Official Luthiers Forum!

do you prefer brad point or forstner bits for drilling clean holes (in head stock for tuners )? thanks Jody

Both will work fine .. I happen to use a forstener on the drill press for tuner holes (and neck inserts)

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I like brad point for the smaller sizes. The "screw" portion of the bit helps pull the cuttings out of the hole. Much better than the forstner bit which has a tendency to hold the cuttings in the hole more than a brad point does.

Brad point bits leave a groove around the bottom of the hole, Forstner bits don't. Only matters if you are trying to drill a nice flat-bottomed hole. Of course, both still leave a dimple in the center. When drilling with a Forstner, back it out of the hole often to clear the chips.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks for the advice Steve, Tony, and Joe! Jody

Both - my brad points fill in the gaps in my forstner sizes.

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....