Need 1/8 Drill bits that will stay arrow straight during drilling. Do I need Carbide?

[Chris Parks]

Small drills deflect due to a couple of issues, speed too slow and feed rate too high are the prime culprits. They flex because they are cutting slower than the feed rate, fairly simple really. using them to drill wood of course introduces another issue, the drill can be deflected due to the internal structure of the wood so you must feed very slowly and a very high speed and hope that it goes in straight. Either that or use a short drill or shorten it up in the chuck as much as possible to effectively make it stiffer.

[Larry Norton]

I have had great success with Lee Valley brad point bits. They're expensive, but worth every penny.

[george wilson]

Try drilling BY PECKING 1 hole first,at one end of the row of holes. Then,lay out the rest of the holes as accurately as possible. Then,drill the rest of both sides of the holes in from either side to meet in the middle. Even if they are a LITTLE off,you will have neat looking rows of holes you can thread strings up through. Do use the peck drilling method,and make sure you only use a NEW bit which is sharpened on DEAD CENTER.

You might want to lay out the holes before you saw the body out,when you have a square edge on the blank body to get a square onto to establish the rows of holes exactly opposite each other.

[Dan Cameron]

I've heard that bits ground with four facets are less likely to wander. Read the spiel on Tormek's drill sharpening jig.

[Howard Acheson]

Use a brad point bit.

[Randy Alkins]

Brad point seem to wander and follow grain of wood, I through drill fishing lure blanks up to 9" long on lathe. Mount wood in chuck and drill in tail end chuck. Move in about 1/2" at a time and draw back. Half through then reverse wood in chuck.

[Steve Ryan]

You prob need to start the hole with a drill bushing jig. And as has already been posted, any drill with a long point will follow the grain. Grind the bradpoint back as much ass possible, or eliminate it completly and start the hole with a stub drill first. I used some 16" long flute auger type bits once that would drill straight into the wood because they did not have any point at all, and only one flute. Tough to start where you want them too though.

[george wilson]

I do that,too,Randy,but he can't with a guitar body. What I suggested was sort of the same thing IF he lays out the holes on opposing sides accurately.

[Wes Grass]

A guy who's posted several Tele' builds on the projects forum showed a jig with a locating pin, so he can drill halfway and flip the body to get 'perfect' alignment. At least I think that's where I saw it.

Nothing but a piece of plywood or MDF with a 1/8" dowel pin, or drill shank, etc., stuck in it. Holes are drilled halfway. Jig put in place and the pin eyeballed to the drill, and away you go.

Same sort of thing is done to drill tang holes for rifle/shotgun stocks.

[Tom Cornish]

Center_drill.JPG

Center drills like this get you started. If you need more depth, you may need to switch to another longer drill.

As also mentioned, make sure you don't have any runout in your drilling machine.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?P...MITEM=369-1846

[Josiah Bartlett]

Tungsten Carbide is used in the printed circuit board industry. It is pretty stiff, but is mainly used for wear resistance since fiberglass is very abrasive. The best way is to chose a drill bit style that doesn't tend to follow the grain in the wood, and use the proper RPM, feed speed, and clear the chips. Then the stiffness of the shank doesn't matter so much.