CMT Forstner bits

[gnlman]

Hi. Looking to buy a set of forstner bits, never had any before. Was looking at a set of these, anyone have any experience with them? Any other suggestions. I mostly use MDF and birch plywood, some cherry,oak, and maple stock. I am still learning somewhat so only want to screw up the less expensive woods....lol
Thanks, Greg

http://www.cmtutensili.com/show_items.asp?pars=TB~537.000.16~2

 

[Timtool]

last weekend i had to make 200 holes for another woodworker because his men were busy/sick, he gave me a brand new CMT forstner bit and i was really impressed by the quality and speed. CMT generally has a very good reputation.

 

[hrrb]

Well...in general I'm quite happy with drills, router bits and forstner bits from CMT but I wouldn't buy that specific set.  [unsure]

And why not? I don't own them so maybe I should not judge them. But I looked them up in my CMT catalogue and checked the specifications.

They are made of SP steel which I consider as a steel for soft wood. I have similar SP forstner drills (other brands) and I only use them for soft wood. They get dull too fast if you use them for hard wood.

I would definitely go for HW forstner bits instead. They're of course more expensive but it's worth the extra costs.

I own some of CMT's HW forstner bits and they are really good (made by Famag in Germany).

Kind regards
Henrik

 

[dltflt]

I don't have the drill bits but thier router bits are the best.

 

[Roseland]

Last month I got a set of the Festool Forstner bits, and am very impressed with them. 

The centre point is on a taper, and can be swapped out for either a longer point or drill (both included).  The longer point is useful if you want to go in at an angle (up to 20 degrees off square), and the drill enables you to go in from both sides of a piece of wood, eliminating breakout. 

You can also drill with no point at all once you've started the hole, and get a flat-bottomed hole (no pinhole in the centre).

As a test I tried the 35mm bit with my CXS and it worked fine, albeit into softwood.

Andrew