Steelex D1019 2-3/8" Forstner Bit

Cuts well even in hardwood,

I bought two of these, thinking they would not last long, given they are just HSS and not carbide tipped. I was wrong. I cut 8 holes in pine and 8 holes in birch 1/2" deep. the holes are consistent and clean, no tear out what so ever. The bit is still very sharp. I have 16 more holes yet to cut and have every confidence I will not have to open the package of the second bit. I have multiple Forstner bits from different manufacturers and these perform right along side with the rest of my favorites. The value for the money factor is high. I am very satisfied with these bits.

It drills holes.I didn't have to sharpen it.

Well even though this is far from being a 4 star forstner bit. I gave it 4 stars and I will explain whyI purchased this bit to install my lee valley front vise. The vise installation called for 2 5/16 diameter hole at 9/16 deep. It is a really odd size hole and the fact that it is just a recessed hole and not a through hole makes it even more of a challenge. The reason being is because Steelex is the only company that makes a forstner bit this size. The only other option is using a 2 5/16 hole saw but those are for through cuts. So with the hole saw you would have to drill a hole in a piece of wood with the hole saw and use that cut as a template for a top bearing flush trim router bit and plunge cut a 9/16 deep hole into the wood that you need. This is time consuming and just ends up costing to much money for drilling to recessed holes. Which was the way I was going to go at first until I came across this steelex bit.Now the reason I gave this bit 4 stars is because this is the only forstner bit of this size on the market. So when I found the bit it was like looking at a premium steak dinner after I had been stuck on a deserted island for a month, which to me deserves 4 stars right off the bat. Now the bit quality wise is not worth 4 stars. Its a 3 star bit at best, because it gets the job done. Nothing like the many Freud forstner bits I already own. The bit is not very sharp and requires a significant amount of pressure to cut and when it does cut it leave a fairly rough hole with tear out on the top. Even though it take a fair amount of pressure to cut you have to be careful not to use to much pressure because then it will cause even more tear out. The biggest upside is that even with the saw teeth on the bit it cuts a flat bottom. With that being said. This is not a bit that you are going to buy and use on a regular basis. It's like an item you purchase at harbor frieght. You buy it to use one time and you toss it or you stick it in some dark dusty corner of your shop in the misc box.I am sure I am not the only one that has run into this problem with the lee valley vise. I know lots of people buy it because its a great vise at a fair price. This a great one time bit to use for installing a front vice on a bench that serves purely to be function and not pretty. Now if you are one of those people that are spending 2500 bucks to build a solid maple bench that is more pretty than it is functional then you don't want to use this bit. Then again out of all the work benches I have built and used I have never understood why people spend so much money on building a workbench.First of all in a year it is going be all dented and chewed up like any other work bench unless you are just one of those people that built it because you could and never use it. Second a torsion style work bench is just as stable as a solid top work bench without the price and precision that has to go into laminating it, milling it, and flattening it. There is a common misconception about torsion box style benches which makes people think they need a solid top bench. Woodcrafting, like chiseling and planing require a perfectly flat service. A very heavy surface so that it does not move and a robust surface so that the vibrations are minimized. You get all of that and more with a torsion style bench. Torsion box benches are extremely heavy. I usually frame my benches with 2x4 then make the grid with with plywood or MDF. Trust me a 2x4 framed bench with plywood grid and a sheet of plywood or mdf on the bottom and on the top is no lightweight and if you want to make it more robust you can simply make less the amount of spacing in the grid or add another sheet of plywood to the top. MDF for the most part always even and flat. So as long as you built your frame and grid evenly flat then the MDF top is going to be even and flat. Plywood can sometimes have bow or twist but that usually works itself out when you glue and nail down the plywood top to the frame and grid. Its much cheaper. You are talking about a torsion box top costing maybe 200 bucks versus a solid maple top costing you 1200 bucks. Another big plus to torsion box style bench is that you can put a sacrificial piece of hardboard on top of it which costs like 10 bucks for a 4'x8' sheet and simply change it out when ever it gets beat up.

I got this drill for a specific project that required two holes of this size in hardwood (sapele). Drilled easily and produced a clean accurate hole. I haven't used it for anything else, so I can't say much about longevity.

... at less than half the cost of the more well-established brands. Drills accurate holes in walnut. I'm happy with this purchase.

Bought this to install tungsten weights on the grandkids pine car derby entries. Worked perfect.

I was very disappointed with the quality control during the manufacturing of this bit. Right out of the box, nice wooden crate, with one side that was never glued and therefore fell apart, the bit was poorly ground. The straight edges that are supposed to clear away the waste were so jagged, deeply scored and uneven that upon attempting to use (in a drill press at 570 speed), in a couple of different hardwoods, the bit would jam and the drill press would bog down, with the slightest bit of downward pressure. The invdividual teeth that hog away the perimeter of the hole were also extremely jagged and considerably longer than the center straight edges, which created at least 1/16th of an inch depression around the perimeter of the hole. None of the milled edges felt sharp out of the box, so backing out of the hole to let the bit cool was absolutely necessary and frequent. The bottoms of the holes, which were not flat at all, required a lot of sanding, which created an additional expense for a drill press sanding attachment. There doesn't seem to be any other manufacturer, but Steelex, for a 2 1/2" forstner bit. Tons of quality companies make up to 2 1/4" bits, which I would have preferred: a Freud, Whiteside or Amana. But they do not make a 2 1/2". I searched for 3 days and found several sites with a 20-30% cheaper price for this bit, but I could not wait a week for shipping. Amazon got it to me the next day, which was awesome, but the bit ... a huge waste of money. After reading several reviews, that suggested that the people who were not satisfied with this product, were using it incorrectly, I ordered it, and subsequently nearly destroyed a nice 8/4 chunk of Honduran Mahogany ... needless to say, it's not 8/4 anymore! Not happy ... not happy at all

I purchased this from the Amazon Warehouse site - so the item is "used" or not wanted for some reason.First, the quality of this Steelex bit is very high. There are no voids, pits or blemishes of any kind - all surfaces are smooth and the cutting edges sharp. (More on that in a minute...) The cutting edges have a slight aggressive shape at the tips, which seems to result in a faster cut with this rather large diameter bit. It cleared the red oak I was cutting quickly and with zero tear-out. It is an impressive bit to use. For the first time in my woodworking career, I am starting to make some toy trucks and cars - this size bit is great for making beautiful wheel wells.The only disappointing fact - and it was addressed and taken care of by Amazon - is the condition the bit was deliver to me. It had been use, as evident of the sawdust collected around the teeth, but it had also been used poorly. What I mean about that is, the previous owner had used the bit to drill any number of holes, but it seems to me, also hit something very hard. Enough to damage the centre point, and to damage a number of the teeth on the cutting edge.I spent about an hour with some very fine metal files, to reshape the centre point and to correct a number of the teeth. It was only when I was coming to an end of working with this bit, that I thought I should contact Amazon. I am very glad I did, because Amazon was terrific.I explained that I did not fault the Amazon people who accept returns at all. How could any one person be an expert in perhaps dozens of fields, to understand what is in good condition or not? Certainly not me! And as I was talking about this to the Amazon rep, they reduced the cost I paid by about 80%. That was very generous of them, I thought. Now, I don't expect to see that kind of thing again, but it is really nice to know that Amazon is most willing to talk about a problem and even in my case, as least, was willing to adjust the price.What impressed me the most, was the fact that Amazon was going to contact the original purchaser and let them know about my experience. As in the returned product was not in the same condition that they had purchased the bit. I like that. Damage a product you bought, own up to that. It's now yours. Don't pretend that you never used it, or you just used it once and it was not what you wanted.Ok. Sorry for the long review. Bottom line - a great bit. I would purchase this again without hesitation and I will look for this manufacturer for any future large bits I may need in making more toys. Purchase with my own money. Thanks!

Muy buena calidad en general

Good as a bog standard forstner that will not get large amounts of use - it was the size I needed quite specifically. My regular forsterns are saw edged.

Ich habe den Forstner mittels Gutschein relativ günstig erhalten. Der Versand aus den USA ging auch zügig.Noch unbenutzt, kann ich feststellen, dass die Schärfe der Schneiden wohl im Grat des schartigen Anschliffes zu suchen ist.Der Durchmesser hat 0,2mm Übermaß

Arrived swiftly and works well for the short runs I use it for.