Until I find a replacement brand, I’m sharpening my old Speedbor bits. (Please spare us the “I’ve heard good things about Beaver Bits.” Or “Saul Pellers says spade bits are for punters.”) If you have a recommendation of a spade bit brand you use and adore, please post it in the comments. I’ve tried four other brands, and none are as good as the old Speedbors. as a replacement, but I haven’t had much luck. I’ve searched for another brand available in the U.S. And I can honestly say they still stink. I’m sure Irwin has some science that backs up its claims, but it doesn’t apply to working in hardwoods. So for the last two years I stuck with the bits. Maybe I just got some bad bits, and the manufacturing will improve in time. Maybe the bits can be improved with a little filing. Then I thought: Maybe I should wait and use the bits some more. I slapped together a rant about the bits and almost posted it. She said many of her customers also disliked the new bits and had the same experience I did. I talked to my supplier at the hardware store about it. They cut slow and tended to leave a rough entry and exit hole. My first experience with the new bits was terrible. These new Speedbors are supposed to last twice as long and cut twice as fast. But Irwin kept making good bits, and you could get them everywhere.Ībout two years ago, however, Irwin “improved” its Speedbors by removing the cutting teeth at the rim, replacing them with little chamfers. They ruined the cutting geometry, didn’t surface-grind the cutting face or they added a screw tip, making them almost worthless for furniture making. In the 2000s, lots of Irwin’s competitors started making crappier spade bits. They are inexpensive, they cut fast, they don’t clog and they are perfectly fine for chairs. So no toolmaker is going to go hungry because of this blog entry.įor 18 years I’ve used Irwin Speedbor spade bits in my chairmaking. Today I am making an exception because the manufacturer is Irwin Industrial Tools, which is owned by Stanley Black & Decker, a company that is worth $28.4 billion (that’s with a “b”). Please let me have my teeth back.īecause we make tools, I hesitate to criticize other toolmakers. The new Speedbor (right) and the old pattern (left).
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