Hello,
So I am in the process of building a blanket ladder. I have cut, sanded, and stained all my pieces. The only thing that is left to do is to assemble the ladder. I purchased #8 x 3 in. Grip-Rite Polymer Coated screws to use to attach the rungs (1×4’s) to the legs (2×4’s). However, since it was my first time to do any woodworking, I decided to practice drilling onto a scrap piece of 2×4. However, when I tried drilling a pilot hole, the bit would not even go a third of the way into the 2×4 and eventually snapped. I tried drilling the screw directly into the piece of scrap wood, and it would not go in at all. I don’t know if the issue is the drill, the screws, the wood, or something else entirely. I would really appreciate any advice you may have. Thanks!
Replies
Could your drill be set on reverse? It should be running in a clockwise rotation as it is pointing away from you.
What kind of wood is it? What size and type of drill bit?
A bit late this one, but for what it is worth:
The purpose of a wood screw is to pull two pieces of wood together.
In order for it to do this, it should push through the first piece of wood, in this case your upright, without much resistance.
In the second piece, in this case your rung, you need a hole that is the same size as the shaft of the screw, and therefore smaller than the threads - the threads can bite in, but the shaft of the screw has somewhere to go.
As for the bit breaking, this may occur if you are using a very small bit, a blunt bit or as others have said, if you have the drill going backwards. It can also happen if you wobble the drill too much - there is a knack to getting the drill and bit all lined up nicely in the exact direction you want to go. If the hole is not going in the right direction, your only option is to fill it with glue and a sliver of timber and come back again the next day. You can't change the drilling direction after the first few mm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-foX6cTH-k
It seems funny but, I'll bet nearly all of us on here have loaded or run a cutter backwards at some point. That aside, if you are talking regular 1-by and 2-by pine/hemlock/fir type dimensional lumber and your drill snapped, something specific is going on.
Certainly operating a small caliber bit that is part way into the material and then leaning the drill motor while running puts tremendous strain on the bit and it will fail. Learning to sharpen your bits or stocking up on spares when things are on sale is an alternative to sharpening for a lot of folks.
When I need to assure reasonable precision and cannot take the piece to the drill press, I use the "Big Gator" drill guides with good success. these are a great thing to ask for as gifts. They are not expensive, maybe not used often but, when I want one it is sure nice to have one.
A #8 tapered drill bit. (Google the function of a tapered drill bit). They are very helpful in doing a project like yours.
It can be helpful to pull the bit out and clear the shavings regularly- that helps reduce the friction that can break the bit. Don't try to drill the entire depth in one go.
Remember that the shavings plus the bit take up more space than the hole itself, so something has to give. The flutes are designed to remove the shavings, but they're not always completely effective.
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