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Thread: Wood Bit & power drill

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Plymouth, WI
    Posts
    457

    Default Wood Bit & power drill

    I have been using a power drill and a new bit "made for" wood. It has a nice set of cutting edges, but along with that has the "screw" in the center. I always have to reverse it a bit to get it our and thus some shaving get pushed back in.

    Can I simply cut that "screw" off and just push the bit into the tree?

    I think it's a Blu-Mol brand from Fleet Farm.

    Thanks!
    Pete
    Badgerland 2x6 drop flue to fire in 2015
    Sugar Shack functional 2013.
    Home Comfort wood cook for pancake sampling.
    Hoping to grow the operation in 2017-18

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Frankford, Ontario
    Posts
    1,045

    Default

    Nope
    Cut the screw tip off and it won't work at all. It will just skid on the bark and won't pull into the tree.
    Big_Eddy
    Eastern Ontario (Quinte)
    20+ years on a 2x3 block arch,
    Homemade 20"x64" drop flue since 2011

    Build a Block Arch
    Build a Flat Pan
    Build a Flue Pan
    Sweetening the Pans
    Build a Bending Brake
    Using a Hydrotherm
    How much Sap to Sweeten?

  3. #3
    lpakiz Guest

    Default

    Pete,
    Spend $15 on a dedicated tapping bit and you will never regret it.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Lenawee County, MI
    Posts
    105

    Default

    I bought a tapping bit and it snapped on the second tap. Sugarbush swapped it for me but said it was the first they had ever had returned. The first hole did come out clean. We had the other taps in with normal bits by the time I got the second bit. I do use the smaller taps so the bit was smaller but seemed pretty brittle.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Crown Point, NY
    Posts
    407

    Default

    Not that the bit your talking about is junk but buy a tapping bit. Their is several differences between a wood bit and a tapping bit. First a tapping bit has a greater angle on the leading edge rather than a wood bit second the flutes on a tapping bit are sharpen also to make for a cleaner hole. A wood bit tears the fibers in the tree and a tapping cuts them. Just a little input that I learned over the years but don't take me wrong they all work just some are better than others.
    100 buckets for 09
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    250 taps on shurflow pumps
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  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Greenwood, Me
    Posts
    974

    Default

    bump!

    I have a tapping bit but still ended up with shavings in my tubing and leaks around the tap. What am I doing wrong?
    2024 - New Maine resident, 12X12 sugar shack under construction
    2019 - New 12X12 boiling pavilion
    2018 - New Mason 2X3 Hobby XL and homemade RO

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Potter County, PA
    Posts
    815

    Default

    How high are you tapping? Most likely you are using an 18v or larger drill.. and when it starts to work a little, it will "torque" twist on your hand, causing the whole drill to move and make the hole out of round. Stepping back to a 12v drill and it usually will stall out before twisting in your hand.
    2008 4 buckets
    ~
    2016 1300 vac tubing
    18x24 sugar shack
    2x6 Grimm Lightning w/preheater on natural gas
    7" full bank press
    CDL 600 RO
    2000 Sonoma w/ 200gal tank
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    2 sap guzzling kids
    very patient wife!

    Same ol' addiction

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    BECKLEY, WV (SUGARHOUSE DAWSON, WV)
    Posts
    6,621

    Default

    Run drill on high speed with a piece of tubing as a drill stop on the bit or a drill stop for the depth you want to go. When it hits stop never slow down the drill bring it back out in one motion with the drill running on high speed and will bring the shavings with it most of the time. Takes about 1.5 seconds to drill a hole 1.5" to 2" deep.
    Brandon

    CDL dealer for All of West Virginia & Virginia
    3x10 CDL Deluxe oil fired
    Kubota M7040 4x4 Tractor w/ 1153 Loader hauling sap
    2,400+ taps on 3/16 CDL natural vacuum on 9 properties
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    CDL 1,000 2 post RO


    WEBSITE: http://danielsmaple.com

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Center, Underhill Ctr, VT
    Posts
    6,391

    Default

    The bits with the deep spiraling flutes are VERY aggressive, and seem to break more frequently than other types (probably due to torque). Get a good Canadian" style bit from one of the maple dealers and you'll get good results (fast, clean hole with no breakage).
    Dr. Tim Perkins
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
    http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
    https://mapleresearch.org
    Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Hartland, Vermont
    Posts
    2

    Default

    Buy a tapping bit and use TWO hands on your drill. Pretend you are drill press and move your arms in a linear motion. The new Bodoc brand bits from CDL are very aggressive, but leave the cleanest hole I have ever seen. Side note.... I have tapped several hundred thousand trees in my lifetime and never broken a bit. I attribute it to the two hand method of drilling.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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