Irwin Speedbor MAX bits

bffulgham · Post by **bffulgham** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 7:52 pm

I was hanging a door for a daughter and son-in-law last week, and when I got ready to bore new holes for the deadbolt and lock-set, discovered I had NOT brought bits with me. So, off to bLowes we go.

I wanted to try one of the Irwin Speedbor MAX bits, so I bought a set of 3.

I needed to drill a couple of 1" holes, so I mounted up the new bit in my old Makita 12v drill. Needless to say, the cordless drill didn't have the UMPH to get the job done. So, I created a mortise the old fashioned way with a hammer and wood chisel. No big deal.

A couple of days ago, I grabbed my 1/2" corded drill, chucked up the 1" bit and found a piece of scrap 3/4" pine. I clamped the pine to a worktable and started the bit into the wood. I've never seen an auger bit drag itself through the board the way that thing did. This is one aggressive bit.

The good news: It cuts a very clean hole. Just as with any bit, back it up on the exit side, and it's clean all the way through.

The bad news: Because the bit is so aggressive, it could be a real arm breaker if you're not careful. I was using both the rear grip and the side grip on my setup, and it was a really good thing I was.

I definitely would NOT try to use this thing on anything that was turning at high speed. I successfully controlled the thing with the drill turning probably at around 75RPM.

If I needed to drill studs to pull wire, a Speedbor mounted in one of those big honking right-angle drills would be just the ticket.

When I get to make by workbench, I think it just might be the ticket to drill all of the dog holes.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 12:04 am

Cut the tapered square shank off a brace & bit 'bit' and you will see aggressive cutting!!!

bffulgham · Post by **bffulgham** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 1:42 am

JPG40504 wrote:Cut the tapered square shank off a brace & bit 'bit' and you will see aggressive cutting!!!

Been there....Done that. Hundreds of holes thru crossties with a 5/8 x 18" bit in an ancient Dormeyer drill. Pretty close to these Irwin bits, but I think the 3 cutting edges of the Irwin's wins my "most aggressive" vote.

I need to check to see if my old brace will hang on to the hex shaft on these..... Don't think it will....

rpd · Post by **rpd** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 2:40 am

bffulgham wrote: I need to check to see if my old brace will hang on to the hex shaft on these..... Don't think it will....

I got a Brace Driver - 1/4" Hex adapter from Lee Valley. It has worked well for me.

pieceseeker · Post by **pieceseeker** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:01 am

I also needed to install a lockset on my Mom's computer room door( to keep Grandkids out ) many years ago. I also went to "bLowes" and found this http://www.irwin.com/tools/linear-edge/ ... tion-kits#. It worked very well for the intended purpose. Irwin makes decent stuff.

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:11 am

rpd wrote:I got a Brace Driver - 1/4" Hex adapter from Lee Valley. It has worked well for me.

Those are great adapters! Add them to my wish list. What I'd really like to find is an adapter for my old "Yankee Push Drill" - I love that thing but wish I had an adapter to be able to use torx, allen, and other non-standard hex bits with it. I saw something in Fine Homebuilding a little while back where someone had a machine shop fabricate an adapter to do this but so far I haven't been able to just find such an adapter for sale…I suppose I could go the machine shop route as well but my need isn't quite that great…just wish one was readily available for sale.

Cavediver · Post by **Cavediver** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:01 am

bffulgham wrote: If I needed to drill studs to pull wire, a Speedbor mounted in one of those big honking right-angle drills would be just the ticket.

Yup. I used one of these in a Ryobi cordless angle drill when wiring my basement. While it ate the drill batteries in no time flat, it sure got the job done! Much better or faster than the spade bit I started with

bffulgham wrote:When I get to make by workbench, I think it just might be the ticket to drill all of the dog holes.

Make sure you back up whatever you're drilling. In my experience there was a lot of blow-out on the back side of the studs I was drilling. Not a big deal in my application, but not what I'd want on the bottom of my bench.

rlkeeney · Post by **rlkeeney** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 6:32 am

I use the Speed Bore bits. I really like them. With the right drill they will go through a 4x4 like now.

Be very cautious and secure everything including you backer board. My first time using one of these I was using a new Hatachi drill I had not used before and one of these bits. I had purchased the Hatachi drill because my old drill would not drive these. My first hole was in a landscape timber I had set up with a backer board the same way I had done for a thousand other holes. When I pulled the trigger on the drill it went through the landscape timber and hit the backer board and spun the backer board around before I could get my finger off the trigger. The backer board caught the power cord and wrapped it around the bit which promptly cut the cord.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 8:09 am

I watched a drill bit demo at the county fair a couple days ago. I don't know what brand name bit was being demo'd but that guy did things to the drill bits that I would not think of. To show that the bits were superior, when he got all done torturing them, he drilled holes in metal and they cut like butter (well, they cut like a good bit should).

I did not buy them just because I don't go for demos at the fairs but I muct admit that I was somewhat impressed.

Drill bits are not what they used to be. But the buyer still must be cautious of scams (deals that are too good to be true).

claimdude · Post by **claimdude** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 8:20 am

dusty wrote:I watched a drill bit demo at the county fair a couple days ago. I don't know what brand name bit was being demo'd but that guy did things to the drill bits that I would not think of. To show that the bits were superior, when he got all done torturing them, he drilled holes in metal and they cut like butter (well, they cut like a good bit should).

I did not buy them just because I don't go for demos at the fairs but I muct admit that I was somewhat impressed.

Drill bits are not what they used to be. But the buyer still must be cautious of scams (deals that are too good to be true).

Dusty,

If those were Bad Dog bits I have a set and they live up to the demo. Check this link https://www.baddogtools.com/tools/tools ... lbits.html

Jack