Feather drills for wood - an indispensable assistant in work

To drill holes in products made of wood, you can use tools of various types, differing in design, material of manufacture and geometric parameters. One of these tools is a feather drill for wood, the design features and technical characteristics of which are worth dwelling on in more detail.

Feather drills differ in the shape of the cutting part and the sharpening of the blades

Application area

The tool is used when working with all types of wood, as well as its derivatives (MDF, chipboard, plywood). It is equally widely used for repairs, in the manufacture of furniture, doors, window frames, and in other areas of industrial production. There are two main types of drilling in which it is used:

For non-through holes of small diameter. For example, the production of fastening sockets for door jambs, furniture production.
For through holes. For example, sockets for installing studs and other fasteners.

Important! Spade wood drill bits are recommended for shallow drilling. You also need to remember about the thin tip. It goes deeper into the wood than the main head.

Color

During the manufacturing process of drills for tools, finishing is provided. Its task is to give the product increased strength. Several processing options are used in production. Each of them gives the product certain performance characteristics. During the process, a coating is applied to the surface of the drill, the color of which can be used to judge the performance properties of the tool:

Black attachments have increased durability. In production, superheated steam is used for their finishing.
The drills are golden yellow in color and have no metallic stress.
Bright golden nozzles are treated with titanium nitride, thereby increasing the service life of the products.
Tools that have not undergone finishing are gray in color.

It is recommended to consider this aspect when purchasing a set of feather drill bits for wood.

Design features

The uniqueness and efficiency of feather drills lies in their design simplicity. They consist of two parts:

The working part is the main part of the tool that comes into contact with the wood being processed. The shape resembles a shovel with a sharp tip. He is responsible for the exact position of the blade and cuts out the main part of the wood. On the sides of the working surface there are blades and cutting edges. If you look at the longitudinal section, they are sharpened to the right side.

Feather drills for wood are made according to strictly verified patterns. The proportional ratio of the width and thickness of the working part is strictly observed:

Width (diameter)	Thickness
Up to 1 cm	Up to 2 mm
Up to 2 cm	Up to 4 mm
Over 2 cm	Up to 8mm

tail - a steel rod in the shape of a hexagon. The multi-faceted configuration allows you to securely attach it to the drill chuck, as well as use adapters to increase the working depth.

What should you pay attention to when purchasing?

For those who want to purchase a feather drill, experienced craftsmen advise paying attention to the following nuances:

The tool must have a symmetrical configuration.
Equipped with smooth cutting elements. The latter is a clear indicator that the cutting attachment is a factory one and not a homemade model. Feather drills and their cutting parts have a high degree of sharpness and meet the standards only if they are manufactured exclusively in the factory.
During a superficial inspection, the buyer must make sure that the surface of the drill is free of any defects in the form of chips or irregularities.

Characteristic

The most complete idea of the technical characteristics can be obtained in comparison with other types of attachments. There are three types of wood drill bits that seem to perform the same task. This is not entirely true:

Spiral - designed for through drilling. It will not be possible to make a mounting socket using it. It is possible to obtain deep through holes of small diameter with smooth edges.
Forstner drill - used to make shallow, large diameter holes. It is characterized by high cost. The shank is short, which limits the scope of application. The edges of the hole are smooth, without flaws.
Feather - inexpensive, with a wide range of working diameters. There is an extension option. Convenient, easy to use. Suitable for all types of wood. With a drilling diameter of more than 60 millimeters, creases and torn edges are possible.

Feather drills for wood outperform their competitors in many ways. The only drawback is uneven edges with a large drilling diameter, but this is not worth paying attention to. You need to know that high-quality large-diameter holes are drilled with crowns.

Advantages

The advantages of feather cutting attachments include:

Low cost. The price of the instrument varies between 50-120 rubles. The cost will depend on the finishing technology used in the manufacture of the nozzle.
The set of pen drills for wood is equipped with cutting products, the diameters of which vary from 5 to 60 mm.
Thanks to the design of the tool, it can be extended by 300 mm using a special attachment for this purpose.

The drill is easy to use.
If its cutting part wears out, a craftsman can always sharpen it at home. The exception is when the feather drills are too worn.

Selection rules

Finding a high-quality nozzle at an affordable price is not so difficult. If we are talking about trusted companies, such as Bosch, Hitachi, then with a high degree of probability the product is of high quality and reliable. To determine the quality of drills from lesser-known brands, there are several rules that can be easily checked by visual inspection:

Geometric dimensions. The cutting edges must be symmetrical to each other and be the same size.
Quality of sharpening of cutting edges. It is checked by touching it with your finger, similar to checking the sharpness of the blade of a kitchen knife.
The quality of the nozzle. Any irregularities in the working or tail part should alert you. Reliable products have an almost perfect sheen.
Metal color. An important parameter to pay attention to first is:

Gray steel is highly likely to be completely untreated.

Black - the metal is calcined with steam. This treatment increases the strength and wear resistance of the nozzle.

Golden – internal stress has been removed from the metal. This significantly increases strength.

Bright golden – the drill is coated with a thin layer of titanium nitride. It will last a long time and will cope with the toughest wood.

Flaws

Despite all the strengths of pen nozzles for woodworking, they have one single drawback. It lies in the fact that this tool has a limited cutting diameter, which does not exceed 6 cm. As a result, only pointed end cutters take part in the drilling process. In this case, the rounded sides of the drill come into contact with the edges of the groove, on which wood fibers are formed. As a result, the surfaces of the holes are rough and not neat enough. Judging by the few reviews, these wood cutting bits become dull very quickly and require frequent re-sharpening.

Features of operation

Before starting work, the drilling area is carefully marked and clear boundaries are drawn. If there are many of them, then the depth of each is indicated.
It is recommended to use a drill with variable speed control. This will make the job easier.
The drill rotation range does not exceed 600 rpm. The golden rule is that the larger the hole diameter, the lower the head rotation speed and vice versa.
An adapter is used to increase the drilling depth. One end of it is inserted into the cartridge, and the other into the tail section.
The angle between the drill and the wooden surface is always 900. Otherwise, the tip may break and the workpiece may deteriorate.
The main thing in work is the smooth increase in speed.
Wood shavings are removed periodically.

Every craftsman should have feather drills for wood. They are easy to use. They are durable, productive, and easy to sharpen. The low price allows you to have several models of different sizes in stock.

How to sharpen feather drills

Unlike other types of drilling tools, pen drills designed for woodworking are quite easy to sharpen. To perform this procedure, you can use a sharpening machine equipped with a diamond wheel. If such equipment is not at your disposal, a quality rule will do. The sharpening procedure itself is as follows.

If the craftsman has a set of feather drills, a new, unused tool is taken from it, which will act as a sample.
Focusing on the geometric parameters of the sample, sharpen the cutting part of the dull drill.
When sharpening a pen drill for woodworking, you should be very careful not to accidentally damage its central protrusion.

It makes no sense to sharpen feather drills in cases where their cutting part is sharpened too much. Given their low cost, it is easier to replace heavily worn-out products with new ones than to try to return them to working condition.

How to sharpen a tool?

Judging by reviews from owners, sharpening feather cutting tools is not difficult.

To work, you will need a diamond wheel mounted on a sharpening machine. If such equipment is not available, the home craftsman can use the quality rule. The sharpening procedure will be easy and quick if you follow the following sequence:

Prepare a previously unused cutting attachment. It will be used as a sample.
During sharpening, you need to periodically check the cutting attachment being processed with the geometric parameters of an unworn new tool.

When aiming the cutting edges of a pen drill, it is recommended to be as careful as possible. The main thing is that after sharpening the central protrusion of the tool is not damaged.

According to numerous reviews from experienced craftsmen, it is not always advisable to sharpen such products. Very worn feather drills with heavily ground cutting parts are considered waste material. Since such a tool is not very expensive, it is better to immediately purchase a new drill than to waste time and “plant” the diamond wheel.

Difference from conventional drills

In most cases, when building wooden structures (from small to large), it is necessary to drill holes of different diameters. They are most often used to fasten or hinge wooden parts.

The wood tip drill allows you to drill holes with a diameter of more than 60 mm

Conventional metal drills are not suitable for such work with lumber, since in most cases they are designed for small diameters and more durable materials, while feather drills do an excellent job of drilling holes with a diameter of 40, 50 and 60 mm, while most drills cannot make holes even 40 mm in diameter.

The feather drill has one drawback: it is not suitable for precise finishing work, so it is most often used for rough processing.

Dimensions of feather drills for wood

The size of the pen drill is indicated in millimeters. It is indicated on the drill bit.

Size range from 10 to 60 mm.

Feather drills are sold in sets and individually. The most common sizes (10, 12, 16, 18, 20 and 25 mm) are supplied with drill sets. Feather drills larger than 25 mm are usually sold individually.

You can order a drill of any size in the range from 10 to 60 mm. It is not reasonable to produce and use feather drills larger than 60 mm. Due to the large drilling area, the cutters are difficult to cut wood.

The length of the feather drills is 150 mm. If this length is not enough for the job, you can use the same extension cord that is used for screwdriver bits:

Pros and cons of feather drills

The feather drill has a number of advantages. Of course, the main one is the price of the drill. Spade drills are much cheaper and have a fairly wide range of working diameters.

An even bigger advantage is the ease of sharpening the drill. A feather drill can be easily sharpened either with a regular flat file or with an electric sharpener.

Due to the hexagonal shape of the edge of the drill, the clamp in the chuck is more reliable, which prevents the drill from turning in the drill chuck.

The main disadvantage of pen drills is the lack of sizes above 60 mm.

The drill bits quickly become dull, which is why periodic sharpening is necessary.

Rules for working with a feather drill

The drilling process is performed in the following order:

A mark is placed at the point where you need to drill;
When drilling with a feather drill, it is advisable to use a drill with an adjustable speed. The speed (number of revolutions) directly depends on the size of the drill used. The larger the drill size, the less frequency the drill chuck should rotate. Drilling at high speeds leads to rapid wear of the cutters and possible breakage of the drill;
An extension is used for drilling deep holes;
It is advisable to start drilling at low speeds. This avoids the drill moving from the specified point;
Since the drill is made in such a way that the wood chips do not come out and remain in the hole, it is necessary to periodically stop drilling and blow the chips out of the groove of the hole.

Sharpening a feather drill

Compared to all other types of drills, the feather drill is the easiest to sharpen. It can be easily sharpened with a flat file or emery.

When sharpening, it is advisable to take a new drill as a sample (to check the shape and angle).

Particular attention should be paid to the tip of the drill. It should be machined as much as possible in the center of the feather. A slight displacement of the tip of the tip relative to the axis of the drill can significantly complicate drilling (due to different lengths of the incisors).

If the working part of a drill is destroyed or severely deformed, then you should not waste time and effort on restoring it, but it is easier to buy a new drill.

How to use the nozzle?

After purchasing a set of feather drills, you need to select a nozzle of the desired diameter from the package. It is recommended to use this cutting tool following the step-by-step instructions:

Before drilling a hole in a wooden surface, it must be marked. The mark is applied at the point where the hole will be.
Experienced craftsmen recommend working with these drills using a drill that has a power regulator. It is desirable that the power tool used can perform 200-500 revolutions. If it is necessary to cut a hole of a larger diameter, the number of turns should be small. Judging by consumer reviews, a 50 mm wood drill bit will cope with its task much more effectively at low speeds. As the diameter decreases, the speed increases accordingly.
To make a deep hole, it is recommended to equip the drill chuck with a special adapter. In the event that it is necessary to drill to a small depth, the master can immediately fix the cutting attachment in the power tool.
Bring the power tool with the attachment to the place where you will be drilling. The drill must be positioned perpendicular to the marking.
Start working, gradually increasing the speed. It is recommended to periodically remove the drill from the hole. This requirement is due to the fact that as the wood goes deeper, chips accumulate. By removing the drill, the master thus creates an opening for wood waste to exit.

The work is considered completed if the cutting tool has gone deep to the mark required by the master.

Usage algorithm

There are a number of recommendations that should be followed when working with feather drills:

Before starting work with the hole, you need to make markings on the wooden surface. This is the point where the Point is inserted. Before drilling, you need to deepen the point using a core.
To work with the pen, you need to have an adjustable drill at your disposal. This is especially important when you need to work with several hole diameters. The rotation speed must be inversely proportional to the diameter of the drill, otherwise it may break if the speed is too high.
When working with deep holes, it is important to also have an extension included with the drill, which helps increase the useful penetration depth by up to 30 millimeters.
Before going deeper into the wood, you need to use cutters to outline the circle of the hole. To make a clear mark, it is important to enter the wood at low speeds. It is very important to maintain a vertical position when deepening, while pressing on the tip with little effort.
When working with a feather, it is important to manually remove wood dust and sawdust from the hole, since the design does not allow them to be automatically removed after cutting. To do this, it is worth stopping work from time to time and removing it from the hole.

Purchase Features

In order to purchase a quality pen, sometimes you have to spend a long time searching for the best manufacturer or store. Today, a large assortment of feather drills is offered, and there are many brands under which they are sold. When purchasing a feather drill, you should pay attention to the following circumstances:

the shape of the pen on wood should be symmetrical;
high requirements for the surface, which must be flat;
If a chip or asymmetry is found, the nib should be discarded since it may have been made by hand and not at the factory.

It is very important to know what the feather should look like and what color it should be. Since the strength of the metal depends on the color and its quality manufacturing. The last feature allows you to determine how long and how well the pen will last.

The presence of the usual steel color indicates that the feather has not been subjected to additional reinforcement. If the metal is dark, then it was most likely treated with hot steam.

Golden hues may indicate either internal pressure treatment or coating of the material with ultra-strong titanium, a compound that increases the strength and life of the drill. In general, a set of feather drills for wood may include parts processed differently and with different diameters of 40, 50 mm, etc.

Hardened feather drill

To sharpen a pen for wood, you need to have a flat file on hand; in order to sharpen it correctly, you need to compare it with a working copy. There are two important requirements when sharpening. The incisors must be symmetrical, the tip must be strictly in the center. If it is skewed to one side or the other, the pen will simply break or jam. Since the cost of feather drills is quite low, they can be quickly replaced with new ones.