limited by the length of the router bits and it is not a 'cheap' solution. But it is smooth with no burning or destruction of the cutters.
 
take a hole saw and go thru one side till the pilot pokes out the back then drill from the other side. This will leave a nice clean cut on both sides and you will be able to make a cut in less then ten minutes.
 
That would make an interesting wine rack, no doubt. But, unless you plan to make and sell a lot of those, a Forstner bit that size would be an expensive undertaking.
I would go with the glue-up layers. That way scrap can be utilized and you can make the rack with alternating color woods for an interesting effect.
BTW, are all wine bottles created with equal diameters? :dunno:
 
you have a point there frank. methinks that this design would limit the type of wine bottle to the standard 750 ml that is most commonly sold. the standard bordeaux 750 ml bottle is roughly 2 7/8" in diameter. if you wanted to have different size/style of bottle, one would be better off cutting the smaller hole for the neck size.
 
well, I dont have a hole saw that size, so Im guessing Ill purchase one before I give up on the fortsner bit.(I did purchase a steelex bit, but it seems my drill press doesnt have the umph necessary to punch it through)

while talking with a friend of mine, and him asking me what I was working on, after telling him, he told me to run over to his house and pick up a self feed drill bit from him. He has a bunch of new ones, and really doesnt use them anymore(plumbing, electrical work)
So I picked up a 3 and 5/8, (the next size down was 3 inch)figuring, Ill be able to fit some larger bottles in, whatever, its worth a shot.
The bit had a centering screw that comes out, and the bit is heavier than my delta tabletop drill press.
I set the speed all the way down low, to around 620, clamped a piece of plywood to the table, and instead of clamping down the left side, I just held it with my left hand, and turned on the press.
The instant that bit touched the wood, and I went down as slow as physically possible, the board broke free of the clamp, spun, and luckily, I pulled my hand away just as the bit sliced into one finger.
I shut the machine, one mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi, still looking at my finger, and then , like a faucet, the blood came gushing out.
I ran in, cleaned it, but I could not get the blood to stop coming out no matter how long I held a gauze against it.
Now I might need a stitch, but my doctor leaves early on fridays,(hes religious), and I knew to get a stitch, I have to go to the emergency room, and on a friday afternoon, there is no way on earth I wanted to run over to the emergency room.
One stitch could mean a 6-8 hour wait. Yes, welcome to long island. If youre not in cardiac arrest or missing a limb, triage puts you on the list.
So I grabbed a butterfly stitch, and Ill see if its ok in a few hours.
And that is how I ended my day, frustrated, ticked off at myself for carelessness, and the prototype was set aside so I can work on a cabinet project and a few other small things next week.

Im not sure if a hole saw or self feed bit are meant for hard woods like walnut or cherry. It might give me a very rough cut in a hole that size, but I will pick one up to experiment.
Im thinking perhaps I should buy a small honing stick and attempt to sharpen the forstner bit.

yankees are on at 5 pm, hopefully they will do better than I did today, got company coming over to watch the game, they are eating pizza, my wife is making me eat turkey breast, salad, and some veggies.being fat really bites.
 
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another idea would be to use a saber/jig saw if you have one, cut the hole, then finish up with the spindle sander. not too sure if band saw would work out too good, due to the length of the part in question. one thing you may want to take into account allen, is if part of the side of the bottle is to be exposed, you might want to round over the ends where the circle is missing. that way they would not have the opportunity to break off.
 
I will round over all edges, but attempting to cut through 4 inchs of solid hardwood with a bit that size(cant use a blade, I need a clean hole all matching, sanding down imperfections will not work out for this project), is proving to be a task.
I can drill a 2 inch hole through anything.

I think I need to find a more powerful drill press.
 
I will round over all edges, but attempting to cut through 4 inchs of solid hardwood with a bit that size(cant use a blade, I need a clean hole all matching, sanding down imperfections will not work out for this project), is proving to be a task.
I can drill a 2 inch hole through anything.

I think I need to find a more powerful drill press.

What speed were you running that big ole forstner? It shouldn't be going that fast. It probably needs a good sharpening though.

I'd think a hole saw like Chuck used on his mugs would be a good way to go. He was drilling holes 7.5" deep.

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One other thing to mention for the hole saw to work cleaner thus cooler, if you drill a couple of holes (since you are taking out the middle). Find center and drill so your hole saw makes a shallow cut. Then with a regular drill bit drill a couple of holes that just intersect the cut made by the outer ring of the hole saw. This will allow sawdust to fall out reducing your friction thus making it run cooler and stay sharper longer. If you were making wheels you would put the exit holes on the outside of the ring made by the hole saw.
 
One other thing to mention for the hole saw to work cleaner thus cooler, if you drill a couple of holes (since you are taking out the middle). Find center and drill so your hole saw makes a shallow cut. Then with a regular drill bit drill a couple of holes that just intersect the cut made by the outer ring of the hole saw. This will allow sawdust to fall out reducing your friction thus making it run cooler and stay sharper longer. If you were making wheels you would put the exit holes on the outside of the ring made by the hole saw.

now there is some of that school teacher knowledge coming out to help us old folks:)
 
If that upright is less than 28" long, I'd just cut the circles out on my bandsaw. A 1/8" or 1/4" blade would make short work of those circles. You might (probably would) have to make half circles, then back the blade out and come at it from the other direction, but the cuts would actually be pretty easy to do.
 
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