Drill bit for 1" holes in Boyds Laminate Stock

I wanted to add weight to my Varmint rifles so I drilled two 1" holes in the back of the stock under the recoil pad of a laminated Boyds Thumbhole stock. The holes were only a bit over 1" deep as I happen to have some 1" x 1" tungsten cylinders laying around. Those two little cylinders added over a pound. Problem is that wood is as hard as the gate hinges to hell. I ruined a new 1" spade bit drilling just the two holes; the first hole took at least 5 minutes and the second hole seemed like forever because the bit was toast.

The way I did it was put the spade bit in my lathe at 500 rpm and push the stock into the bit with as much pressure as I could muster. I can't imagine doing it with a hand drill.

I have two more Boyd stocks to do and don't really want to go through that again. Are there better choices for super hard wood? Hole saw, forstner bit? Woodworking is not my forte. Maybe metal bits, starting small with incrementally larger bits?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Drilling through that laminate is almost as hard as steel, so you could start with smaller drill bits and step it up. Or, just plunge a router bit in and make it about the same size because you can just fill the void with epoxy.

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Forstner bits.

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Originally Posted by Ratbuster

I wanted to add weight to my Varmint rifles so I drilled two 1" holes in the back of the stock under the recoil pad of a laminated Boyds Thumbhole stock. The holes were only a bit over 1" deep as I happen to have some 1" x 1" tungsten cylinders laying around. Those two little cylinders added over a pound. Problem is that wood is as hard as the gate hinges to hell. I ruined a new 1" spade bit drilling just the two holes; the first hole took at least 5 minutes and the second hole seemed like forever because the bit was toast.

The way I did it was put the spade bit in my lathe at 500 rpm and push the stock into the bit with as much pressure as I could muster. I can't imagine doing it with a hand drill.


I have two more Boyd stocks to do and don't really want to go through that again. Are there better choices for super hard wood? Hole saw, forstner bit? Woodworking is not my forte. Maybe metal bits, starting small with incrementally larger bits?

Thanks for your thoughts!

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I'm surprised you lack the skill to sharpen a spade bit, it's childsplay simple. Obviously you have a metal lathe so you should know hoe to sharpen tools...right???

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Originally Posted by Flintlock28

Forstner bits.

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That's what I would use. If he needs to drill the holes deeper / longer than the bit shank allows he can buy an extensions for few bucks.
Bill

Hopefully, you have access to a drill press. One of your buddies is bound to have one. A very simple jig to hold the stock would be the best. The Forstner bits would a good way to go, but taking an inch in one fell swoop is a tall order. I am a believer in starting small (1/8") and working up slowly to the finished size. This is difficult with Forstner, so a regular twist bit would suffice.
The only wood that I can imagine would be this hard is hickory and I can't imagine this to used in a laminate stock.

It's probably the adhesive they use to 'laminate' the wood sections together with. Modern 2 part epoxy when cured can get extremely hard.

I drilled mine out for a pillar and it was brittle as hell. Broke up into a bunch of little pieces. I got scared and stopped so it's sitting in my closet now with no pillars.

The easiest way is to use an auger bit with a screw point. It will need to be driven with a drill that has some balls.....that laminate is hard going into the end grain.

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Originally Posted by sharpshooter

The easiest way is to use an auger bit with a screw point. It will need to be driven with a drill that has some balls.....that laminate is hard going into the end grain.

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Reminds me of this spring when I cut down 2 large popple trees on my rental property... I cut them down and left the stumps about 2 feet proud of the ground and poceeded to drill 1" diameter holes in the faces with a screw type auger shucked in my Makita corded hammer drill, it's about 2 horsepower. The auger but into the wood and started down and got in about 2 inches and I found myself lifted off the ground rotating with the drill motor, the auger was locked in the stump. Glad it wasn't a cordless drill motor. When I ran out of cord, it stopped and so did I. I wound up with a huge bruise on my arm and a great respect for the power of a Makita hammer drill.

I had to back the auger out with a 3/4 drive socket on the end and a 3/4 breaker bar. The stumps are still there and I need to get the cajonies up to drill more holes and fill them diesel fuel so I can roast the stumps.... maybe in the spring....

Screw type augers and a brace and bit might be ok, but a screw auger and a power drill are a no-no.

If I want weight, I would just buy a Choate stock :-)

Some thoughts.
If you use the wrong bit you could split the laminate.
You may want a shallow cutting angle on the cutting edge so that the drill does not feed to rapidly. You may need to alter that angle on a grinder.
High rpm's on hard material dulls cutting edges.

I did some drilling to open up the front of the recoil lug (heavy duty one thicker than OEM)

While it was a small drill bit for steel, it went right through the laminate with little resistance very controllable, not odd feeling.
Much better than they do with straight wood. A bit like press board.

I have sanded it as well and it sands well, not sticky or aggressive onto the sand paper.

I would do it in two stages.

Stage 1 would be a steel type drill at 1 inch.
The reason is that if it works you can just continue, if its iffy, you can re-group.

Stage 2: Do a pilot hole with 1/4 or 3/8. The problem with that is until you know the material, you may wind up going up one drill size at a time if its not a clean drilling. Usually you get there but it can be tedious.

If I had some tungsten cylinders laying around I would try it, I like some more weight in the back but haven't decide how to go about it.

Another option is to try a very small bit. Usually a pilot hole with that does not bother a bigger bit, its just when it gets past a certain point it does.

You have some are to even experiment in with small bits and or shallower holes.

what about grinding , carbide rotary bit

I used regular metal bits which worked like a charm. I did two more stocks with the bits, much
faster than a new spade bit. I put the bits in the lathe chuck and pushed the butt of the stock into the bits. Added 2 pounds which takes the rifles to 17 lbs.