The Tip of the Matter: Understanding Drill Bits and Center Drills

As I stand here, gazing at the tip of my trusty twist drill bit, I'm reminded of the importance of choosing the right tool for the job. The tip of this standard twist drill is not great for starting a center hole, as it can wander quite a bit. In fact, using just a drill bit like this to penetrate material can lead to uneven results. That's why we need a specialized drill bit designed specifically for creating centered holes.

Enter the Center Drill: A Game-Changer in Hole Creation

I hold up a center drill, marveling at its design. This behemoth of a drill bit boasts a similar tip to regular twist drills but is also equipped with a massive shoulder that prevents it from flexing like a normal drill bit can. The name "center drill" says it all – this baby's purpose in life is to create perfectly centered holes every time.

The Science Behind the Center Drill

So, why does the center drill work so well? It's all about the physics of drilling. When you apply pressure to a regular drill bit, it can flex and move around inside the material, causing the hole to become uneven. But the center drill's massive shoulder provides a significant amount of resistance, keeping the bit stable and centered as it penetrates the material.

My Personal Experience with Center Drills

As someone who uses center drills constantly on my lathe, I've developed a deep appreciation for their importance. In fact, I'm so enamored with them that I keep a full collection of different sizes on hand, each one suited to specific tasks and materials. My workspace is a testament to this love affair – I have a custom holder designed specifically to keep these babies organized and within easy reach.

Demonstrating the Power of Center Drills

To illustrate their effectiveness, I decide to put my center drill through its paces. Holding a small twist drill in place, I carefully attempt to create a hole in the material, watching as it wobbles and moves around. It's clear that this isn't going to work – but that's where the center drill comes in. With ease, I replace the twist drill with my trusty center drill, applying steady pressure to guide the bit into perfect alignment.

The Result: A Centered Hole

As I complete the drilling process, I examine the resulting hole and am thrilled to see it perfectly centered – not even a fraction of an inch off-center. The center drill has done its magic once again, producing a hole that's both accurate and precise. This is what center drills are designed for: creating holes that can be relied upon to be perfectly centered, every time.

A Word on Aesthetics vs. Practicality

Some might argue that center drills are unnecessary, given the aesthetic appeal of irregularly drilled holes. But I say, why take a chance when you don't have to? Center drills may add an extra step to your drilling process, but they're worth it for the peace of mind that comes with knowing your parts will fit together perfectly.

The Impact of Center Drills on Mechanical Systems

In my years working with mechanical systems, I've seen firsthand how a poorly drilled hole can cause catastrophic failure. A small discrepancy in alignment can lead to binding and jamming, making it difficult (or impossible) to troubleshoot the issue. By using center drills, you're not only creating accurate holes but also reducing the risk of these kinds of problems down the line.

A Message from the Author

I hope this article has convinced you of the importance of center drills in your workshop or work environment. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, these specialized drill bits are an excellent addition to your toolkit. Remember, taking the time to use a center drill may seem like an extra step, but trust me – it's worth it every time.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everybody adam savage here in my cave uh doing some q and a's for tested patrons um today's q a has to do with my lathe and so i thought i would come over here to the lathe to execute it um the question comes from john zizolfo zizolfo z zolfo i i'm probably butchering it and i apologize uh john wants to know oh sorry it's not john's question it's there's another video with john's question but this video is moultrie okay says why don't you use center drills to start holes when you're using a lathe i'm not sure i've ever seen you use one and it's so much easier i totally agree with you um for the uninitiated well here let's come on over here and i'll walk you through what the hell we're talking about because it's actually really cool um let's see here i want to get rid of that let's pop yeah great okay move you over here sorry if that's a little stick making okay so here i am with uh let's see do this so here is some material that i wish uh focus there it is here is some material that i wish to drill into and here is my drill bit so if i chuck it into my keyless chuck and i start to move it towards my material here i'll slow this down so we can what's going to happen is when this approaches for once it didn't do it all right here's the thing the end of a twist drill uh is not ideal for center drilling here's a big one and here's a close-up of what it looks like it's um oh my god focus there we go here there we go okay so there's the tip of my oh my god come on there we are so that's the tip of your standard twist drill it's not great for starting a center hole in fact it can wander quite a bit and if you're trying to come on come on there we go um if you're trying to go into material with just a drill bit like this what you often see is that when the moment it hits the material it starts to do a little bit of this that means it hasn't gone in perfectly centered hence the need for what we're calling the center drill and here is a that's what a center drill looks like this is a big one um this is just to show you that oh my god the focus is driving me batty there we go all right here dude that's it that is the tip of the center drill now the way the center drill works it's got a similar kind of tip but it's also got this big fat shoulder so there's no way this wants to flex like a normal drill bit can flex even though drill bits are made of steel they can move way more than you think they can and the center drill is literally called what it's called because it runs that crap off at the pass and there are many different sizes uh here's the next one down here's the i know it doesn't quite there we go there's the next one down and then you can even get these little tiny ones and again they're for specific you know starting specific kinds of holes um in fact in fact i use them so much i keep a full oh my god i need a manual focusing knob for this i use these so much i made this little holder to keep these on my lathe because i used them constantly i can't believe i just shot that i mean i just did it and didn't film it hold on just a second here let's um normally i wouldn't have this cantilevered this far out for a center hole only but i'm doing it for demonstration purposes here we go so this is so you see that little nub in there that normally could throw your drill bit way off actually let's watch that let's do that hang on this will be fun i like making mistakes on purpose all right we'll use this little twist drill here this is the kind of this is what happens all the time let's go to do this grill and come on in there you go see it's moving can you see that you can see it yeah hold on yeah okay so you see this is moving it's very little but now that hole now this hole is not centered luckily we can fix that when you run into that issue oh my god focus there we are we're gonna fix that with this center drill here oops sorry and its shoulder here it's big nice manly shoulder manly maybe i shouldn't say that anymore it's big lovely strong shoulders provide the kind of resistance necessary let's get all the way in here that's it come on come on there we are you see how that hole you see how you can see the edge of that hole moving a little bit just ever so so it's probably off by only five or six thousand there we go the twist drill ah yeah there we go now now what i have here is a beautifully centered hole it's not moving at all and that is what a center drill is for yes and so moultrie manic mechani uh in response to your question why don't you ever see me use the uh the center drill it's simply because i probably used it and then started shooting because i use it for almost every single hole i use it i use i i use the center drill for almost every single hole i drill on the lathe if you've ever seen me chuck something in and not use it it's because it didn't matter it's because it's like an aesthetic part and who cares about being off five or ten thou but for anything mechanical remotely or repeatable i always use them hence the reason they're always here right at the ready um it is an excellent question and center drills are fantastic things uh they are like that little extra step that makes things just better you could work for days on end not using them and you might not notice but if you do use them you're running a lot of future complications off at the pass i've had things that weren't properly center drilled by the smallest amount and it caused parts to bind mechanically in ways that were very hard to ferret out thank you so much for that question moultrie manic mechan it's probably multimanic mechanic somebody maybe stripped off a c off the end of your name anyway thank you for that excellent question uh i hope you feel more confident now that i'm using the that i am using the lathe as properly uh as i might and i will see you guys next time thankshey everybody adam savage here in my cave uh doing some q and a's for tested patrons um today's q a has to do with my lathe and so i thought i would come over here to the lathe to execute it um the question comes from john zizolfo zizolfo z zolfo i i'm probably butchering it and i apologize uh john wants to know oh sorry it's not john's question it's there's another video with john's question but this video is moultrie okay says why don't you use center drills to start holes when you're using a lathe i'm not sure i've ever seen you use one and it's so much easier i totally agree with you um for the uninitiated well here let's come on over here and i'll walk you through what the hell we're talking about because it's actually really cool um let's see here i want to get rid of that let's pop yeah great okay move you over here sorry if that's a little stick making okay so here i am with uh let's see do this so here is some material that i wish uh focus there it is here is some material that i wish to drill into and here is my drill bit so if i chuck it into my keyless chuck and i start to move it towards my material here i'll slow this down so we can what's going to happen is when this approaches for once it didn't do it all right here's the thing the end of a twist drill uh is not ideal for center drilling here's a big one and here's a close-up of what it looks like it's um oh my god focus there we go here there we go okay so there's the tip of my oh my god come on there we are so that's the tip of your standard twist drill it's not great for starting a center hole in fact it can wander quite a bit and if you're trying to come on come on there we go um if you're trying to go into material with just a drill bit like this what you often see is that when the moment it hits the material it starts to do a little bit of this that means it hasn't gone in perfectly centered hence the need for what we're calling the center drill and here is a that's what a center drill looks like this is a big one um this is just to show you that oh my god the focus is driving me batty there we go all right here dude that's it that is the tip of the center drill now the way the center drill works it's got a similar kind of tip but it's also got this big fat shoulder so there's no way this wants to flex like a normal drill bit can flex even though drill bits are made of steel they can move way more than you think they can and the center drill is literally called what it's called because it runs that crap off at the pass and there are many different sizes uh here's the next one down here's the i know it doesn't quite there we go there's the next one down and then you can even get these little tiny ones and again they're for specific you know starting specific kinds of holes um in fact in fact i use them so much i keep a full oh my god i need a manual focusing knob for this i use these so much i made this little holder to keep these on my lathe because i used them constantly i can't believe i just shot that i mean i just did it and didn't film it hold on just a second here let's um normally i wouldn't have this cantilevered this far out for a center hole only but i'm doing it for demonstration purposes here we go so this is so you see that little nub in there that normally could throw your drill bit way off actually let's watch that let's do that hang on this will be fun i like making mistakes on purpose all right we'll use this little twist drill here this is the kind of this is what happens all the time let's go to do this grill and come on in there you go see it's moving can you see that you can see it yeah hold on yeah okay so you see this is moving it's very little but now that hole now this hole is not centered luckily we can fix that when you run into that issue oh my god focus there we are we're gonna fix that with this center drill here oops sorry and its shoulder here it's big nice manly shoulder manly maybe i shouldn't say that anymore it's big lovely strong shoulders provide the kind of resistance necessary let's get all the way in here that's it come on come on there we are you see how that hole you see how you can see the edge of that hole moving a little bit just ever so so it's probably off by only five or six thousand there we go the twist drill ah yeah there we go now now what i have here is a beautifully centered hole it's not moving at all and that is what a center drill is for yes and so moultrie manic mechani uh in response to your question why don't you ever see me use the uh the center drill it's simply because i probably used it and then started shooting because i use it for almost every single hole i use it i use i i use the center drill for almost every single hole i drill on the lathe if you've ever seen me chuck something in and not use it it's because it didn't matter it's because it's like an aesthetic part and who cares about being off five or ten thou but for anything mechanical remotely or repeatable i always use them hence the reason they're always here right at the ready um it is an excellent question and center drills are fantastic things uh they are like that little extra step that makes things just better you could work for days on end not using them and you might not notice but if you do use them you're running a lot of future complications off at the pass i've had things that weren't properly center drilled by the smallest amount and it caused parts to bind mechanically in ways that were very hard to ferret out thank you so much for that question moultrie manic mechan it's probably multimanic mechanic somebody maybe stripped off a c off the end of your name anyway thank you for that excellent question uh i hope you feel more confident now that i'm using the that i am using the lathe as properly uh as i might and i will see you guys next time thanks\n"