High Speed Drills in Wood

Topping them is only the first stage in setting them . If you top set and then file you risk knocking a few teeth out of set . If you top file and set every thing will be right .


Using HSS bits on wood is fine aswell . It's the metal that blunts them .
 
Every one else seems to have gone off on a tangent! I know that some woods can be particulary abrasive (minute particles of silica?) and so repeated use of a HSS drill could take the edge off. In the sawmill that I worked in they would leave the planing of teak till the end of the day so that the blades could be sharpened ready for the morning.
 
I thought it was iroko that blunted tools, it did mine....
A
As foe your original question, Sailfree. No, wood doesn´t blunt drills (with the poss. of iroko) in my experience. Unless one overheats the drill by high speed and clogged flutes.
A
 
Some of the drills you buy from the local DIY shed are pretty useless to say the least. I know budget comes in to it a lot but if you buy a decent quality drill bit it will last a lot longer and can be re-sharpened over and over again (don't get it too hot whilst grinding or you will temper the end and make it soft).
When buying drill bits look for SHSS (super high speed steel) rather than normal HSS as it will last longer.
If you have got access to a grinder get yourself a cheap drill point gauge. You will be amazed how easy it becomes to re-grind a drill. Using the gauge you can make sure each lip of the drill is equal or it will drill oversize and you will and up with the old favorite of "triangular holes". You can buy the gauges for about £3.00 on ebay and they look similar to this: -
http://www.tpub.com/content/construction/14256/css/14256_94.htm

To get back on thread. Unless you are using really poor quality drills or getting them far too hot wood shouldn't normally dull a drill point.
Adaero
 
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