IRWIN SPEEDBOR MAX 1/2-in x 6-in Woodboring Tri-flute bit Drill Bit

Quick!

I bought this to drill precise holes through pergola posts to mount onto metal brackets. It drilled straight and true although it didn't eject shavings on its own very efficiently.

Dull on arrival

The cutting edges looked suspect out of the package. But chucked it up and gave it a try. First go with my bit brace resulted in massive tear out on the entry side. And once the snail stopped advancing the bit all cutting stopped, even with a lot of pressure. Tried to finish the hole from the opposite side of the 2x6. Same result. So I figured Id give it a spin in the cordless drill. Not much difference. Just faster and the bit was able to wear away enough wood to complete the hole. Both borings...

See above

Irwin products have proven to be top quality over years of experience.

Not good for hard/dense wood.

The bit almost broke my wrist. It bites very well, but there is nothing on the packaging the warns that it is probably only good for soft woods. The self-driving/self-drawing screw grabs tight, but the blade head is not sharp enough to cut at the rate of pull into the wood. It immediately locked up the drill head and spun the grip.

Awesome

I own a few of these in different diameters and let me tell you they are awesome! I use em when ever I have to route wiring through studs. The small corkscrew on the tip is the trick. It grabs ahold of the wood and pulls the bit into the material and just chews right through. You definitely gotta pay attention to what you’re doing and have a good, firm grip on the drill because they can and will catch the material and twist your wrist around. They’re not for every wood boring job out there but f...

Not so good

Tried drilling through 30-year old 2 x 10 pine basement ceiling joists. The bit kicked back at me more than a standard flat bit would AND it seemed like pretty slow going. So as a test, I switched to the standard Irwin Speedbor spade bit and it went through the wood at least 3x faster, with MUCH less kickback. I had purchased the "better" bit thinking it would be faster - luckily I had the spade bit on hand. And that bit already had some use on it, but was still faster. Go figure. Note that the ...

Solid bit!

Great design for drilling a tunnel under your sidewalk for irrigation tubing and landscape lighting wire! Team this bit with three (3) 12" long 1/4" Edwin socket extenders and you can drill a 36" long tunnel. Then, using a dead blow hammer, drive a 1 1/2" pvc pipe through the tunnel.

One Star Beacuse I Can't Give Zero

This bit is completely useless on a drill press. The problem is actually the little small tip in the center of the bit. It grabs the wood and draws it upward on a press. And I'm not talking balsa, I need to put a lot of holes in a 2" x 8" x 54" piece of pine - even with that much weight, it will draw the wood up. And same time the new weight is drawing the drill head down so without fail the wood is snatched up at an angle and the drill head is pulled down. So unless you build a jig for eve...

Fast and clean boring

Great tool to have available. I replaced all paddle bits that I could with these. So fast and can use with my old under-powered cordless drill.

take it easy on the pushing the drill into the wor

I like the design and the way it just boars through the wood, but the shaft is not strong enough and it snapped making the bit almost useless, and i bought 2 of them and it hasn't happened to the shaft but i have been taken it easier than the first one