Drill for making 24mm auger holes

[badgerjockey]

Incidentally I’m still baffled as to why the big mains powered 1100W GSB drill has 40NM of torque and my impact driver has way more. I’ve got a new cordless drill on the way and that has 65NM…

 

[Deleted member 174758]

You need a huge amount of torque to drill a screw thread auger bit.

The corded the OP was using is capable of 40Nm of torque, which is quite a bit. I have owned the same model for maybe 10 years now (?) and it can deal with drilling 26mm lock mortise holes in dry English oak, providing my bit is razor sharp, I run very slowly and I reverse the bit out and clear the waste regularly. Having a nice polished bit without rust (so any bit which has been used recently) helps. I suspect the OP's biggest issue is that he is choking the bit, but I'm here not there looking over his shoulder, so it's difficult to be 100% certain

I buy Erbauer router bits and they are fantastic, superior in my opinion to Trend.)

I tend to buy big name augers when needed (but not for a couple of years now - these days it is just a case of replacing loaners which haven't been returned, or which come back damaged) and I've often sharpened before first use. I always dry and oil tem after use, especially on oak and walnut which will csuse them to rust quickly if left unprotected) and I resharpen them regularly (well, you gotta have a hobby) simply because it's proved a reliable approach over the years.

I would get a set of needle files and sharpen your auger

Yes, that works, but a single auger bit file is a lot easier and faster to use - providing you can source one (zee above). Since Nicholson's stopped doing theirs a few years back they have been difficult and relatively expensive to source

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I’ve got a new cordless drill on the way and that has 65NM…

And any money it gets really hot if you drive it at anywhere near the maximum torque for more than a few minutes. Continuous torque isn't the same thing as (momentary) maximum torque

I had a job where I drilled 120 to 160 14mm diameter holes through 3in thick C24s every day (about 6k joists, or 24k holes, over 18 months elapsed - we were sistering joists) and occasionally my cordless, a Makita DHP481 (115Nm max torque), would overheat and stop as the protection circuit cut in. My buddy, using the big corded Bosch with an angle drilling head fitted and a cut down 14mm auger bit in the chuck, would drill the same number of 14mm holes through rock hard 130 to 190 year old 3in joists without the big drill ever overheating

 

[chirpychippy]

No you can’t.

Hate to disagree Notch7 but I think you could, Drill 1.5 to 2 inches with 24mm, then another inch with 12mm then pilot the length with 6mm, follow on with 12mm it should self cut without the tip and likewise with the 24mm.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

If your bit is a 2-nicker design, then providing the nickers were cutting te same it would probably work - but if you had a single nicker drill which absolutely depends on the screw nose to guide the bit it would not.

For all this talk of torque, has anyone stopped to consider the fact that in the days of braces and bits (up until the mid to late 1980s) most joiners would hand drill holes with a brace and bit (or for twist drills an "egg whisk"). You generally had 2 or 3 braces - a 10in sweep was for general work, a 12in or possibly a 14in sweep was for if you regularly did a lot of large locks (up to about 1-1/8in or 28mm) and you'd maybe a 5-i/2 or 6in sweep brace if you regularly drove screws (every sparky seemed to have one). The bigger the sweep, the greater the torque, but the slower the speed, and vice versa.

 

[badgerjockey]

Afraid it's just a single nicker (ooer)....

 

[opps]

Or maybe the lands are filled with waste? You aren't going to be able to drill all that far in solid oak without reversing the bit out and clearing it from time to time.

Short, sharp (no pun intended) and to the point. For general work you don't absolutely need the diamond card file (a few hundred years worth of woodworkwrs did without them, after all). The biggest aggro is getting hold of an auger bit file - try Workshop Heaven or Amazon


Not if the bit was jammed solid with swarf. See my comments above


You could just rub some candle wax on the outsides of the bit (not the cutting edge) and maybe treat the lands with something like dry lubricant (PTFE spray) or even furniture polish (basically paraffin wax)

Thanks for the posts.

However... when you say furniture polish, I guess you don't mean the likes of Mr Sheen? I was under the impression that they have silicone.

 

[JohnD]

I was wondering if the wood was damp?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

However... when you say furniture polish, I guess you don't mean the likes of Mr Sheen? I was under the impression that they have silicone.

Well said! For indoor use I wouldn't have recommended it, but the OP is drilling oak sleepers which will be used outdoors and are likely to be a bit damp, so contamination is probably not as much of an issue. TBH I was thinking more about the old style spray wax polishes like those that Johnsons do (or is that "did"?)

 

[badgerjockey]

Update question: it seems all I can get dowel wise is 25mm. Would it even be possible to ram 400mm of 25mm dowel into a 24mm hole?!

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I very much doubt it. I presume.you've now drilled the holes

 

[badgerjockey]

Nope, no holes drilled. Either I endeavour to find some 24mm dowel and use the 24mm auger bit I have, or I splash out on a 25mm bit and buy some more readily available 25mm oak dowel.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Couldn’t you drill smaller diameter holes and use stainless steel rods?

 

[badgerjockey]

Where did you get that idea?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Stainless steel would be good for contact with oak as it is resistant to rusting, but 24mm is going to be expensive

If you can't find 24mm dowel, have you considered finding a local pattern maker (patterns for casting involve constant diameter wood turnings), or a local wood turning firm, or maybe ask a dowel supplier such as Appleby Woodturnings if they can help.

I am surprised that you didn't source the dowels first, though, so unfortunately the final solution will be source the dowels then buy a matching auger bit