Drilling problem in nordic knifemaking

[2trapper]

I started one of my very first attempts on nordic knifemaking. I selected a beech piece of wood and i tried to drill the hole for the tang using a 4mm drill bit on a drill press. After less than half an inch the drill bit was broken. So it depends by the wood or I'm making mistakes in the attempt to create the tang hole? Any other technique for drilling the hole?

Thanks for your valuable advice

 

[crosslandkelly]

I'm no expert, but you could try burning the hole through. Hope this helps.

 

[Niels]

You should drill through it a bit slower, I think that will decrease the chances of it braking significantly. You could also avoid the use of long blocks that you have to drill through, by getting a spacer or two in the middle

 

[Nomad]

Drill slowly. Use a sharp drill. If it feels better, drill 2-3mm at a time, then lift the drill out of the hole to clear the debris, then down again for another 2-3mm. Use a sharp drill. A decent drill bit will go through annealed steel, including stainless (very tough), so a bit of wood should be okay. Use a sharp drill.

By sharp, I mean good quality and brand new.


EDIT: Spin it up quite fast, but make sure the wood doesn't burn.

 

[HillBill]

How did you break a drill bit in wood? Understandable if you were drilling metal, but wood?

 

[Perrari]

Did your workpiece move causing the drill to snap ? or did it just disintegrate in the hole ? As has already been said use a sharp quality drill, and move the drill in and out of the hole to clear the drill flutes from wood as this will aid cutting & reduce heat.

Doesnt sound like you are doing anything wrong though.

 

[Stoker37]

Drill bits generally break when the workpiece moves. Make sure the block is securely held to the table of the drill press. Take your time with the drilling don't try and force the bit through. Make sure you are using a good quality bit and keep flushing the hole out as you go. You should be able to drill the full length of a standard 4mm bit without any problems in the majority of timber. Some of the tropical hardwoods will cause greater difficulties though. Keep trying and you will get there!

 

[Nomad]

Agreed on clamping the piece down - most drill bits have very limited scope for flex once they're spinning (and fancy ones like carbide don't like it at all). Another cause of breakage is the bit not spinning fast enough while trying to drill down into the material too quickly. It's all about the rate of removal of the material, for a given strength of material versus the strength of the cutter - try to gouge out too much in one spin, and the cutter snaps.

 

[cbrdave]

Try clamping the wood down, make sure the drill bit is for wood not steel, use the drill at a higher speed, drill 2-3mm at a time releasing the drill so to clear the hole being made so not to bind the drill bit, also may be worth looking at the movement of the drill chuck, it may be moving a bit too much and causing the bit to snap,

Hope this helps

 

[2trapper]

thanks to all. Extermely helpful. I made a lot of mistakes. I started with a brand new drill bit for wood, 4mm.
I didn't clamp the wood (first mistake)
I drill too fast (second mistake)
I didn't move the drill bit up and down and I drill it just it would be a pneumatic drill (third mistake)
The extraction was too slow and only when there was a worring line of smoke (yes mistake numebr four)

I've never considered the chance of spacers in reducing the risk of break, Brilliant advice.
There is obviously still much to do but this was the first attempt and it will not be the last.