Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Wood Owl - Nail Chipper vs. Ultra Smooth Bits

Not having an auger bit of the correct size for my new monster holdfast, I ordered one from Amazon.  Christopher Schwarz has recommended these Wood Owl Ultra Smooth bits before, so I thought I would give it a try.

I thought I needed a 1 1/8" bit for my holdfast to correctly seat, but I didn't want to wait forever, so I also ordered a 1 1/4" bit, and thought I would try which one worked best with my holdfast.

The problem was that both of these bits weren't available in the Ultra Smooth configuration from whoever was shipping them to me.  They did, however, have the 1 1/8" bit in a slightly cheaper version called the Nail Chipper.

Nail Chipper vs. Ultra Smooth
The main difference is that the ultra smooth bit has what we would recognize as spurs, while the nail chipper doesn't.  Being that they were brand new, I didn't sharpen them, but imagine that the Nail Chipper would be easier to sharpen.
Nail Chipper vs. Ultra Smooth
There was no way I was going to try to drill holes bigger than an inch in my 5 1/2" thick oak bench top with a cordless drill, so I drug out my corded drill.  I briefly thought about chucking it up in my brace, but thought that was an awful lot of work for a practice hole.
The Nail Chipper in a piece of scrap of the same thickness as my benchtop.
The Nail Chipper baulked a little with my drill.  I found out there really isn't any backing the bit out to clear the chips this way.  It actually un-threaded the chuck on my drill when I tried that.  I just powered through.

I also found out that you really need to hold on to your drill in order to ensure the hole is straight.  Lucky thing I used a bit of scrap to practice on first.
Nail Chipper 1 1/8" hole.
The Ultra Smooth was a different story.  It powered all the way through and made it easy on my drill.  There was no difficulty whatsoever, even though this bit had a 1/8" larger diameter.  Feeling the hole, it indeed is much smoother than the hole left by the Nail Chipper.
Ultra Smooth 1 1/4" hole.
As it worked out, the 1 1/8" hole worked best with this holdfast.  I was a bit disappointed, as I really liked using the Ultra Smooth bit better. 
Mongo vs. Gramercy.
In the end, I think the smoothness of the hole matters very little in the operation of a holdfast.  The rougher hole works brilliantly, but I think the operation of the hole working better has more to do with the diameter rather than the quality.  However, if I ever need to buy another mongo drill bit, it will definitely be the Ultra Smooth.
Before I got carried away, I decided to stop after three of these giant holes to see where I need them.  I can always drill more, but fixing too many holes is more of a problem.

16 comments:

  1. Hi Brian
    I had drilled 15 holes in my bench top for a hold fast. I filled in 12 of them and of 3 left I have yet to use two of them.

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    Replies
    1. Haha! Typical. Thanks, Ralph.

      I only have two holes in my bench top for the Gramercy holdfasts I have had the last couple years, and that seems to be enough for what I need them for. I think the thing is having them in the right places is more important than having them all over the place.

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  2. Hi Brian,
    1) Have you ever tried drill bits from Star-M? Dieter Schmid is selling them and I've made pretty good experiences with these bits.
    2) As Ralph, I've got 3 holes in my bench and use mostly two of them.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Stefan,

      No I haven't tried the Star-M bits. If I ever need another new bit, I might give them a try.

      Delete
    2. Hi Stefan,
      Actually, WoodOwl is the North American brand of Star-M.

      Delete
  3. I have good luck on large holes with Irwin adjustable bits. They don't get no respect!

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    1. Hi John, thanks for the comment!

      I love my expansion bit. I did a video on having success with one of these a while back. Search my blog for "Boring Video."

      I found the trick in one of Aldren Watson's books.

      The thought of using one for this crossed my mind, but it would have taken me two weeks to drill three holes in my 5 1/2" thick oak bench top!

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  4. The roughness inside the hole wouldn't bother me so much; in fact, it might even help the holdfast grip better. But the chipout at the entry point might bug me a bit. Solutions would either be a nice chamfer (sized to whatever it needs to be to remove the chipout) or maybe a thin sacrificial board clamped directly over where you're drilling the hole, maybe?

    I think I picked up one of the nailbiters for benchdogs a while ago, but haven't had the opportunity to use it yet. Might consider getting the ultrasmooth for those. Wood species could also play a factor, so I'll do some test holes before I commit to one or the other.

    Thanks for the review of the two.

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    Replies
    1. Honestly, I didn't think too much about the chipout. This is a bench, and I'm not too concerned about how pretty it is,as opposed to how it functions. However, now that you mention it, it does look pretty ugly in the photo. I think part of that has to do with the close up photo. I don't think it looks nearly so bad in real life. I'll have to look when I get home.

      Thanks for the comment!

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  5. Oops, I forgot to say I am Gerhard Marx from Je ne sais quoi woodworking!
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Brain

    It looks like my first comment got lost somewhere in the system. What I said was, I just discovered that you've added my site to your blog list. It was a wonderful surprize and a huge honour. I really enjoy reading your stuff and also appreciate your comment on one of my previous posts. I will immediately go and add your blog to my list.

    Thanks again and have a wonderful evening.

    Gerhard (jenesaisquoiwoodworking)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Gerhard! I enjoy your blog. That's why I added it to my feed.

      Delete
  7. Brian, nice post again and thanks for the wood owl bit review, did you find them on amazon.de? Also, are you sure the hole for your roubo holdfast isn't to small?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Aymeric,

      No, I got them from Amazon.com. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the best place to get them in Europe. If you would like to borrow them, I'd be happy to send them along.

      I tested both sizes of holes in that piece of scrap clamped in my vice. The bigger one held only about half the time, and I had to beat the crap out of the holdfast in order to get it to work. With the smaller hole, it stuck every single time with just a light tap. I thought the bigger one would be better, but the results of my test proved the smaller one was correct. Who am I to argue with the scientific method?

      Delete
  8. Hi - We are now sole UK & European Distributors for WoodOwl Auger bits, TF Tools www.tftools.co.uk

    ReplyDelete