Main > Main Forum
Drill bit size for pushbutton and joystick holes?
subzero23:
Hole saw as in.........the ones that look like a cylinder/crown?
We use that kind... mostly because my dad does corian countertops and we've drilled soooo many holes, you could call use professionals with it... any reason why we should get a spade bit?
SOAPboy:
--- Quote from: subzero23 on December 31, 2004, 09:00:46 pm ---Hole saw as in.........the ones that look like a cylinder/crown?
We use that kind... mostly because my dad does corian countertops and we've drilled soooo many holes, you could call use professionals with it... any reason why we should get a spade bit?
--- End quote ---
dunno.. id prefer a nice wholesaw over my spadebit, but the spadebit was cheaper and does the job.. i really dont care about a little tear on the bottom side of my cp anyways.. and man is the spadebit fast with a nice drill.. just ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP player one done..
lmfao
subzero23:
I asked my father on the subject, and he's been a professional cabinet maker for 30 years or so,
definately holesaw over spade bit... he won't use a spade bit for anything
I'm sure it's ok but a definitive answer is holesaw > spade bit
versapak:
A hole saw is great for drilling through a solid piece of natural wood, but MDF... MDF is a whole other monster.
Like I said... The wood burns, and the glue that holds it together melts. It ends up leaving a very difficult to remove block of wood in your hole saw, and not a very pretty cut to show for it.
A spade bit is MUCH quicker, with pretty = results as a hole saw.
A forstner bit is MUCH quicker, with much nicer results than either a spade or a hole saw, but it does cost a lil bit more.
spiffyshoes:
I haven't tried Frostner bits yet but I'd imagine they'd work good and fast on wood. How well do they work on Plexiglass?
I've also found that holesaws don't work very well for MDF. They tend to burn the wood. I also haven't found them to work very well on plexiglass.
Spade bits on the other hand work great on both Plexi and MDF and are cheap.
For american buttons you want a 1-1/8" drill bit.
If for some reason you wanted to use Japanese style buttons you would want a 1-3/16" bit for 30mm sanwa buttons and a 15/16" bit for the 24mm sanwa start buttons.
You can find all 3 sizes of spade bits here.
http://www.toolstoday.com/displaytools.asp?num=3&pdescription=Spade+Bits+w%2F+Spurs+%2D+6%26quot%3B+Long
And you can get all 3 sizes of frostner bits from here.
http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=523-015
The 1-1/8" you can find at most hardware stores but the two sizes needed for sanwa buttons are harder to find so I posted the links.