Lost Art Press

A Bit More News (Mostly Good)

Posted on by Lost Art Press
The 5/8″ spade from Benchmark Abrasives.

With the Star-M bits and many other similar bits in short supply (in the chairmaking sizes), I had to switch back to spade bits for all my chairmaking activities.

This is not a horrible thing. In many ways I prefer the spade bits. They’re cheaper, they are easier for beginners to steer (because there are no side flutes that cut) and they are more readily available.

I’m still not a fan of the new Irwin Speedbor spades. They removed the bit’s rim cutters so now they cut slowly. Too slowly in hardwoods. Why is slow-cutting bad? They cut so slowly that they heat up and soften in no time. You can cook a bit in just a couple holes in oak.

So I’ve been looking for alternatives to recommend. The WoodOwl spades are good, as I’ve mentioned before. But they are sometimes in short supply. So I’ve been buying a lot of bits from various suppliers and testing them. Most are quite poor. They cut slowly and lose their edge quickly.

I am happy to report that the spade bits from Benchmark Abrasives are very good. The 5/8″ spade is made in the USA (I don’t know who makes it). It cuts as fast as the old Irwins and seem to hold a good edge. And the price is right: $2.59 per.

Please don’t be a Greedy Gus and order 20 or 30 bits. I get about four or five chairs out of a spade bit (when it’s treated properly). 

— Christopher Schwarz

14 thoughts on “A Bit More News (Mostly Good)”

      1. Yup. With a triangular file. After a couple filings the rim cutters are filed away. Also it’s easy to cook the bit and soften to where it won’t hold an edge. If you treat them with care, you can get some good life from them.

        1. I use a bench grinder. The side spurs do go but you can keep the angle of the cutter. Works fine for what I need but I’m not making chairs.

    2. I use an auger bit file. The difference is night and day. Even cheap bits will cut cleanly if touched up first.

  3. So I went to the Benchmark Abrasives website to see what they had to offer. I selected the pulldown menu item ‘BITS’ but found no spade bits listed. I looked around and selected the pulldown menu item for ‘CUTTING TOOLS’ and sure enough there were ‘SPADE BITS’.

  5. I just bought a 16” Dewalt 5/8’s spade bit. 14 bucks$. I tested it out without a backer board on 8/4 red oak. Very little blow out. Then I drilled all the holes for a new chair with a quarter inch piece of plywood for a backing board on the arm. The holes drilled fast and with absolutely zero splintering on the exit. I was thoroughly impressed! I also did not have a backing board on the bottom of the seat, and there was very little splintering.

  6. you’re so puny. your screwy, sometimes boring journalism keeps drilling the movement of wood bowels turned away from the poles. if half the world were half as wise, we’d all reap the benefits of working with the grain instead of hammering it to a pulp and coming home to set on a settee milled from a single block of termite barf harvested during our long day’s byproduct sledging. thanks for helping me keep my sanity.

  7. I’ve been using the Milwaukee spade bits in my chairmaking experiments. I can get them locally and in both long and short lengths. They have spurs and appear to have the same cutting geometry as these. I’ve been pretty impressed, but I’ll admit that I’m no connoisseur of bits. Perhaps after a few more chairs.

    My local orange home improvement store doesn’t stock them, but my local smaller hardware store does.

    1. The Milwaukee’s are a totally decent choice. The ones we get here in the U.S. are fine. The ones in Europe and the UKare even better (they have different SKUs – I am a nerd). The Fisch in Europe are also good – metric but do a great job.

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