# Type Of Drill Press Bit For Mortising



## Gaia (Feb 20, 2010)

What would be the most efficient drill bit, brad point, spade of other. To use in the drill press to make mortises for hardwood interior and exterior house doors?
Thanks.
Pete.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Hi Peter

An auger bit - my site kit came from LIDL! Brad points don't work too well above 12mm IMHO - they jam up. Spade bits wander off line and get hot in hardwood, even the Bosch ones aren't brilliant. Of course _the_ best approach is a square chisel mortiser, but failing that a drill press conversion with a square chisel set or possibly a router is the way I'd go. Of course the traditional way would be to use the right type of mortise chisel - an oval bolstered mortise chisel, or "pig sticker" - with a mallet. Mortise chisels sink in a lot straighter than bevel edge chisels.

Regards

Phil


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## Gaia (Feb 20, 2010)

Phil P said:


> Hi Peter
> 
> An auger bit - my site kit came from LIDL! Brad points don't work too well above 12mm IMHO - they jam up. Spade bits wander off line and get hot in hardwood, even the Bosch ones aren't brilliant. Of course _the_ best approach is a square chisel mortiser, but failing that a drill press conversion with a square chisel set or possibly a router is the way I'd go. Of course the traditional way would be to use the right type of mortise chisel - an oval bolstered mortise chisel, or "pig sticker" - with a mallet. Mortise chisels sink in a lot straighter than bevel edge chisels.
> 
> ...


Thanks Phil.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Actually, I believe that the best way to cut mortises is with a plunge router and a spiral bit of the correct size. It's fast and very accurate. The sides of the mortise are clean, at the correct spacing apart, and don't need any touch-up, except for maybe squaring the ends with a chisel if you want them square. All you need is a jig or side fence to position the bit where you want the mortise. This can easily be made or purchased. I have had much better success since I abandoned my square chisel mortiser. The only exception to this might be if I wanted mortises for through tenons.

If you are determined to use a drill, then a Forstner bit in a drill press would be my choice. Pull back to clear the chips frequently.

Charley


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

They make drill bits just for that type of job..they work very well..with a drill press or hand drill speeds.. 

Amazon.com: JessEm Replacement Zip Slot Drill Bit, 1/2 inch: Home Improvement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VtVGnxlBrc

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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Hi Charles 



CharleyL said:


> I have had much better success since I abandoned my square chisel mortiser. The only exception to this might be if I wanted mortises for through tenons.


That really surprises me, Charles. I've never had too many problems with square chisel mortising, but part of the trick there is to keep your tooling really sharp and buy the Japanese-pattern square chisel sets which are noticeably better than the English (Ridgway/Clico) sets. Of course most low cost machines these days come with Chinese chisel sets which are at best poor and at worst rubbish - if you've never used a good chisel on a machine with an X-Y table then you'd probably say a router is faster. In reality there's little in it - if there were you'd never find mortisers in joinery shops. I do agree with you about spirals cutting quicker than straights, though.

I believe that Peter want's to mortise for doors - that means that even in a 35mm thick domestic door he needs to cut a through mortise at least 15mm wide x 75mm deep - in the UK frame and panel doors are generally made using through mortises and double foxed (wedged) tenons with door stiles 60 to 75mm. With a router that would require working from both sides, doubling the time, and then squaring out the mortises. The reason for foxed mortises is durability - stub tenons in frame and panel doors don't last all that well. Several hundred years of traditional craft joinery isn't wrong in this case.



CharleyL said:


> If you are determined to use a drill, then a Forstner bit in a drill press would be my choice. Pull back to clear the chips frequently.


Again I cannot agree with you there. Forstners are great for shallow holes with flat bottoms. They are just far too much work doing mortises of the depth you need for a house door. Augers are actually designed for the task with an overall length of 200mm or more on a "standard" bit - and unlike Forstners they clear the waste as the go

Regards

Phil


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Traditionally the saddle joint is used on the upper and lower rails which could be produced with a saw. I did see an article recently in Fine woodworking which suggested using dowels instead of long tenons to reinforce these parts. No reason why not as far as I can see.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> Traditionally the saddle joint is used on the upper and lower rails which could be produced with a saw.


Hi Charles

Do you mean what we refer to as a haunched double tenon? The reason we use them in door joinery is the minimise the tendency of a single wide tenon to become loose



Cherryville Chuck said:


> I did see an article recently in Fine woodworking which suggested using dowels instead of long tenons to reinforce these parts. No reason why not as far as I can see.


That's the approach taken by lower-end door manufacturers, particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia. Unlike a wedged tenon the joint has no mechanical strength, it is held together solely by the glue bond on the dowels. Wedged tenons can and do hold doors together even if the glue joint dails - one reason why quality door makers still use them

Regards

Phil


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## Gaia (Feb 20, 2010)

CharleyL said:


> Actually, I believe that the best way to cut mortises is with a plunge router and a spiral bit of the correct size. It's fast and very accurate. The sides of the mortise are clean, at the correct spacing apart, and don't need any touch-up, except for maybe squaring the ends with a chisel if you want them square. All you need is a jig or side fence to position the bit where you want the mortise. This can easily be made or purchased. I have had much better success since I abandoned my square chisel mortiser. The only exception to this might be if I wanted mortises for through tenons.
> 
> If you are determined to use a drill, then a Forstner bit in a drill press would be my choice. Pull back to clear the chips frequently.
> 
> Charley


Thanks Charley,
I'll look into using spiral bits, my 2nd router 1500W has a 2nd fence fitted. That said 
my new SIP 01434 F20-16 Floor Pillar Drill Sale was delivered this afternoon. I got a good price and I got them to throw a few spade and brad point bits in with the deal. I got the bits to use for the holes in the mdf tenoning jig as featured in the Woodsmith Shop Built Jigs & Fixtures I'm making, to fit on my Triton tablesaw. I'll have a go using the bits on the drill press to drill out mortises, I've got a new chisel set, a brand name set, at a reasonble price, will use to clean up, also have some oak offcuts.
Will see how I get on with the brad point and spade bits and base what I do next on the results.
Cheers,
Peter.


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## Gaia (Feb 20, 2010)

bobj3 said:


> Hi
> 
> They make drill bits just for that type of job..they work very well..with a drill press or hand drill speeds..
> 
> ...


Hi Bob,
I think one has to use their jig to use the bit?
Peter.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

They do work well in the drill press,,like they say I can show you the water but I can't make you drink it.. 

=



Gaia said:


> Hi Bob,
> I think one has to use their jig to use the bit?
> Peter.


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## Gaia (Feb 20, 2010)

bobj3 said:


> Hi
> 
> They do work well in the drill press,,like they say I can show you the water but I can't make you drink it..
> 
> =


OK cheers, will look into it further. When I looked, think the bit was an OK price, spiral router bits I thought were really quite pricey.
Expect will say on the can, what speed would one run the JessEm bit on the drill press?
 Peter.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

500 to 600 rpm's

==



Gaia said:


> OK cheers, will look into it further. When I looked, think the bit was an OK price, spiral router bits I thought were really quite pricey.
> Expect will say on the can, what speed would one run the JessEm bit on the drill press?
> Peter.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

bobj3 said:


> They do work well in the drill press,,like they say


Hi Bob

If they do that seems to run counter to everything that drill press manufacturers say about not axial loading their machines. For the benefit of others axial loading means moving the workpiece horizontally whilst drilling because the bearings aren't designed for that sort of stress and will fail prematurely

Regards

Phil


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Phil

That may be true BUT most will not use it that way day in and day out, most will just do it now and than..

If you look at the bearings on the drill press they are almost the same as the router and will take a hvy. side load..


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Phil P said:


> Hi Bob
> 
> If they do that seems to run counter to everything that drill press manufacturers say about not axial loading their machines. For the benefit of others axial loading means moving the workpiece horizontally whilst drilling because the bearings aren't designed for that sort of stress and will fail prematurely
> 
> ...


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## Gaia (Feb 20, 2010)

CharleyL said:


> Actually, I believe that the best way to cut mortises is with a plunge router and a spiral bit of the correct size. It's fast and very accurate. The sides of the mortise are clean, at the correct spacing apart, and don't need any touch-up, except for maybe squaring the ends with a chisel if you want them square. All you need is a jig or side fence to position the bit where you want the mortise. This can easily be made or purchased. I have had much better success since I abandoned my square chisel mortiser. The only exception to this might be if I wanted mortises for through tenons.
> 
> If you are determined to use a drill, then a Forstner bit in a drill press would be my choice. Pull back to clear the chips frequently.
> 
> Charley


Hi Charles,
I've looked for spiral bits the ones I found I thought were expensive. Perhaps I looked in the wrong place are there less expensive ones and reasonable quality?
Cheers.


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