People who aren’t professionals have faced problems in drilling holes just at the right place. Eventually, they ask for a self-centering drill bit that happens to make their life easier.
If you have never used it before then you might’ve wondered, how do self-centering drill bits work. Well, you’ve come to the right place to learn that!
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Why is a self-centering drill bit necessary?
If you’ve ever tried to attach any pre-drilled hardware to something, you must have struggled to screw the holes perfectly aligned. After all, this is not something very easy to do.
People have complained about frustration for damaging their precious woodwork by drilling the hinge holes out of alignment. If your pilot hole is just a bit off, usually the whole placement of the hardware tends to shift out of place.
With the help of a self-centering drill bit, you can get out of this difficulty and keep the drilling as well as the alignment of the hardware clean.
What does a self centering drill bit do?
When you use a self centering drill bit it prevents the wood grains from changing their course. Usually, professionals don’t need this thing since they have enough experience to do it reasonably well without any help.
However, for newbies and DIYers, it helps them from damaging wood or any other surface. A true self-centering drill bit makes the process of drilling full proof without any mistakes. It helps you to drill the bit at the dead center of the hinge hole.
How does a self centering drill bit work?
A self-centering drill bit is a simple device that is encased in a metal sheath with a tapered nose. This metal sheath has a spring-actuated design which conceals the bit. It looks like a spring-loaded collar that sits into the tapered hole of the hardware you want to drill and keeps it at the dead center.
When you place the drill on a hinge or any other metal piece with a hole, the tapered tip of the drill bit will recess into the metal and self-center naturally.
The self centering sheath keeps the drill steady and protects the wooden surface from having unnecessary holes.
Tips for using a self-centering drill bit
Using a self-centering drill bit is as easy as pie and couldn’t be simpler. It takes less than a second for you to align before drilling.
The best result comes when you already install one screw with the hinge. This holds the hinge in place and keeps the other holes in the perfect place. You can then drill through the other holes with ease.
However, there are a few things you should keep in mind so that you don’t damage the drill bit.
Use depth control with the self-centering drill bit for thinner woods so that you don’t accidentally drill through them.
Make sure to use proper drill pressure and speed while drilling the wood. Otherwise, the self-centering might not work perfectly.
Clean the bits with cleaner for sappy woods to remove the sap. Otherwise, they might interfere with other operations.
If the wood is thick and hard, drill one-fourth of an inch and pull back. Clean the sheath by blowing the chips and then drill again. Repeat this step.
Read More: 5 Ways to Keep Drill Bits From Rusting
Final words
In all honesty, self-centering drill bits can be used to accurately drill pilot holes in not only hinges but also drawer slides, handles, and most other types of hardware. For any DIYer or even professionals, self centering drill bits are necessary for the precise drilling of holes.