[Forester01]

Good morning!

I'm building toys out of southern yellow pine and other somewhat brash woods, really anything that I find that I like. When I drill holes for wheel axles I get a lot of tear out and breakage on the back side of the project. I do most of that work on a drill press.

Any suggestions of how to eliminate or at least minimize that? Are some drill bits or types of bits better than others for that?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[GeorgeC]

Use a backer board. That will eliminate, or at least minimize, any tearout.

George

 

[frankp]

Or painter's/masking tape. I usually double up on the back side to be sure.

 

[Dave Paine]

As others mentioned backer board helps. You should clamp the workpiece to the backer board and need a clean surface on the backer board. Hence you need to move this between drilling.

I find brad point bits will have less tearout than twist drill style but still need a backer board to eliminate tearout.

 

[Hammer1]

Use a drill bit with a point, drill until just the point comes through, then flip the work over and finish the hole from the other side. Tape doesn't work, the work would have to be clamped tightly and fit tightly to any backer in order for that to work, you need a new backer for every hole. Always use a fence along with another means of positioning and securing the work, do not hold parts just by hand. If a bit jams, the work will spin and could cause damage to your fingers.

 

[Bill White 2]

+1 on David's brad point suggestion (ands backer board).
Bill

 

[HowardAcheson]

Use brad point bits and use a backer board as suggested.

 

[d_slat]

you need a new backer for every hole.

Not always. If you are drilling the same size hole on the drill press you can re-use the backer, I do it all the time. As long as you clamp down your backer so it doesn't move between holes you can drill as many as you want with good results.

 

[Jgiehl]

Speed up the drill too

 

[johnnie52]

Along with all the other suggestions, another thing that helps a lot is a nice sharp drill bit. I sharpen mine before every project, that way I know I'm using sharp bits. That along with a backer board = no tear out.