Stuck Drill Bit

[Casey Brown]

Has anyone ever had a drill bit get stuck in a block of wood? I literally was drilling a tang hole today for a hidden tang in a block of desert ironwood, and the bit actually got stuck in the wood. It literally stopped my drill press. I may have just lost a block of wood. That ironwood is tough stuff.

 

[bladegrinder]

Tighten the drill bit between two pieces of wood in a vice, then work your block-scale off the bit.

 

[Casey Brown]

Well, it sort of worked. I could start working the bit out, but it broke before I could get it all the way out. Oh, well. You win some, you lose some. It was a really pretty piece of ironwood, but not that expensive, so back to the drawing board.

 

[EdCaffreyMS]

Gotta go slow and easy.....especially with woods like Desert Ironwood, African Blackwood, Cocobolo, etc.

 

[Casey Brown]

Yep. This block was so gummy, I had to stop 3 times on the first hole to clean out the grooves on the bit because it had stopped cutting. I think I got impatient on the second whole and push it a little bit too hard.

 

[opaul]

Can you drill from the opposite end with a little larger bit until you meet the stuck bit and then try driving it out from the original drill hole.

 

[SS369]

Split carefully and use it for scales.

 

[MTBob]

Just a guess, try thermal changes. First, try cold, put the wood and drill in the freezer for a few hours. If it won't budge when cold, try a heat gun or torch. If possible, heat the wood more than the drill.
Or try soaking the block of wood and drill in lacquer thinner overnight

 

[Casey Brown]

Tried cold. It was so stuck that it untwisted the spiral flutes before it broke. Never seen that before.

 

[Sean Jones]

Tried cold. It was so stuck that it untwisted the spiral flutes before it broke. Never seen that before.

That Ironwood is some strange stuff.

 

[chrisstaniar]

A smaller carbide bit might be able to break up the drill bit.

 

[oldknife]

I think you need to threw out the Chines drill bits, have never seen a drill bit untwisted, just kidding, if the bit got hot it expands in the hole witch may have some thing to do with it, opaul may have the answer.

 

[Casey Brown]

If it was a through tang, I could make that work. However, it wasn't. I can probably salvage some of it for a frame handle if I decide to go that route on another knife.

I've tried using a carbide bit in the past to try to drill out a broken tap. Carbide is great, but it's very brittle and will break if it gets any bend in it, which I found out the hard way. I think my carbide bits cost more than than the drill bit and block of wood combined.

It was a Dewalt bit, so I had some confidence in it. It was pretty crazy how stuck this was. Really like ironwood, but it is not easy to work with.

 

[Casey Brown]

Just an update, I split the block with my bandsaw, popped the bit out, and resurfaced the blocks on my mill. Going to do a mortise tang handle with the sides. First one I've tried to do.

 

[J. Doyle]

Dewalt bits absolutely suck in my opinion. Some of the worst out there.

 

[Casey Brown]

Dewalt bits absolutely suck in my opinion. Some of the worst out there.

Can't disagree with you now. This was my first experience with them. Crazy soft.