The Shop Work Horse - Twist Drill bits

If you don't know anything about drill bits this will be a short tutorial, if you are already familiar with them, it can be a brief review. Most of the drill bits will be talking about are commonly available from the hardware store or big box/home center. If you have a hard time finding them locally, you can also get any of the bits mentioned in this article at Rockler woodworking, hartville tools or lee valley tool

Twist bits are made mostly from 3 common types of material.

• Carbon Steel - the cheapest and lowest grade, doesn't stay sharp for long.
• 
  High Speed Steel or HSS - better quality, stays sharper longer.
• 
  Alloy Steels - Most common is cobalt, used to drill stainless steel.

Twist Bit Coatings

Coatings are applied to give bits better performance. The two most common coatings, identified by their colors are.

Black Oxide Coated - Heat significantly reduces the life of a bit, black oxide is applied to the bit to reduce heat build up. Less heat buildup means better drilling performance and longer bit life.

Titanium - Nitride Coated - Titanium - nitride coated bits are easily identified by their bright gold color. This coating increases the surface hardness of the bit and serves as a lubricant as well. Titanium coated surfaces are highly resistant to corrosion.

Drill Bit Length

The length of twist drills are usually expressed as Mechanics, Jobber and Installer. The first two refer too a ratio of the length x the diameter, jobber being 10 times in length as the diameter. These first two are the most common. Installer bits are commonly used in the trades by, Electricians, Telephone & Electronics installers and are 18" in length.


Drill Bit Diameter

Drill bits come in different sizes. Most people are familiar with the fractional drills 1/16" thru 1/2" variety, there are also letter drills A-Z, these are most commonly used when you want to get a specific percentage of threads cut into metal when tapping, number drills 1 - 60, these are the really small bits you'll need for making holes for scroll saw blades, and there are metric drill bits available as well.


Point Type & Angle

General purpose bits are generally ground at 118 deg. Bits can be ground at 60 - 118 deg. for soft materials like wood and plastic. For harder materials like steel, a flatter angle of 138 - 143 deg. is required.

We'll separate these into two categories, woodworking and general purpose & metalworking.

Woodworking - Brad point bits make the cleanest holes for woodworking and are the first bits a woodworker should buy. They come in three styles, utility, radius and lipped. The lipped type makes the cleanest holes as it scores the circumference of the hole before it chips out the center, but cost more and are usually purchased on-line. The utility type is the most common and cost less, it still makes a clean hole, but not as well as the lipped type.

The pilot type is also commonly available, most people will recognize this as the style DeWalt sells, these work well for both wood and soft metals like aluminum and brass.

General Purpose & Metalworking -

• Regular or Plain Point -The most common, also the cheapest, is difficult to center and wanders easily. Best to use a center or prick punch before drilling.
• Split point -The tip is split at the center. this makes starting a hole easier and keeps the bit from wandering as you begin drilling.
• Pilot Tip Design -The pointed tip starts drilling on contact without wandering. it also doesn't lock-up when the bit breaks through the back side of the material being drilled.

Pattern Makers Files

Pattern Makers Files/Needle Files, these are a must have if you are going to do any kind of fret work or make portraits with your scroll saw. They usually come in 1/8" and 1/4" wide and are about 5" long, although there are more specialty types if you look around. These files can reach into the small nooks and crannies where nothing else will. I also recommend that you pick yourself up an item called a file card, its like a small wide wire brush with little stubby bristles, made specifically for cleaning files, any wire brush will do, but this seems to work the best, and you will need to clean your files or they won't work as well.

There are also similar tools called called riffler files which are curved and riffler rasps which are very coarse and used for rough shaping mostly when doing carving. I picked up the set that you see in the picture from Sloans Woodshop.com, you can also purchase these from Rockler or Grizzly Tools

A book for the beginning scroll saw user

If your new to scrolling and aren't sure where to get started, I'd recommend this book highly, the title of the book is Scroll Saw Workbook - learn to use your scroll saw in 25 skill-building chapters by John A. Nelson. It starts with a brief but interesting history of scrolling which dates back to the 1500's and has illustrations of both old saws and patterns from the Victorian era. The book moves on to the different types of saw mechanisms of which there are five, even if you're not interested in mechanical movements and machinery perse , the type of scroll saw that you choose does make a difference in price and ease of use, noise vs. vibration, etc. There are many illustrations and descriptions of the modern scroll saws that are available here in the U.S. and their features and accessories. The book also covers the different type of scroll saw blades, a description and their uses, and how to properly tension the blade.

The practice exercises start with the most basic operation, accurately cutting straight lines, curved, wavy and sharp turns. How to do stack cutting so you can make multiple items at once. how to cut materials like plastic and paper, making relief cuts, 3-D cutting. Basic patterns are provided to make many nice small projects for the beginner. I purchased this book for myself a found it invaluable and still refer to it from time to time. I bought the book on Amazon.com, but the book is also available from Fox Chapel Publishing, which offers many other great books for scrolling, pyrography, carving and woodworking.

Buying Scroll Saw Blades

I was in the local ACE Hardware the other day shopping, and I saw a guy who had a bunch of scroll saw blades in his cart. I went looking for the display to see what they had. I was surprised to see that they now have a selection of Olson pin less blades as well as the pin type. I was also surprised to see that they wanted $8 -10.00 for a 12 pack, that's outrageous! If you're new to using a scroll saw, or are already doing this , don't run down to your local hardware store to buy your scroll saw blades. Please look on line for your blades. Not only can you get them for about a third as much, the selection is far superior, and the people who sell them can help you make a selection based on what you will use them for.

There are many brands and styles to pick from, some are made here in the U.S., others are made in Germany and Switzerland. The three brands that I like the most are Pegas blades, these seem to last longer. Flying Dutchman blades, these are also great blades. Olson blades, these are alright but I prefer the later two. There are two others that I would like to try cutting with when I can find some, Galaxy and Eberle scroll saw blades. If you're interested in these blades, please look at the sidebar on the left, the links are all there.

Attaching Your Patterns - Part One - Adhesives

Attaching your patten. There's all kinds good options here, depending on what you are doing. First there's the glue stick, this is great for really small parts when spray adhesive would just make a mess, its also nice because it cleans up with only water. when you want it to let go, a wet finger is all it takes. You can get glue sticks almost anywhere, the dollar stores, office supply store any craft shop also carries them. They're also inexpensive.

Next is rubber cement, its also relatively inexpensive and you can brush it on only where you need it, also good for small parts or jobs. You can by rubber cement in the same places that you picked up your glue sticks. Rubber cement needs solvent to get it to release.

Spray adhesives are good for larger projects. Spray adhesive basically fall into two categories, temporary bond types and permanent bonding. My favorite is Krylon's Easy-Tack Repositionable Adhesive 7020. You can pick this up at Hobby Lobby for under $5.00, coat both your work and the pattern, press on and give it a little drying time and your good to go. 3M also makes a similar product called Spray Mount, I'd like to try it when I find some. 3M also makes a 75 repositionable adhesive, I think I saw this at Home Depot.

My next choice is 3M's General Purpose 45 Spray Adhesive, this is best with light coats on both pattern and material, if you get to much on it becomes a permanent bond. If you have trouble getting your pattern off, apply a light coat of turpentine to your pattern and let it sit a few minutes. If you are still having a problem removing the pattern, apply a more liberal coat of the turpentine an d wait a minute or two more, be patient and let the solvent do its job. The GP-45 can also be used as a permanent bond spray. This cleans up well with turpentine.

3M make other spray adhesives Super-77, 80,90,etc. these are for permanent bonding and I don't recommend them for adhering patterns.

Welcome

I decided to start a blog to have a place to share ideas, techniques, tips, plans, sources for materials, etc with other woodworkers and scroll saw enthusiasts. I'd probably be considered by most people who know me to be an intermediate level woodworker. All are welcome here, it doesn't matter if you are a seasoned woodworking professional or you just started yesterday. If you have a question, or something you'd like to share, this is a place to exchange ideas. Most of my interests these days lean toward making furniture, scroll saw projects, mostly puzzles and children's toys. I'm new to blogging so please be patient. Please bookmark this site and come back soon.